German submarine U-578
History | |
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Name | U-578 |
Ordered | 8 January 1940 |
Builder | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
Yard number | 554 |
Laid down | 1 August 1940 |
Launched | 15 May 1941 |
Commissioned | 10 July 1941 |
Fate | Missing in the Bay of Biscay since 6 August 1942; no explanation for her loss |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type VIIC submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range | |
Test depth |
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Complement | 4 officers, 40–56 enlisted |
Armament |
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Service record[1] | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 46 136 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
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German submarine U-578 was a
.She carried out five patrols, sank four ships of 23,635 gross register tons (GRT) and sank a warship of 1,090 tons.
She was posted missing in the Bay of Biscay since 6 August 1942, with no explanation for her loss.
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).
Service history
The submarine was
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 10 July 1941 and the 7th U-boat Flotilla for training from 1 September. She stayed with the latter organization for operations until her loss, from 1 October 1941 until 6 August 1942.
First and second patrols
U-432's first patrol was from Kirkenes in Norway, she was rammed by a Soviet escort on 25 November 1941 off the Kola Peninsula; damage was slight. She arrived back at Kirkenes on the 27th.
She then headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the
Third patrol
Having left St. Nazaire on 3 February 1942, as part of Operation
The next day she sank the American destroyer USS Jacob Jones. The 'four-stacker', completed in October 1919, was the first warship to be lost to enemy action in US waters.[3]
On the return leg toward France, she sank the in-ballast Ingerto on 12 March 1942 in mid-Atlantic. She docked at St. Nazaire on the 25th.
Fourth patrol
Patrol number four was the boat's longest (58 days), but in terms of tonnage sunk, her most successful. She attacked Polyphermus on 27 May 1942 340 nautical miles (630 km; 390 mi) north of Bermuda. She also sank Berganger on 2 June southeast of Cape Cod.
Fifth patrol and loss
The boat set out from St. Nazaire for the last time on 6 August 1942. She was posted missing in the Bay of Biscay from that date, with no explanation for her loss.
Forty-nine men died with U-578; there were no survivors.
Previously recorded fate
Sunk on 10 August 1942 in the
Summary of raiding history
Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 1] | Fate[4] |
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27 February 1942 | R.P. Resor
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7,451 | Sunk |
28 February 1942 | USS Jacob Jones | ![]() |
1,090 | Sunk |
12 March 1942 | Ingerto | ![]() |
3,089 | Sunk |
27 May 1942 | Polyphemus | ![]() |
6,269 | Sunk |
2 June 1942 | Berganger | ![]() |
6,826 | Sunk |
References
Notes
- gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
Citations
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-578". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, pp. 43–46.
- ISBN 0-06-016155-8, p. 310
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-578". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Der U-Boot-Krieg, 1939-1945: Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945] (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Eric; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). German Warships 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-578". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.