German submarine U-644
History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-644 |
Ordered | 20 January 1941 |
Builder | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
Yard number | 620 |
Laid down | 1 December 1941 |
Launched | 20 August 1942 |
Commissioned | 15 October 1942 |
Fate | Sunk by HMS Tuna in position 69°38′N 5°40′W / 69.633°N 5.667°W on 7 April 1943 |
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 |
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Test depth |
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Complement | 4 officers, 40–56 enlisted |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 49 683 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: | None |
German submarine U-644 was a
Attached to 5th U-boat Flotilla based at Kiel, U-644 completed her training period on 31 March 1943 and was assigned to front-line service.
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
In April 1943, U-644 was on patrol between Shetland and Jan Mayen. British signals intelligence had pinpointed the U-boat's position and HMS Tuna was dispatched to hunt down U-644. On 7 April, the British submarine detected the U-boat only 500 metres (550 yd) away and fired a spread of five torpedoes. Two torpedoes hit U-644, which sank with all 45 crew members on board, there were no survivors.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, pp. 43–46.
- ^ Busch & Röll 1999b, pp. 84–85.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999a). 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 (1999b). 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-644". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 644". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Archived from the original on 1 May 2003. Retrieved 21 July 2015.