German submarine U-67 (1940)
U-67 entering port
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History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-67 |
Ordered | 7 August 1939[1] |
Builder | |
Yard number | 986[1] |
Laid down | 5 April 1940[1] |
Launched | 30 October 1940[1] |
Commissioned | 22 January 1941[1] |
Fate | Sunk 16 July 1943 in the Sargasso Sea[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type IXC submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 230 m (750 ft) |
Complement | 4 officers, 44 enlisted48 to 56 |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 26 049 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
German submarine U-67 was a
Her service life began with training with the 2nd U-boat Flotilla on her commissioning date; the boat was declared operational with the same flotilla on 1 September 1941.
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).
Service history
The boat carried out seven patrols in which she sank 13 ships for a total of 72,138 GRT and damaged another five for a total of 29,726 GRT. She was a member of three wolfpacks.
She was sunk on 16 July 1943 by an Avenger bomber from the US aircraft carrier USS Core. 48 men died, there were three survivors.
Her operational service commenced with a trip from Bergen in Norway to Lorient in France. The submarine was to spend the rest of her career being based in the French port.
First, second and third patrols
She sank St. Clair II west northwest of the
On her second patrol she was attacked by the British corvette Bluebell on 11 December 1941 west of Gibraltar; slight damage was incurred. U-208 was originally thought to have been sunk.
Her third effort, which began with the U-boat's departure from Lorient on 19 January 1942, took her to the Caribbean, where she sank Penelope, about 150 nmi (280 km; 170 mi) west of Dominica on 14 March.
Fourth, fifth and sixth patrols and loss
Her fourth patrol, as part of
Her fifth sortie turned out to be her longest - 97 days. Moving to the area off the north coast of South America, she sank a further six ships, but her success was marred by an explosion while handling torpedoes. One man was killed.
Patrol number six included being part of wolfpack Seeräuber ("Pirate") which was unfortunate as the boat was badly damaged in an attack on the convoy RS 3. Three U-boats (from a total of eight) were hit in the battle, which took place south of the Canary Islands.
The submarine began her seventh and final patrol on 10 May 1943. On 16 July, U-67 was spotted by a Grumman TBF Avenger, piloted by Lt. Robert Pershing Williams of VC-13 embarked in USS Core, who attacked with four Mk.7 depth charges, sinking the boat. An escort, USS McCormick, was dispatched to the scene and picked up three survivors out of a crew of 51 in position 30°05′N 44°17′W / 30.083°N 44.283°W.[5]
Wolfpacks
U-67 took part in three wolfpacks, namely:
- Seeräuber (14 – 23 December 1941)
- Wohlgemut (12 – 22 March 1943)
- Seeräuber (25 – 30 March 1943)
Summary of raiding history
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
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24 September 1941 | St Clair | United Kingdom | 3,753 | Sunk |
16 February 1942 | Rafaela | Netherlands | 3,177 | Damaged |
21 February 1942 | Kongsgaard | Norway | 9,467 | Sunk |
14 March 1942 | Penelope | Panama | 8,436 | Sunk |
16 June 1942 | Managua | Netherlands | 2,220 | Sunk |
20 June 1942 | Nortind | Norway | 8,221 | Damaged |
23 June 1942 | Raleigh Warner | United States | 3,664 | Sunk |
29 June 1942 | Empire Mica | United Kingdom | 8,032 | Sunk |
6 July 1942 | Bayard | Norway | 2,160 | Sunk |
7 July 1942 | Paul H. Harwood | United States | 6,610 | Damaged |
10 July 1942 | Benjamin Brewster | United States | 5,950 | Sunk |
13 July 1942 | R. W. Gallagher | United States | 7,989 | Sunk |
25 October 1942 | Primero | Norway | 4,414 | Sunk |
8 November 1942 | Capo Olmo | United Kingdom | 4,712 | Damaged |
9 November 1942 | Nidarland | Norway | 6,132 | Sunk |
15 November 1942 | King Arthur | United Kingdom | 5,224 | Sunk |
18 November 1942 | Tortugas | Norway | 4,697 | Sunk |
28 November 1942 | Empire Glade | United Kingdom | 7,006 | Damaged |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-67". German U-boats of World War II. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, p. 68.
- ISBN 978-0-06-016155-2.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-67". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ Busch & Röll 1999, pp. 116–-117.
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. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-67". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 67". Deutsche U-Boote 1935–1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2015.