German submarine U-6 (1935)
 U-1, the first Type II boat
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | U-6 |
| Ordered | 2 February 1935 |
| Builder | Deutsche Werke, Kiel |
| Cost | 1,500,000 Reichsmark |
| Yard number | 241 |
| Laid down | 11 February 1935 |
| Launched | 21 August 1935 |
| Commissioned | 7 September 1935 |
| Decommissioned | 7 August 1944 at Gotenhafen |
| Fate | Stricken, 7 August 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type IIA coastal submarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
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| Beam |
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| Height | 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in) |
| Draught | 3.83 m (12 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 | 80 m (260 ft) |
| Complement | 3 officers, 22 men |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Part of: |
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| Identification codes: | M 00 130 |
| Commanders: |
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| Operations: |
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| Victories: | No ships sunk or damaged |
The German submarine U-6 was a long-lived but very inactive
.As she was one of the first batch of boats built following the renunciation of the Treaty of Versailles, she was capable of only coastal and short cruising work. This led to her being reassigned to training duties after the Norwegian campaign in 1940.
Design
MWM RS 127 S four-stroke, six-cylinder diesel engines of 700 metric horsepower (510 kW; 690 shp) for cruising, two Siemens-Schuckert PG VV 322/36 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 360 metric horsepower (260 kW; 360 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 0.85 m (3 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 80–150 metres (260–490 ft).[2]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 6.9 knots (12.8 km/h; 7.9 mph).2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of 25.[2]
Service history
Built at
destroyers of the Polish Navy, the Burza, Błyskawica, and Grom, executing Peking Plan, on their way to Great Britain, but no action was undertaken.[3] However, once war began, it was painfully clear that U-6 and her sisters were not capable of competing with other nations' larger and faster boats, and so after an initial patrol in the Baltic Sea
, U-6 was not deployed again until March 1940, when every ship available to the Kriegsmarine was sent to support the invasion of Norway. During the month-long campaign, U-6's sister boats suffered numerous losses, and gained a reputation as something of a liability, which led them to be withdrawn to a training squadron in the Baltic for the remainder of the war.
In the Baltic, U-6 trained officer cadets in the skills needed to fight in the
Gotenhafen
with a skeleton crew to perform maintenance. There she remained until May 1945, when a demolition team blew her up at her berth to prevent her falling into enemy hands.
References
- ^ Busch & Röll 1999, p. 283.
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Grzegorz Bukała (2002). Historia operacyjna niemieckich okrętów podwodnych w II w. ś. Typ II A. in: „Okręty Wojenne” No. 53. ISSN 1231-014X (in Polish)
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.
- 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.
- Sharpe, Peter (1998). U-Boat Fact File. Great Britain: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIA boat U-6". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 6". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2015.