German submarine U-85 (1941)
U-52, a typical Type VIIB boat
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History | ||
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Nazi Germany | ||
Name | U-85 | |
Ordered | 9 June 1938 | |
Builder | Flender Werke, Lübeck | |
Yard number | 281 | |
Laid down | 18 December 1939 | |
Launched | 10 April 1941 | |
Commissioned | 7 June 1941 | |
Fate | Sunk by USS Roper, 14 April 1942 | |
General characteristics | ||
Class and type | Type VIIB U-boat | |
Displacement | ||
Length |
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Beam |
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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 | |
Sensors and processing systems | Gruppenhorchgerät | |
Armament |
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Service record | ||
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 40 935 | |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
3 merchant ships sunk (15,060 GRT) | |
U-85 (submarine) shipwreck and remains | ||
Nearest city | MPS World War II Shipwrecks along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico MPS | |
NRHP reference No. | 15000805 | |
Added to NRHP | 12 November 2015 |
German submarine U-85 was a
.She was laid down at the Flender Werke in Lübeck on 18 December 1939 as yard number 281. Launched on 10 April 1941, she was commissioned on 7 June and assigned to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Eberhard Greger.
U-85 conducted four war patrols with the flotilla, and sank three ships, totalling 15,060
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.9 knots (33.2 km/h; 20.6 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).
Service history
First patrol
U-85 departed Trondheim in Norway on 28 August 1941 for her first patrol. She sank the Thistleglen on 10 September northeast of Cape Farewell (Greenland).
She docked at
Second patrol
U-85's second patrol started and finished in Lorient, but was unremarkable.
Third patrol
On her third foray, she sank the Empire Fusilier southeast of St. Johns, Newfoundland, after a seven-hour chase, on 9 February 1942. Nine crew members were lost.[2]
Fourth patrol and loss
Having left St. Nazaire on 21 March 1942, U-85 sank the Norwegian freighter Christen Knudsen off the coast of New Jersey on 10 April.[3]
Wolfpacks
U-85 took part in four wolfpacks, namely:
- Markgraf (1 – 11 September 1941)
- Schlagetot (20 October – 1 November 1941)
- Raubritter (1 – 17 November 1941)
- Störtebecker (17 – 22 November 1941)
Sinking
U-85 was operating within view of
Numerous men were observed in the water, but no rescue attempt was made until daylight. By then, there were no survivors among the 29 bodies floating in life jackets. Some of the bodies were wearing civilian clothes, carrying wallets with United States currency and identification cards.[5] The bodies were fingerprinted, photographed, and buried in a nighttime military ceremony at the Hampton National Cemetery.[6] U-85 lies in less than 100 ft (30 m) of water; the United States Navy briefly attempted to salvage her.[4] More recent investigation by sport divers has raised questions about Navy reports on the wreck.[7]
U-85 was the first U-boat loss of "
For their actions in sinking U-85, the Navy Cross was awarded to the Roper's captain, Lieutenant Commander Hamilton W. Howe, and his commander, Destroyer Division 54 commander Commander Stanley C. Norton.[8][9]
Wreck
The hatch of U-85 is on display in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum; the submarine herself still serves as an attraction for divers.[10] The Labrador current influences the site and visibility can be low.[11] The majority of the debris lies within a 100 metres (330 ft) radius of the wreck.[11] The wreck site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
The Enigma machine was recovered from the wreck by private divers (Jim Bunch, Roger & Rich Hunting)[12] and in 2003 the German government agreed to allow the machine to be displayed at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, in Hatteras, North Carolina.[13]
Summary of raiding history
Date | Ship[14] | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[14] |
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10 September 1941 | Thistleglen | United Kingdom | 4,748 | Sunk |
9 February 1942 | Empire Fusilier | United Kingdom | 5,408 | Sunk |
10 April 1942 | Chr. Knudsen | Norway | 4,904 | Sunk |
Total amount of tonnage: | 15,060 gross register tons |
References
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, pp. 43–44.
- ^ "Empire Fusilier". Uboat. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- OCLC 44531654.
- ^ a b Rouse, Parke, Jr., "Under the Cloak of Night", United States Naval Institute Proceedings, June 1982, pp. 74–75
- ^ Rouse suggests U-85 had been preparing to launch a raft of spies when discovered by Roper.
- ^ Larson, Chiles T.A. (20 January 2015). "U-boats in the Atlantic". Virginia Living. Cape Fear Publishing. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ^ Blair, Clay, Jr. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942 Random House (1996) p.543
- ISBN 9781467137676.
- ISBN 9780870217265. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "Wreck of the U-85". North Carolina Wreckdiving & BFDC. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ a b Hoyt, JC (2009). "2008 Battle of the Atlantic Survey Methodology". In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2009. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Thibodeau, Ryan (30 October 2017). "U-Boats Off the Outer Banks". Carolina Designs Blog. Carolina Designs Realty, Inc. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ Hadley, Miles (5 April 2003). "Home Found for "Enigmatic" WW II U-boat Relic". Naval Historical Center. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-85". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
Bibliography
- Bishop, Chris (2006). Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939–45. London: Amber Books. ISBN 978-1-904687-96-2.
- 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). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945]. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Hickam, Homer "Torpedo Junction" Naval Institute Press
- Gröner, Erich; 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
- U-85 Memorial Page with Crew members' birth dates and places
- Uboat Archive – U-85
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIB boat U-85". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 85". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2015.