| German submarine U-205 | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Name: | U-205 |
| Ordered: | 23 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 634 |
| Laid down: | 19 June 1940 |
| Launched: | 20 March 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 3 May 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk 17 February 1943 by HMS Paladin at 32.56N, 22.01E |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: |
769 tonnes (757 long tons) ↑ 871 t (857 long tons) ↓ |
| Length: |
67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: |
6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296. |
| Speed: |
17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) ↑ 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) ↓ |
| Range: |
8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h) ↑ 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) ↓ |
| Test depth: |
230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers and ratings |
| Armament: |
• 5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) • 14 × G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × C35 8.8cm/L45 deck gun (220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
| Service record[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
3rd U-boat Flotilla (May–November 1941) 29th U-boat Flotilla (November 1941–17 February 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Franz-Georg Reschke, (March 1941–October 1942) Friedrich Bürgel (August 1942–February 1943) |
| Operations: | Twelve patrols |
| Victories: | Two ships sunk |
German submarine U-205 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 19 June 1940 by the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as 'werk' 634; launched on 20 March 1941; and commissioned on 3 May 1941 under the command of Franz-Georg Reschke. She was sunk on 17 February 1943 by HMS Paladin at 32°56′N 22°01′E / 32.933°N 22.017°E.
Operational career[]
Part of the 3rd U-boat Flotilla, U-205 carried out two patrols in the North Atlantic. Joining 29th U-boat Flotilla, she carried out a further ten patrols in the Mediterranean.
1st patrol[]
U-205's first patrol began when she left Trondheim on 24 July 1941; she travelled through the 'gap' between Greenland and Iceland (the Denmark Strait) and docked at Brest in occupied France, on 23 August 1941.
2nd patrol[]
Leaving Lorient on 23 September 1941, U-205 was attacked and damaged by aircraft on the 27th and returned to port, arriving in Lorient on 2 October 1941.
3rd patrol[]
On 3 November 1941 U-205 left Lorient and joined Wolfpack Arnauld. Breaking through the Gibraltar barrage, U-205 joined the 29th U-Flotilla in La Spezia on 10 December 1941.
4th patrol[]
U-205 left La Spezia on 5 January 1942 and returned on 10 February.
5th patrol[]
Having left La Spezia on the 17th, U-205 encountered the fleet tanker RFA Slavol on her way to Tobruk on 26 March 1942 and sank her with a torpedo from her stern torpedo tube after a four-torpedo-screen failed to generate any hits.
6th patrol[]
Saling from La Spezia on 6 May 1942, U-205 reached Salamis on 8 June 1942.
7th patrol[]
On the return leg, U-205 successfully attacked the British light cruiser HMS Hermione on 16 June 1942, guarding convoy MW-11. The U-boat docked in La Spezia on the 23rd.
8th patrol[]
On 3 August 1942, U-205 sailed from La Spezia for Pula, arriving there on 10 September 1942.
9th patrol[]
Pola, 20 October 1942 – La Spezia, 19 November 1942
10th patrol[]
La Spezia, 20 November 1942 – Pola, 24 November 1942
11th patrol[]
Pola, 12 January 1943 – Salamis 26 January 1943
Last patrol and sinking[]
Leaving Salamis on 2 February 1943, U-205 was manoeuvering to attack a convoy off Apollonia, Cyrenaica on 17 February 1943 when she was spotted by a Bristol Blenheim bomber of the South African Air Force and attacked by British destroyer HMS Paladin at 32.56N 22.01E. Forced to surface by depth charges, U-205's crew abandoned ship after opening the sea vents. A boarding party from HMS Paladin managed to salvage documents and radio equipment. A second warship, HMS Gloxinia, attempted to tow the still-floating submarine to the beach, but failed. U-205 sank about 1,000 metres off shore.
Aftermath[]
U-205 is widely believed to be the submarine with the erroneous number U-307 in Peter Keeble's book Ordeal by Water, in which he describes his dive to recover encrypting equipment from a sunken U-boat.
Summary of raiding Career[]
| Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Displacement | Fate[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 March 1942 | RFA Slavol |  United Kingdom |
2,623 | Sunk |
| 16 June 1942 | HMS Hermione | United Kingdom |
5,450 | Sunk |
References[]
- Notes
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-205 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/u205.htm. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ↑ "War Patrols by German U-boat U-205 - Boats - uboat.net". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/u205.html. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u205/html
- Bibliography
- U-205 at uboat.net
- U-205 at ubootwaffe.net
- Jak Mallmann Showell, Enigma U-boats, 2000, p. 95.
External links[]
- U-205 at u-boot-archiv.de (German)
See also[]
The original article can be found at German submarine U-205 and the edit history here.