| German submarine U-315 | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Name: | U-315 |
| Ordered: | 25 August 1941 |
| Builder: | Flender Werke, Lübeck |
| Yard number: | 315 |
| Laid down: | 7 July 1942 |
| Launched: | 29 May 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 10 July 1943 |
| Fate: | Surrendered in Norway, May 1945, broken up March 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: |
769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged |
| 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 M6V 40/46 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) surfaced 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) submerged |
| Range: |
15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| 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 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun(220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
| Service record[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (10 July 1943–28 February 1943) 11th U-boat Flotilla (1 March–14 September 1944) 13th U-boat Flotilla (15 September 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt. Herbert Zoller (10 July 1943–8 May 1945) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 21 February–9 March 1944 2nd patrol: 21 February–10 April 1944 3rd patrol: 19 April–14 May 1944 4th patrol: 30 May–10 July 1944 5th patrol: 28 August–4 September 1944 6th patrol: 8–26 September 1944 7th patrol: 29 September–3 October 1944 8th patrol: 12 October–10 November 1944 9th patrol: 21 November–6 December 1944 10th patrol: 25 December 1944–6 January 1945 11th patrol: 15 February–24 April 1945 |
| Victories: | One ship sunk, for 6,996 GRT; one warship declared a total loss (1,370 tons) |
German submarine U-315 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 7 July 1942 at the Flender Werke yard at Lübeck as 'werk' 315, launched on 29 May 1943 and commissioned on 10 July under the command of Oberleutnant Herbert Zoller. During her career, the U-boat sailed on 11 combat patrols, sinking one ship and causing another to be declared a total loss, before she surrendered in May 1945.[1]
She was a member of 13 wolfpacks.
Service history[]
The boat's service life began with training with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 10 July 1943. She was then transferred to the 11th flotilla for operations on 1 March 1944. She was reassigned to the 13th flotilla on 15 September 1944.
The boat made the short journey from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway, in February 1944.
1st patrol[]
The submarine's first patrol began with her departure from Bergen on 21 February 1944. After covering the Norwegian and Barents seas, she docked at Narvik on 9 March.
2nd - 6th patrols[]
A similar pattern now became apparent, except her sixth sortie took the U-boat to the entrance to Murmansk in the Soviet Union.
7th, 8th and 9th patrols[]
U-315's seventh foray was, at five days, her shortest; starting in Bogenbucht (west of Narvik), on 29 September 1944 and finishing in Hammerfest on 3 October. Her eighth patrol was fairly routine, after which she moved from Kilbotn to Skjomenfjord in November 1944.
The boat's ninth patrol was much the same as her eighth, passing north of Bear Island between 29 and 30 November 1944.
10th patrol[]
Patrol number 10 took the submarine to the 'gap' between the Faroe and Shetland Islands.
11th patrol[]
What turned out to be U-315's last patrol was her longest (69 days) and most successful. On 22 March 1945, she sank the Empire Kingsley northwest of Lands End. In the same area, she torpedoed HMCS Teme on 29 March. The Canadian frigate lost 60 ft (18 m) of her stern and although she did not sink, was declared a total loss.
Fate[]
The boat surrendered in Trondheim at war's end. There, she was broken up in March 1947.
Summary of raiding history[]
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 March 1945 | Empire Kingsley |  United Kingdom |
6,996 | Sunk |
| 29 March 1945 | HMCS Teme |  Canada |
1,370 | Total loss |
References[]
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-315". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/u315.htm. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "War Patrols by German U-boat U-315". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/u315.html. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u315/html
- Bibliography
See also[]
The original article can be found at German submarine U-315 and the edit history here.