| German submarine U-346 | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Name: | U-346 |
| Ordered: | 10 April 1941 |
| Builder: | Nordseewerke, Emden |
| Yard number: | 218 |
| Laid down: | 28 October 1942 |
| Launched: | 13 April 1943[1] |
| Commissioned: | 7 June 1943[2] |
| Fate: | Sunk in an accident, 20 September 1943[3] |
| 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 | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (7 June–20 September 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Arno Leisten (7 June–20 September 1943) |
| Operations: | None |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-346 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down at the Nordseewerke in Emden as werk 218 on 28 October 1942, launched on 13 April 1943 and commissioned on 7 June of the same year under the command of Oberleutnant Arno Leisten. She had been built for operations during the Battle of the Atlantic, but was the victim of an accident before she started operations.
On 20 September 1943, the boat was undergoing diving trials as part of the 8th U-boat flotilla in Danzig Bay in the Baltic Sea; an unknown mechanical fault occurred, sending the submarine into a crash dive from which she never recovered, descending to the bottom of the bay, where she and her crew remain to this day. 37 people died on U-346, but unfortunately for the Kriegsmarine, the personnel aboard the boat were not regular U-boat crew, but a combination of the ship's officers (who were all killed), and dockyard experts on submarine operating systems (six of whom escaped the wreck), whose loss was far more severe than the loss of the boat of its crew, had they been aboard.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 146.
- ↑ Kemp, p. 146.
- ↑ Kemp, p. 146.
- Sharpe, Peter, U-Boat Fact File, Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
- U-346 webpage at uboat.net
Coordinates: 54°25′N 19°50′E / 54.417°N 19.833°E
The original article can be found at German submarine U-346 and the edit history here.