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German submarine U-514
Career War Ensign of Germany 1938-1945
Name: U-514
Ordered: 14 February 1940
Builder: Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
Yard number: 310
Laid down: 29 April 1941
Launched: 18 November 1941
Commissioned: 24 January 1942
Fate: Sunk 8 July 1943[1]
General characteristics
Type: Type IXC submarine
Displacement: 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced
1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged
Length: 76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) o/a
58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull
Beam: 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) o/a
4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height: 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Draft: 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)
Propulsion: 2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW)
2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW)
Speed: 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h) surfaced
7.7 knots (14.3 km/h) submerged
Range: 24,880 nmi (46,080 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced
117 nmi (217 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged
Test depth: 230 m (750 ft)
Complement: 48 to 56
Armament: • 6 × torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern)
• 22 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes
• 1 × 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun[2] (110 rounds)
• AA guns
Service record[3][4]
Part of: 4th U-boat Flotilla
(24 January – 31 August 1942)
10th U-boat Flotilla
(1 September 1942 – 8 July 1943)
Commanders: Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Auffermann
(24 January 1942 – 8 July 1943)
Operations: 1st patrol: 15 August – 9 November 1942
2nd patrol: 9 December 1942 – 12 February 1943
3rd patrol: 15 April – 22 May 1943
4th patrol: 1–8 July 1943
Victories: Four commercial ships sunk (16,329 GRT)
two commercial ship damaged (13,551 GRT)
two commercial ship a total loss (8,202 GRT)

German submarine U-514 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down by Hamburg Werft as 'werk' 310 on 29 April 1941, launched on 18 November and commissioned in December 1941 under Kapitänleutnant Hans-Jürgen Auffermann.

The U-boat was assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla for training between 24 January and 31 August 1942 and then the 10th flotilla for operations from 1 September until her loss.

Operational career[]

1st patrol[]

U-514's operational career began with a short journey from Kiel in Germany to Kristiansand in Norway over 12 and 13 August 1942. She then almost immediately headed west into the Atlantic via the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands. Her first victim was the British sailing schooner Helen Forsey in mid-ocean. Following this success, she moved toward the northern coast of South America, where she attacked five ships. One of them was the Canadian merchant vessel SS Cornwallis on 11 September 1942 off Barbados, firing six torpedoes into Carlisle Bay. These either missed or impacted on the harbor's anti-torpedo netting. After returning fire with her four-inch gun, Cornwallis sustained a strike from one torpedo that had passed through one of at least four damaged portions of the netting around 4:30 PM. The ship was beached, lest she sink in the harbor, repaired and subsequently returned to service.[5] The boat returned to occupied France, docking in Lorient on 9 November after sinking over 17,000 tons of shipping in 87 days at sea.

2nd patrol[]

Her second foray between 9 December 1942 and 12 February 1943, although at 66 days not as long as her first, still accounted for 15,270 tons of shipping.

3rd patrol[]

On her third patrol, the outbound boat was attacked twice in the same day, 17 April 1943. The first was by a Wellington of 172 Squadron RAF; the second was by a Whitley of 10 Squadron. Both attacks were unsuccessful, as was U-514's patrol.

4th patrol[]

The German submarine departed Lorient on 1 July 1943 but was sunk on the 8th northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain by rockets fitted to a British Librator of 224 Squadron in the Bay of Biscay among a group of Spanish fishing boats.[5] This modification, although effective in this case, was not adopted for use by such an aircraft as the Liberator.

Raiding history[]

Date Name Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)
Fate[6]
6 September 1942 Helen Farsey Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 167 Sunk
11 September 1942 Cornwallis Flag of Canada Canada 5,458 Damaged
15 September 1942 Kioto Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 3,297 Sunk
28 September 1942 Lages Flag of Brazil Brazil 5,472 Total loss
28 September 1942 Osorio Flag of Brazil Brazil 2,730 Total loss
12 October 1942 Steel Scientist Flag of the United States USA 5,688 Sunk
3 January 1943 British Vigilance Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 8,093 Damaged
27 January 1943 Charles C. Pinckney Flag of the United States USA 7,177 Sunk

References[]

  1. Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 129.
  2. Campbell, John Naval Weapons of World War Two ISBN 0-87021-459-4 pp.248&249
  3. "Type IXC U-boat U-514". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/u514.htm. Retrieved 11 September 2010. 
  4. "War Patrols by U-boat U-514". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/patrols/u514.html. Retrieved 11 September 2010. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Humphrey Metzgen and John Graham, Caribbean Wars Untold: A Salute to the British West Indies, University of West Indies Press, 2007, ISBN 976-640-203-5, ISBN 978-976-640-203-7
  6. http://www.uboat.net/boats/successes/u514.html


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