| German submarine U-516 | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Name: | U-516 |
| Ordered: | 14 February 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Laid down: | 12 May 1941 |
| Launched: | 16 December 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 February 1942 |
| Fate: | Surrendered, May 1945 at Loch Eriboll in Scotland; transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland. Sunk, January 1946 |
| 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) overall 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: |
6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) overall 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, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: |
18.2 knots (33.7 km/h) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 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 × 55 cm (22 in) torpedoes 1 × 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun[1] (110 rounds) |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (10 March 1942–31 August 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1–30 September 1944) 33rd U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Commanders: |
Korvkpt. Gehard Wiebe (10 March 1942–23 June 1943) Hans Pauckstadt (11–27 May 1942) Kptlt. Herbert Kuppisch (24–30 June 1943) Kptlt. Hans-Rutger Tillessen (1 July–December 1944) Oblt. Friedrich Petran (December 1944–14 May 1945) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 15 August–14 November 1942 2nd patrol: 23 December 1942–5 May 1943 3rd patrol: 8 July–23 August 1943 4th patrol: 4 October 1943–26 February 1944 5th patrol: 7 May–4 October 1944 6th patrol: 6 April–14 May 1945 |
| Victories: | 16 ships sunk, total (89,385 GRT); one warship damaged, 9,867 tons. |
German submarine U-516 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft (yard) in Hamburg as 'werk' 312 on 12 May 1941, launched on 16 December 1941 and commissioned on 21 February 1942 with Korvettenkapitän Gerhard Wiebe in command.
U-516 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 10 March 1941. She was re-assigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 September 1942, then the 33rd flotilla on 1 October 1944.
She carried out six patrols, sank 16 ships and damaged one more. She surrendered in May 1945 at Loch Eriboll in Scotland and was transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk in January 1946.
Operational career[]
1st patrol[]
U-516'es first patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel in Germany to Kristiansand in Norway. The patrol itself began with the boat's departure from Kristiansand on 15 August 1942. She passed through the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean.
She damaged the Port Jackson with 14 rounds from her deck gun 480 mi (770 km) west of Cape Clear, (at the southern tip of Ireland], on the 27th, after a spread of four torpedoes had missed. A small fire was started on the ship, but her accurate return fire discouraged the U-boat which broke off the attack. Port Jackson escaped at top speed into haze.
The boat moved to the waters off northern South America where her success rate shot-up, although one target required seven torpedoes to sink her.
She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 14 November.
2nd and 3rd patrols[]
For her second foray, U-516 headed toward South Africa. She sank three ships in the vicinity of East London and a fourth off the coast of southern Namibia.
Her third sortie was also in a southerly direction; its furthest point was reached between South America and the Cape Verde Islands.[2]
4th patrol[]
Patrol number four took the boat to the Caribbean Sea. One of her victims was the Colombian sailing ship Ruby, which was sunk with the deck gun on 18 November 1943. Another was the Elizabeth Kellog. This ship, which had been torpedoed and abandoned on the 23rd, ran around the survivors (she was still underway because the engines could not be secured). Her after magazine exploded and she burned for 12 hours before sinking. The U-boat was damaged by an unidentified aircraft on 19 December 1943.
5th patrol[]
The boat's fifth patrol saw her sink the Esso Harrisburg 200 mi (320 km) northwest of Aruba in the Caribbean.[3] She then made her way to Flensburg via the Denmark Strait that separates Greenland and Iceland. She docked at the German harbour on 4 October 1944.
6th patrol and fate[]
Having moved from Kiel to Horten, (south of Oslo) and then Kristiansand, she left the Norwegian port on 5 April 1945. She surrendered at Loch Eriboll on 14 May and was then transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk on 2 January 1946 at 56.06N 09.00W.
Summary of raiding history[]
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 August 1942 | Port Jackson |  United Kingdom |
9,867 | Damaged |
| 31 August 1942 | Jack Carnes |  USA |
10,907 | Sunk |
| 19 September 1942 | Whichita | USA |
6,174 | Sunk |
| 7 November 1942 | Nathaniel Hawthorn | USA |
7,176 | Sunk |
| 28 September 1942 | Antonico |  Brazil |
1,223 | Sunk |
| 30 September 1942 | Alipore | United Kingdom |
5,273 | Sunk |
| 24 October 1942 | Holmpark | United Kingdom |
5,780 | Sunk |
| 17 February 1943 | Deer Lodge | USA |
6,187 | Sunk |
| 27 February 1943 | Colombia |  Netherlands |
10,782 | Sunk |
| 20 March 1943 | Nortun |  Panama |
3,663 | Sunk |
| 13 November 1943 | Pompoon | Panama |
1,082 | Sunk |
| 18 November 1943 | Ruby | United Kingdom |
39 | Sunk |
| 23 November 1943 | Elizabeth Kellog | USA |
5,189 | Sunk |
| 24 November 1943 | Melville E. Stone | USA |
7,176 | Sunk |
| 8 December 1943 | Colombia | Panama |
1,064 | Sunk |
| 16 December 1943 | McDowell | USA |
10,195 | Sunk |
| 7 July 1944 | Esso Harrisburg | USA |
9,887 | Sunk |
References[]
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Notes[]
- ↑ Campbell, John Naval Weapons of World War Two ISBN 0-87021-459-4 pp.248 and 249
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, ISBN 0 7230 0809 4, p. 52
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World, p 69
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u516/html
External links[]
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Coordinates: 56°06′N 9°00′W / 56.1°N 9°W
The original article can be found at German submarine U-516 and the edit history here.