| German submarine U-532 | |
|---|---|
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
| Name: | U-532 |
| Ordered: | 15 August 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 347 |
| Laid down: | 7 January 1942 |
| Launched: | 26 August 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 11 November 1942 |
| Fate: | Surrendered, May 1945 at Loch Eriboll in Scotland, then Loch Ryan. Sunk, December 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type IXC/40 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: |
6.9 m (22 ft 8 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 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: |
19 knots (35 km/h) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h) submerged |
| Range: |
25,620 nmi (47,450 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 × Utof 105 mm/45 deck gun (110 rounds) • AA guns |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (11 November 1942–31 March 1943) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (1 April 1943–30 September 1944) 33rd U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Commanders: |
Frkpt. Ottoheinrich Junker (11 November 1942–10 May 1945) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 29 March–15 May 1943 2nd patrol: 3 July–30 October 1943 3rd patrol: 4 January–19 April 1944 4th patrol: 13 January–13 May 1945 |
| Victories: |
Eight ships sunk, 46,895 GRT; two ships damaged, 13,128 GRT. |
German submarine U-532 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' 347 on 7 January 1942, launched on 26 August and commissioned on 11 November with Kapitänleutnant Ottoheinrich Junker in command.
U-532 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 11 November 1942. She was re-assigned to the 2nd flotilla for operations on 1 April 1943, then the 33rd flotilla on 1 October 1944.
She carried out four patrols, sank eight ships and damaged two others. She was a member of three wolfpacks. She surrendered in May 1945 at Loch Eriboll in Scotland; she was then transferred to Loch Ryan for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk in December 1945.
Operational career[]
1st patrol[]
The boat departed Kiel on 25 March 1943, moved through the North Sea, negotiated the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and entered the Atlantic Ocean. There, east of Greenland, she was intercepted by the escorts of Convoy ON (S) 5 and damaged in a 15 hour engagement.
She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 15 May 1943.
2nd patrol[]
Her second foray involved a move to the Far East. Departing Lorient on 3 August 1943, she had rounded Africa by the 27th and entered the Indian Ocean. On 19 September she sank the Fort Longueuil southwest of the Chagos Archipelago (south southwest of the Indian mainland).[1] Two Indian crewmen, the only survivors, came ashore on a raft in Sumatra, after spending 134 days adrift; they became prisoners of the Japanese on 1 February 1944. U-532 went on to sink other ships, such as the Tashina, (using the deck gun), on 1 October 1943, northeast of the Maldive Islands.[2] She also damaged the British Purpose south of Mangalore[3] on the 20th. This ship fell out of line in her convoy after being hit; the following vessel in the line, the California Standard, struck her a glancing blow but the damage was slight.
The submarine docked in Penang, in Malaya (now Malaysia),on 30 October.
3rd patrol[]
The pickings continued to be rich; amongst other victims, she sank the Tulagi northeast of Cape Comorin in southern India[4] on 27 March 1944. The ship capsized and sank in less than 30 seconds.[5]
U-532 moved from Penang to Singapore in May 1944 and on to Batavia (now Jakarta in Indonesia) in December.
4th patrol[]
For her fourth sortie, the boat sank the Baron Jedburgh on 10 March 1945 and the Oklahoma on the 28th. She returned to Europe in May following the German capitulation.
Fate[]
U-532, a Type IXC/40 submarine. Photographed entering Gladstone Dock, Liverpool after surrender to the Royal Navy.
The submarine docked at Liverpool on 10 May 1945 before moving to Loch Eriboll and to Loch Ryan (both in Scotland) on the 17th, for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk at 56.08N 10,07W by a torpedo from the British submarine HMS Tantivy on 9 December.
Summary of raiding history[]
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 September 1943 | Fort Longueuil |  United Kingdom |
7,128 | Sunk |
| 29 September 1943 | Banffshire | United Kingdom |
6,749 | Sunk |
| 1 October 1943 | Tashina | United Kingdom |
7,267 | Sunk |
| 11 October 1943 | Jalabla |  India |
3,610 | Sunk |
| 20 October 1943 | British Purpose | United Kingdom |
5,845 | Damaged |
| 11 January 1944 | Triona | United Kingdom |
7,283 | Damaged |
| 26 January 1944 | Walter Camp |  USA |
7,176 | Sunk |
| 27 March 1944 | Tulagi | United Kingdom |
2,281 | Sunk |
| 10 March 1945 | Baron Jedburgh | United Kingdom |
3,656 | Sunk |
| 28 March 1944 | Oklahoma | USA |
9,298 | Sunk |
References[]
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Notes[]
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, ISBN 0 7230 0809 4, p. 36
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World, p 39
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World, p 39
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World, p 39
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u532/html
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u532/html
External links[]
- Uboat.net: U-532
- [1] U-532 at Ubootwaffe
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Coordinates: 56°08′N 10°07′W / 56.133°N 10.117°W
The original article can be found at German submarine U-532 and the edit history here.