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German submarine U-553
Career (Nazi Germany) Kriegsmarine Jack
Name: U-553
Ordered: 25 September 1939
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number: 529
Laid down: 21 November 1939
Launched: 7 November 1940
Commissioned: 23 December 1940
Fate: Missing, presumed sunk, in the mid North Atlantic on 20 January 1943. All hands lost[1]
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 & 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:

Kriegsmarine 7th U-boat Flotilla (Training)
1940-12-23
7th U-boat Flotilla (Front Boat)
1941-04-01

3rd U-boat Flotilla (Training)
1942-12-01 - 1943-01-20
Identification codes: M 23 789
Commanders: Kptlt. Karl Thurmann
1940-12-23 — 1943-01-20
Operations: 10 patrols
Victories:

14 ships sunk for a total of 71,779 gross register tons (GRT)

one ship damaged of 8,106 GRT

German submarine U-553 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the Nazi German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.

History[]

Her keel was laid down 21 November 1939, by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg as 'werk' 529. She was launched on 7 November 1940 and commissioned on 23 December, with Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann in command. He was captain for her entire career.

Her service began with training under the 7th U-boat Flotilla and moved on to operations on 1 April 1941. She then transferred to the 3rd flotilla on 1 December 1942. She was a member of 10 wolfpacks. She moved from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway in April 1941.

1st patrol[]

The boat departed Bergen on 19 April 1941 and headed for the Atlantic via the gap between the Faeroe and Shetland Islands. She arrived at her new base of St. Nazaire in occupied France on 2 May 1941 after suffering serious engine trouble.

2nd patrol[]

Departing St. Nazaire on 7 June, she achieved success north of the Azores, by sinking the Susan Maersk (she went down in 90 seconds)[2] and the Ranella (she broke in two)[3] both on 12 June 1941.

3rd, 4th and 5th patrols[]

Her next three sorties met with mixed fortune; her third patrol saw no success, despite ranging far and wide over the north Atlantic.

U-553's next foray saw her attack merchantmen such as the Silvercedar, (sunk on 15 October 1941)[4] and HMS Gladiolus (sunk on 17 October).[5]

The boat's fifth patrol took her toward the eastern Canadian/US coast where she succeeded in damaging the Diala on 15 January 1942[6] and sinking the Innerøy on 22 January.[7]

6th and 7th patrols[]

The boat's sixth patrol took her from St. Nazaire as far north as the Faeroe Islands. It was unsuccessful.

Outing number seven saw the submarine penetrate the Gulf of St. Lawrence where she sank two ships; the Leto[8] and the Nicoya.[9] The Mattawin[10] was sent to the bottom of the Atlantic.

8th patrol[]

The boat's eighth patrol began with her departure from St. Nazaire on 19 July and to which she returned on 17 September after 61 days at sea, her longest. In that time, she damaged the Belgian Soldier off Newfoundland[11] and attacked three other ships near Cuba.[12][13] one of which, the Empire Bede, was sunk by gunfire from HMS Pimpernel.[14]

9th patrol[]

Her last full patrol commenced on 23 November 1942; she sank the Charles L D on 9 December 1942. She returned to France, but this time La Pallice on 18 December.[15]

Loss[]

Her tenth and final sortie began with her departure from La Pallice on 16 January 1943. On the 20th, she sent a radio message: "Sehrohr unklar" (periscope unready for action), and was never heard from again. She had suffered no casualties to her crew until lost with all hands. She most probably sank because of technical problems and was officially declared missing on 28 January 1943.[16]

Raiding history[]

Date Ship Nationality Tonnage Fate[17]
12 June 1941 Ranella Flag of Norway Norway 5,590 Sunk
12 June 1941 Susan Maersk Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 2,355 Sunk
15 October 1941 Ila Flag of Norway Norway 1,583 Sunk
15 October 1941 Silvercedar Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 4,354 Sunk
17 October 1941 HMS Gladiolus Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 925 Sunk
15 January 1942 Diala Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 8,106 Damaged
22 January 1942 Innerøy Flag of Norway Norway 8,260 Sunk
12 May 1942 Leto Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 4,712 Sunk
12 May 1942 Nicoya Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 5,364 Sunk
2 June 1942 Matawin Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 6,919 Sunk
3 August 1942 Belgian Soldier Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium 7,167 Damaged
18 August 1942 Blankaholm Flag of Sweden Sweden 2,845 Sunk
18 August 1942 Empire Bede Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 6,959 Sunk
18 August 1942 John Hancock US flag 48 stars United States 7,176 Sunk
9 December 1942 Charles L D Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 5,273 Sunk

U-553 in fiction[]

Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon includes a fictitious U-553 which runs aground about ten miles north of Qwghlm, a fictional pair of islands, Inner Qwghlm and Outer Qwghlm, off the northwestern coast of Great Britain.

See also[]

References[]

  1. Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 100.
  2. "Ship Details: Susan Maersk". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=2. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  3. "Ship Details: Ranella". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=1. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  4. "Ship Details: Silvercedar". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=4. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  5. "Ship Details: Gladiolus". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=5. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  6. "Ship Details: Diala". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=6. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  7. "U-553". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  8. "Ship Details: Leto". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=7. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  9. "Ship Details: Nicoya". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=8. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  10. "Ship Details: Mattawin". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=9. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  11. "Ship Details: Belgian Soldier". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=10. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  12. "Ship Details: Blankaholm". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=13. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  13. "Ship Details: Empire Bede". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=12. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  14. "Empire Bede". Uboat. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2065.html. Retrieved 29 October 2009.  (classed as sunk by U-553)
  15. "Ship Details: Charles L D". Ubootwaffe. http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=553;nr=14. Retrieved 29 October 2009. 
  16. Paul Kemp (1998) (in German). Die deutschen und österreichischen U-Boot-Verluste in beiden Weltkriegen. Urbes. p. 103. ISBN 978-3-924896-43-0. 
  17. http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u553.html

Sources[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at German submarine U-553 and the edit history here.
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