German submarine U-621

Service record
Part of:	8th U-boat Flotilla; (7 May 1942 - 30 September 1942) - Training; 9th U-boat Flotilla; (1 October 1942 - 18 August 1944)
Commanders:	Kptlt. Horst Schünemann; (7 May 1942 - 4 December 1942); Oblt. Max Kruschka; (4 December 1942 - 7 May 1944); Oblt. Hermann Stuckmann; (15 May 1944 - 18 August 1944);
Operations:	1st patrol:; 29 September 1942 - 5 November 1942; 2nd patrol:; 5 December 1942 - 5 January 1943; 3rd patrol:; 1 February 1943 - 23 March 1943; 4th patrol:; 22 April 1943 - 3 June 1943; 5th patrol:; 22 August 1943 - 28 September 1943; 6th patrol:; 6 January 1944 - 23 January 1944; 7th patrol:; 21 February 1944 - 19 April 1944; 8th patrol:; 6 June 1944 - 23 June 1944; 9th patrol:; 15 July 1944 - 11 August 1944; 10th patrol:; 13 August 1944 - 18 August 1944
Victories:	4 merchant ships sunk (20,159 GRT); 1 merchant ship damaged (10,048 GRT); 1 warship sunk (2,938 tons); 1 warship damaged (1,625 tons)

German submarine U-621
German submarine U-621
Name:	U-621
Ordered:	15 August 1940
Builder:	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number:	597
Laid down:	1 July 1941
Launched:	19 March 1942
Commissioned:	7 May 1942
Fate:	Sunk on 18 August 1944 near La Rochelle at position 45°52′N 02°36′W / 45.867°N 2.6°W by depth charges from Canadian destroyers HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Kootenay and HMCS Chaudiere.
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 F46 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 (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced; 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) 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 (4 bow, 1 stern); 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines; 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds); Various AA guns

German submarine U-621 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 1 July 1941 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as 'werk' 597, launched on 19 March 1942 and commissioned on 7 May 1942 under Kapitänleutnant Horst Schünemann.

Service History[]

The boat's service began on 7 May 1942 for training as part of the 8th U-boat Flotilla. After training was completed she transferred to the 9th flotilla on 1 October 1942 for active service.

In 10 patrols she sank 4 merchant ships for a total of 20,159 GRT, plus 1 auxiliary warship. She also damaged 2 ships.

Wolf Packs[]

She took part in 11 wolfpacks, namely,

Panther (10 Oct 1942 – 16 Oct 1942)
Puma (16 Oct 1942 – 29 Oct 1942)
Raufbold (11 Dec 1942 – 18 Dec 1942)
Hartherz (3 Feb 1943 – 7 Feb 1943)
Ritter (11 Feb 1943 – 26 Feb 1943)
Burggraf (4 Mar 1943 – 5 Mar 1942)
Raubgraf (7 Mar 1943 – 15 Mar 1943)
Amsel 1 (3 May 1943 – 6 May 1943)
Elbe (7 May 1943 – 10 May 1943)
Elbe 2 (10 May 1943 – 14 May 1943)
Mosel (19 May 1943 – 24 May 1943)

Fate[]

She was sunk by a depth charges dropped by three Royal Canadian Navy destroyers, HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Kootenay and HMCS Chaudiere on 18 August 1944 near La Rochelle at position 45°52′N 02°36′W / 45.867°N 2.6°W / 45.867; -2.6.

Summary of Raiding Career[]

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate^[2]
23 October 1942	Empire Turnstone	United Kingdom	6,113	Sunk
18 December 1942	Oropos	Greece	4,474	Sunk
20 December 1942	Otina	United Kingdom	6,217	Sunk
11 March 1943	Baron Kinnaird	United Kingdom	3,355	Sunk
15 June 1944	USS LST-133	United States Navy	1,625	Damaged
29 July 1944	HMS Prince Leopold	Royal Navy	2,938	Sunk
30 July 1944	Ascanius	United Kingdom	10,048	Damaged

Sources[]

↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-621 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/u621.htm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
↑ "U-621 successes". UBoat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u621/html. Retrieved 3 May 2014.

Bibliography[]

Edwards, Bernard (1996). Dönitz and the Wolf Packs – The U-Boats at War. London, UK: Cassell Military Classics. pp. 161. ISBN 0-304-35203-9.

U-boat.net webpage for U-621

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-621 and the edit history here.

[uboatnet-1] "The Type VIIC boat U-621 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/u621.htm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.

[2] "U-621 successes". UBoat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u621/html. Retrieved 3 May 2014.

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Service record^[1]
Part of:	8th U-boat Flotilla (7 May 1942 - 30 September 1942) - Training 9th U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1942 - 18 August 1944)
Commanders:	Kptlt. Horst Schünemann (7 May 1942 - 4 December 1942) Oblt. Max Kruschka (4 December 1942 - 7 May 1944) Oblt. Hermann Stuckmann (15 May 1944 - 18 August 1944)
Operations:	1st patrol: 29 September 1942 - 5 November 1942 2nd patrol: 5 December 1942 - 5 January 1943 3rd patrol: 1 February 1943 - 23 March 1943 4th patrol: 22 April 1943 - 3 June 1943 5th patrol: 22 August 1943 - 28 September 1943 6th patrol: 6 January 1944 - 23 January 1944 7th patrol: 21 February 1944 - 19 April 1944 8th patrol: 6 June 1944 - 23 June 1944 9th patrol: 15 July 1944 - 11 August 1944 10th patrol: 13 August 1944 - 18 August 1944
Victories:	4 merchant ships sunk (20,159 GRT) 1 merchant ship damaged (10,048 GRT) 1 warship sunk (2,938 tons) 1 warship damaged (1,625 tons)