| German submarine U-79 (1941) | |
|---|---|
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
| Name: | U-79 |
| Ordered: | 25 January 1939 |
| Builder: | Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack |
| Yard number: | 7 |
| Laid down: | 17 April 1940 |
| Launched: | 25 January 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 13 March 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 23 December 1941 by British warships[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: |
769 tonnes (757 long tons) ↑ 871 t (857 long tons) ↓ |
| 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 MAN 6-cylinder 4-stroke M 6 V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × BBC 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: |
8,500 nmi (15,700 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) ↑ 80 km (43 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) ↓ |
| Test depth: |
230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers and 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: 1st U-boat Flotilla 23rd U-boat Flotilla |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Wolfgang Kaufmann (13 March–23 December 1941) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 5 June–5 July 1941 2nd patrol: 21 July–16 August 1941 3rd patrol: 14–18 September 1941 4th patrol: 28 September–23 October 1941 5th patrol: 29 November–8 December 1941 6th patrol: 21–23 December 1941 |
| Victories: |
Two ships sunk - 2,983 GRT; one ship damaged - 10,356 GRT; one warship a total loss |
German submarine U-79 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine built by the Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack. Her keel was laid down on 17 April 1940, by Bremer Vulkan of Bremen-Vegesack, Germany as 'werk' 7. She was launched on 25 January 1941 and commissioned on 13 March, with Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Kaufmann in command until the U-boat's loss.[2]
The boat was sunk on 23 December 1941 north of Sollum, by two British warships.
Operational history[]
U-79 conducted three patrols whilst serving with 1st U-boat Flotilla from 13 March 1941 to 30 September. She was then reassigned to the 23rd U-boat Flotilla from 1 October until she was sunk.
1st patrol[]
The boat's first patrol began with her departure from Kiel on 5 June 1941. Her route took her north 'up' the North Sea and through the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands toward the Atlantic Ocean.
She sank the Havtor west of Iceland on the 11th and damaged the Tibia at 59° 55N 39°W (southwest of the island), on the 27th. U-79 then docked at the newly captured port of Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on 5 July.
2nd and 3rd patrols[]
The boat's second foray was further south than her first. She sank the Kellwyn about 350 mi (560 km) northwest of Cape Finisterre in Spain on 27 July 1941.
She was unsuccessfully attacked with depth charges by convoy escorts near the Portuguese coast on 12 August.
U-79's third sortie hardly left the Bay of Biscay and only lasted five days (14–18 September 1941).
4th and 5th patrols[]
Patrol number four necessitated the boat getting past the heavily defended British base at Gibraltar to reach the Mediterranean Sea which she had by 5 October 1941. She then negotiated the Straits of Messina [between Sicily and the Italian mainland] and moved toward the North African coast. There she encountered the British gunboat HMS Gnat and sank her 30 mi (48 km) northeast of Bardia (Al Burdi) on 21 October. She reached Salamis in Greece on 23 October 1941. U-79 returned to the North African coast for her fifth patrol at the end of November but her luck had deserted her. She returned to Salamis with nothing to show for her efforts on 8 December.
6th patrol and loss[]
Leaving Salamis for the last time on 21 December 1941, she was sunk a couple of days later (on the 23rd), by depth charges dropped by the British destroyers HMS Hasty and Hotspur. All U-79's crewmembers (44 men) survived the attack.[3]
Summary of raiding career[]
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[4] |
| 11 June 1941 | Havtor |  Norway |
1,524 | Sunk |
| 27 June 1941 | Tibia |  Netherlands |
10,356 | Damaged |
| 27 July 1941 | Kellwyn |  Great Britain |
1,459 | Sunk |
| 21 October 1941 | HMS Gnat | Great Britain |
625 | Sunk |
References[]
- Bishop, C. Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939-45. Amber Books, 2006.
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. 1997. p. 77. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-79 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/u79.htm. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ↑ Kemp, p. 77.
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u79.html
See also[]
Coordinates: 32°15′N 25°19′E / 32.25°N 25.317°E
The original article can be found at German submarine U-79 (1941) and the edit history here.