Английская Википедия:German submarine U-172

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Шаблон:Infobox ship imageШаблон:Infobox ship careerШаблон:Infobox ship characteristicsШаблон:Infobox service record

German submarine U-172 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was first assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla for training and on 1 May 1942 was reassigned to the 10th flotilla, an operational long-range organization.

Design

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-172 had a displacement of Шаблон:Convert when at the surface and Шаблон:Convert while submerged.Шаблон:Sfn The U-boat had a total length of Шаблон:Convert, a pressure hull length of Шаблон:Convert, a beam of Шаблон:Convert, a height of Шаблон:Convert, and a draught of Шаблон:Convert. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of Шаблон:Convert for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of Шаблон:Convert for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two Шаблон:Convert propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of Шаблон:Convert and a maximum submerged speed of Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn When submerged, the boat could operate for Шаблон:Convert at Шаблон:Convert; when surfaced, she could travel Шаблон:Convert at Шаблон:Convert. U-172 was fitted with six Шаблон:Convert torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun|Шаблон:Convert SK C/32 naval gun]], 180 rounds, and a [[3.7 cm SK C/30|Шаблон:Convert SK C/30]] as well as a [[2 cm FlaK 30|Шаблон:Convert C/30]] anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.Шаблон:Sfn

Service history

U-172 was laid down at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen as yard number 1012. She was launched on 31 July 1941 and commissioned on 5 November under the command of Kapitänleutnant Carl Emmermann. She conducted six patrols, sinking 26 ships totalling (Шаблон:GRT). She was sunk by American aircraft and warships in December 1943, west of the Canary Islands.

First patrol

U-172Шаблон:'s first patrol commenced with her departure from Kiel on 24 April 1942. Her route took her through the Kattegat and Skaggerak, through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean. She arrived at her new base at Lorient in occupied France on 3 May. She would use this port as her base for the rest of her career.

Second patrol

Having left Lorient on 11 May 1942, the boat moved into the mid-Atlantic and sank Athelknight southeast of Bermuda on the 27th. Some survivors did not reach land until 23 June, having sailed some Шаблон:Convert. Moving to the eastern Caribbean Sea, she sank three more ships, City of Alma, Delfina and Sicilien in early June.

She attacked Lebore on the 14th, which assumed a 45° list to starboard on being hit. The ship was struck again in the engine room followed by fire from the U-boat's deck gun. A third torpedo caused the ship to capsize. Twelve more deck gun rounds and a 'coup de grâce' sent the ship to the bottom. Casualties were relatively light, the first assistant engineer was the only fatality, leaving 93 men to be rescued by US warships.

Four more vessels were consigned to watery graves. One of them, the Colombian sailing ship Resolute, was stopped with U-172Шаблон:'s 20mm gun and sunk with grenades. Another, Santa Rita, had been abandoned by her crew, but was still afloat. A party from the U-boat boarded her and set scuttling charges. The master was found and taken prisoner. He was landed at Lorient when the submarine returned to base and was transferred, initially to Wilhelmshaven then the POW camp at Milag Nord near Bremen.

Third patrol

U-172 left Lorient for her third sortie on 19 August 1942. It would be her longest (131 days) and in terms of tonnage sunk, most successful patrol.

That total was boosted with the destruction of the British troopship Шаблон:SS (Шаблон:GRT) southwest of Cape Town on 10 October. She was first struck by two torpedoes, but following a third hit, a skeleton crew, gunners and volunteers from the passengers remained on board to try and save the ship. They included a Petty Officer telegraphist who sent a second distress call after the radio operators had abandoned their position. In all, Orcades was hit by six torpedoes before sinking with a broken back. Forty-five men died, but there were 1,022 survivors who were saved by SS Narwik.

Following the sinking of Aldington Court on 31 October, the survivors were only spotted and picked up by City of Christiania when the third officer climbed a lifeboat's mast and waved a shirt.

Шаблон:SS was another victim sunk, on 23 November. The only survivor of this attack was Poon Lim, who eked out an existence for 133 days in the South Atlantic on a Carley float, (a type of liferaft). He received the British Empire Medal from King George VI for this feat.

Fourth patrol

The true horrors of the Battle of the Atlantic were illustrated when the U-boat sank Шаблон:SS in mid-Ocean about Шаблон:Convert northwest of the Azores on 16 March 1943. One of the passengers had already survived 51 days in a lifeboat from a previous sinking. This time he was not so lucky - nor were the other occupants of the ship; there were no survivors.

U-172 sank three other ships; one of them, Шаблон:SS, had been a member of the ill-fated Convoy PQ 17.

The submarine did not escape unscathed; while attacking convoy RS-3 on 28 March, as one of eight U-boats, she was seriously damaged but still managed to sink Moanda on the 29th. She was also attacked on 7 April by two B-24 Liberators of 1 Squadron, USAAF south of the Azores. Despite having 12 depth charges dropped on her, she stayed on the surface, fought it out and sustained no damage.

The boat returned to Lorient on 17 April.

Fifth patrol

For her fifth patrol, U-172 moved into the waters of the South Atlantic, departing Lorient on 29 May 1943. Having sunk Vernon City south southeast of St Paul Rocks (between South America and Africa) on 28 June, she headed toward the Brazilian coast, where she caused the destruction of three more ships: African Star (12 July), Harmonic (15 July) and Fort Chilcotin (24 July).

The submarine was attacked by unidentified aircraft on 11 August while rescuing the crew of Шаблон:GS, in the aftermath of that boat's scuttling. One man from U-172 was killed.

Sixth patrol and loss

U-172 left Lorient for the last time on 22 November 1943. She was sunk on 13 December, in mid-Atlantic west of the Canary Islands by Grumman TBF Avenger and Grumman F4F Wildcat aircraft from the escort carrier Шаблон:USS, and the American destroyers Шаблон:USS, Шаблон:USS, Шаблон:USS and Шаблон:USS. The battle between U-172 and the small armada of ships and aircraft lasted for 27 hours and as many as 200 depth charges were dropped by the destroyers. Thirteen of U-172Шаблон:'s crew were killed; 46 survived the sinking.

Wolfpacks

U-172 took part in three wolfpacks, namely:

• Eisbär (25 August - 1 September 1942)
• Unverzagt (12 – 17 March 1943)
• Seeräuber (25 – 30 March 1943)

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
27 May 1942	Athelknight	Шаблон:Flag	8,940	Sunk
3 June 1942	City of Alma	Шаблон:Flag	5,446	Sunk
5 June 1942	Delfina	Шаблон:Flag	3,480	Sunk
8 June 1942	Sicilien	Шаблон:Flag	1,654	Sunk
14 June 1942	Lebore	Шаблон:Flag	8,289	Sunk
15 June 1942	Bennestvet	Шаблон:Flag	2,438	Sunk
18 June 1942	Motorex	Шаблон:Flag	1,958	Sunk
23 June 1942	Resolute	Шаблон:Flag	35	Sunk
9 July 1942	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flag	8,379	Sunk
7 October 1942	Chicksaw City	Шаблон:Flag	6,196	Sunk
7 October 1942	Firethorn	Шаблон:Flag	4,700	Sunk
8 October 1942	Pantelis	Шаблон:Flag	3,845	Sunk
10 October 1942	Orcades	Шаблон:Flag	23,456	Sunk
31 October 1942	Aldington Court	Шаблон:Flag	4,891	Sunk
2 November 1942	Llandilo	Шаблон:Flag	4,966	Sunk
23 November 1942	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flag	6,630	Sunk
28 November 1942	Alaskan	Шаблон:Flag	5,364	Sunk
4 March 1943	City of Pretoria	Шаблон:Flag	8,049	Sunk
13 March 1943	Thorstrand	Шаблон:Flag	3,041	Sunk
13 March 1943	Keystone	Шаблон:Flag	5,565	Sunk
16 March 1943	Benjamin Harrison	Шаблон:Flag	7,191	Sunk
29 March 1943	Moanda	Шаблон:Flag	4,621	Sunk
28 June 1943	Vernon City	Шаблон:Flag	4,748	Sunk
12 July 1943	African Star	Шаблон:Flag	6,507	Sunk
15 July 1943	Harmonic	Шаблон:Flag	4,558	Sunk
24 July 1943	Fort Chilcotin	Шаблон:Flag	7,133	Sunk

Bibliography

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book

External links

• Шаблон:Cite web
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• Шаблон:Cite web