Английская Википедия:German submarine U-66 (1940)

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

German submarine U-66 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 20 March 1940 at the AG Weser yard at Bremen, launched on 10 October and commissioned on 2 January 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Richard Zapp as part of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla.

Design

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-66 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-66 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

After her transfer from a training organization to front line service in May 1941, until her sinking in May 1944, U-66 conducted nine combat patrols, sinking 33 merchant ships, for a total of Шаблон:GRT, and damaged two British motor torpedo boats. She was a member of four wolfpacks.

U-66 was the seventh most successful U-boat in World War II.

On 6 May 1944, during her ninth patrol, she was sunk west of the Cape Verde Islands by depth charges, ramming and gunfire from Grumman TBF Avenger and Grumman F4F Wildcat aircraft of the US escort carrier Шаблон:USS and by the destroyer escort Шаблон:USS.

Patrols

First

On 13 May 1940, three days after the start of the invasion of France, U-66 departed her homeport of Kiel under the command of Richard Zapp, a future Knight's Cross recipient, on her first patrol. After about 10 days she rounded the northern coast of Britain and made her way into the mid-Atlantic Ocean. After another 20 days, U-66 headed for her new base at Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast (one of the first to do so) and where the U-boat was based for the rest of her career.

Second

After refitting and refueling, U-66 set off to the Cape Verde islands. Following an uneventful six-day voyage, she came upon convoy SL-78, a convoy designated to give supplies to Allied African countries. The convoy had been attacked just recently by Шаблон:GS and Шаблон:GS, one of which (U-123) was in her flotilla. U-66 sank George J. Goulandris and Kalypso Vergotti, two Greek merchantmen of 4,345 and Шаблон:GRT, respectively, west of the Canary Islands. She extended her tonnage sunk with the torpedoing of Saint Anselm on the next day, which was a British steam merchant ship of 5,614 GRT. More than two weeks later, she sank Holmside, a 3,433 GRT straggler from the convoy OG-67 northeast of the Cape Verde Islands. The remainder of the patrol was unsuccessful; she returned to Lorient in about a month.

Third

On 28 August, U-66 left Lorient for north-eastern South America. The patrol was mostly uneventful, but the boat found the Panamanian steam tanker I.C. White (Шаблон:GRT), off the eastern coast of Brazil on 24 September. After a two-day chase, U-66 hit the tanker with one torpedo. U-66 continued the remainder of the patrol without any further incident and returned to Lorient on 9 November.

Fourth

U-66Шаблон:'s fourth sortie was part of Operation Drumbeat, a German attempt to hinder American convoys off the east coast of the United States.Шаблон:Sfn U-66, leaving on 25 December 1941 and in compliance with orders, positioned herself off Cape Hatteras on 15 January 1942 and started to hunt for a target. She found the 6,635 GRT American steam tanker Allan Jackson three days later and sank her with two torpedoes Шаблон:Convert north-east of Diamond Shoals, North Carolina. The next day she sank a Шаблон:GRT Canadian passenger liner, Шаблон:RMS, with two stern-launched torpedoes, killing 246 passengers and crew. Another five died in a lifeboat before 71 survivors were rescued five days later by Шаблон:USAT. Three days later with two stern-launched torpedoes she hit Olympic, a Шаблон:GRT Panamanian steam tanker which broke in two after one minute. Two days after that, Empire Gem and Venore (an Шаблон:GRT British motor tanker and an Шаблон:GRT American steam merchant ship, the latter following the former), were both sunk by U-66. Empire Gem was hit amidships and aft by two torpedoes, while Venore, 20 miles behind, had only one torpedo hit that set her boilers on fire. U-66 then continued eastward back to Lorient, where she arrived on 10 February.

Fifth

On 21 March, U-66 left for what proved to be her most successful patrol, resulting in 43,956 gross metric tons sunk and 12,502 gross metric tons damaged in the Caribbean Sea. 24 days after departure she sank Korthion, a Шаблон:GRT Greek steam merchantman just south of Barbados with one torpedo hit amidships. Two days later, the boat sank Amsterdam, a Шаблон:GRT Dutch steam tanker, which split in two after being hit by two torpedoes, one amidships, and one in the engine room. Most of the survivors were picked up near Port of Spain, (Trinidad) by Ivan, a Yugoslavian steam merchant vessel. The next day U-66 attacked Heinrich von Riedemann, an 11,020 GRT Panamanian motor tanker. The first torpedo severely damaged the steering control of her port engine and ruptured a tank of oil, making much of it leak out. 20 minutes after the first hit, just after the starboard engine was stopped, the ship was abandoned when the crew took to the lifeboats. An hour later U-66 hit her with a second torpedo, setting her afire. It extinguished itself within 25 minutes. 50 minutes later the submarine hit her with a third torpedo, which set the ship afire again. She remained that way for about 70 minutes before she finally sank. Nine days later U-66 sank the Шаблон:GRT US Alcoa Partner with a torpedo and a shot from her deck gun.

Sixth

After her fifth patrol, Richard Zapp left U-66 to take command of the 3rd U-boat Flotilla. This meant that Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Markworth was in charge. The submarine started her sixth patrol with the sinking of Triglav, a Шаблон:GRT Yugoslavian steamer, after depositing a sick crew-member in Spain. After a couple of weeks, U-66 ran across the 4,942 GRT Brazilian merchant ship Tamandaré, sinking her with a torpedo hit in her stern. The survivors were picked up by the Шаблон:USS. Two days after the attack on Tamandaré, U-66 sank Weirbank, a Шаблон:GRT British merchantman on 28 July 1942, with the second of two torpedoes launched at her. Four days after her previous sinking, two mines from U-66 severely damaged two British motor torpedo boats that had left on a patrol from Port Castries, St. Lucia. Those two mines had been laid, along with four others, on 20 July. U-66 subsequently sank the 766 GRT Polish Rozewie on 6 August and the American Шаблон:GRT Topa Topa on the 29th. The next day she sank both the Шаблон:GRT Panamanian Sir Huon and the Шаблон:GRT American West Lashaway in separate attacks. A raft with survivors from West Lashaway was sighted by three aircraft on 18 September; Шаблон:HMS, one of the escorts of a small convoy went to investigate. Deciding that the raft could be a disguised U-boat, Vimy opened fire, luckily with no result. The raft's sail was hastily cut down, upon which the British destroyer rescued 17 people.

U-66 also sank the Шаблон:GRT Winamac on 31 August and the Swedish Шаблон:GRT Peiping on 9 September. She returned to Lorient on 29 September.

Seventh (aborted)

On 9 November 1942, U-66 left Lorient on what should have been her seventh war patrol. Soon after departure, leaks were encountered, and she decided to return. On 10 November, the day before she returned, a British Wellington bomber, equipped with a Leigh Light, spotted her and dropped four depth charges. The U-boat escaped without serious damage.

Seventh

U-66 left Lorient on 6 January 1943 for what was officially her seventh patrol. On 20 January, the ship landed an espionage agent on the coast of Mauritania, but the agent and two crewmen were immediately captured. Her first sinking came with the attack on the 113 GRT French Joseph Elise on 1 February. On the 27th, U-66 attacked the 4,312 GRT British coal merchant ship St. Margaret in mid-Atlantic near Bermuda, sinking her with one torpedo and, after several misses, a shell. Several survivors were captured and taken to the prison camp Marlag und Milag Nord. U-66 then returned to port, arriving on 24 March 1943.

Eighth

U-66Шаблон:'s eighth patrol started after a quick refit on 7 April 1943 when she left Lorient. At 148 days, it was to be her longest. She first sank the 10,173 GRT American Esso Gettysburg, which was carrying crude oil, on 10 June after unsuccessfully attempting to attack several other American tankers. On 2 July, she successfully sank the 10,195 GRT Bloody Marsh (this ship was on her maiden voyage), with a torpedo. The last ship encountered on the patrol was the 10,172 GRT Cherry Valley, also American, which she sank on 22 July. U-66 then returned to Lorient.

Ninth

On 16 January 1944, U-66 left Lorient for what would be her last patrol and the last command of Oberleutnant zur See Gerhard Seehausen (posthumously promoted to Kapitänleutnant). A month and ten days after departure, U-66 sighted Silvermaple, a 5,313 GRT British motor merchant in the convoy ST-12. She was sunk after one torpedo hit. Four days later, the boat came upon the French 5,202 GRT St. Louis, which she sank with two torpedoes off Accra, Ghana. The ship broke into three parts, which sank in less than 50 seconds. Four days after the sinking of St. Louis, on 5 March 1944 'U-66 sank the 4,964 GRT British John Holt with two torpedoes, and took the Captain, Master Cecil Gordon Hime MN, and a passenger, Mr Elliott - an agent of the Holt Shipping Company, as prisoners of war (POW). These men were later lost with the U-boat. Nearly three weeks after the sinking of John Holt, the U-boat came across the 4,257 GRT British Matadian, which she torpedoed and sank. After the attack, U-66 was forced to bottom out in the mud as British patrol craft engaged her. U-66 was supposed to be resupplied by Шаблон:GS, but this boat, a Milchkuh supply submarine, was sunk on 26 April.

Sinking

Файл:U-66 Gerettet 3.jpg

Survivors from U-66 aboard USS Block Island, 6 May 1944

On 1 May 1944, U-66 came under attack by American ships from an antisubmarine hunter-killer group formed around Шаблон:USS. Three Fido homing torpedoes were dropped near the boat, and numerous aircraft from Block Island, along with smaller craft, were designated to hunt for her. On the morning of 6 May, the destroyer escort Шаблон:USS found the submarine. After an exchange of gunfire and torpedoes, Buckley, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Brent Abel, rammed the submarine.Шаблон:Sfn

Файл:USS Buckley (DE-51) in drydock at the Boston Navy Yard, with bow bent by ramming the German submarine U-66 on 6 May 1944.jpg

The bow of the USS Buckley after the ramming of U-66

With the two vessels stuck fast, a party of Germans, under the command of U-66Шаблон:'s first officer, Klaus Herbig, attempted to climb onto the American escort's forecastle to create a diversion while Seehausen and the remainder of the U-boat's crew worked to free the boat. As American sailors saw the boarding party climbing on deck, hand-to-hand fighting broke out in which a number of Germans were killed or wounded before the U-boat was able to make good its escape. Five armed Germans remained on deck of the destroyer but they were quickly overpowered and taken prisoner. BuckleyШаблон:'s 3-inch gun was unleashed on the U-boat as the Americans chased after her, but U-66 then turned and rammed Buckley near her engine room, damaging the ship's starboard screw. Soon afterward, U-66 was scuttled on Seehausen's orders to prevent her secret equipment from being captured. Buckley then began rescue operations, which lasted three hours.

U-66 was lost at position Шаблон:Coord with 24 dead and 36 survivors, all of whom were captured by Buckley. Seehausen was not among the survivors, who were later transferred to Block Island. For his act of ramming U-66, Brent Abel received the Navy Cross.

Wolfpacks

U-66 took part in four wolfpacks, namely:

• West (24 May – 5 June 1941)
• Rochen (27 January – 1 March 1943)
• Tümmler (1 – 17 March 1943)
• Aufnahme (5 – 10 May 1943)

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
29 June 1941	George J. Goulandris	Шаблон:Flag	4,345	Sunk
29 June 1941	Kalypso Vergotti	Шаблон:Flag	5,686	Sunk
30 June 1941	Saint Aslem	Шаблон:Flag	5,614	Sunk
19 July 1941	Holmside	Шаблон:Flag	3,433	Sunk
26 July 1941	I. C. White	Шаблон:Flag	7,052	Sunk
18 January 1942	Allan Jackson	Шаблон:Flag	6,635	Sunk
19 January 1942	Шаблон:RMS	Шаблон:Navy	7,988	Sunk
22 January 1942	Olympic	Шаблон:Flag	5,335	Sunk
24 January 1942	Empire Gem	Шаблон:Flag	8,139	Sunk
24 January 1942	Venore	Шаблон:Flag	8,017	Sunk
14 April 1942	Korthion	Шаблон:Flag	2,116	Sunk
16 April 1942	Amsterdam	Шаблон:Flag	7,329	Sunk
17 April 1942	Heinrich von Riedemann	Шаблон:Flag	11,020	Sunk
26 April 1942	Alcoa Partner	Шаблон:Flag	5,513	Sunk
29 April 1942	Harry G. Siedel	Шаблон:Flag	10,354	Sunk
2 May 1942	Sandar	Шаблон:Flag	7,624	Sunk
3 May 1942	Geo. W. McNight	Шаблон:Flag	12,502	Damaged
9 July 1942	Triglav	Шаблон:Flag	6,363	Sunk
26 July 1942	Tamandaré	Шаблон:Flag	4,942	Sunk
28 July 1942	Weirbank	Шаблон:Flag	5,150	Sunk
2 August 1942	HMS MTB-339	Шаблон:Navy	32	Damaged
2 August 1942	HMS MTB-342	Шаблон:Navy	32	Damaged
6 August 1942	Rozewie	Шаблон:Flag	766	Sunk
29 August 1942	Topa Topa	Шаблон:Flag	5,356	Sunk
30 August 1942	Sir Huon	Шаблон:Flag	6,049	Sunk
30 August 1942	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flag	5,637	Sunk
31 August 1942	Winamac	Шаблон:Flag	8,621	Sunk
9 September 1942	Peiping	Шаблон:Flag	6,390	Sunk
1 February 1943	Joseph Elise	Шаблон:Flag	113	Sunk
27 February 1943	St. Margaret	Шаблон:Flag	4,312	Sunk
10 June 1943	Esso Gettysburg	Шаблон:Flag	10,173	Sunk
2 July 1943	Bloody Marsh	Шаблон:Flag	10,195	Sunk
22 July 1943	Cherry Valley	Шаблон:Flag	10,172	Damaged
26 February 1944	Silvermaple	Шаблон:Flag	5,313	Sunk
1 March 1944	St. Louis	Шаблон:Flag	5,202	Sunk
5 March 1944	John Holt	Шаблон:Flag	4,964	Sunk
21 March 1944	Matadian	Шаблон:Flag	4,275	Sunk

See also

• List of successful U-boats
• The Enemy Below

Bibliography

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

External links

• Шаблон:Cite web
• Шаблон:Cite web
• Шаблон:Cite web
• Шаблон:Cite web
• uboataces.com webpage with insignia for U-66
• YouTube video: USS Buckley vs U-66 during the Battle of the Atlantic
• 1944: May 6: Sinking of U-66 - National Museum of Naval History