Английская Википедия:German submarine U-81 (1941)

Содержание

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

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

German submarine U-81 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the navy (Kriegsmarine) of Nazi Germany during World War II, famous for sinking the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-81 had a displacement of Шаблон:Convert when at the surface and Шаблон:Convert while submerged.Шаблон:Sfn She 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 6 V 40/46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of Шаблон:Convert for use while surfaced, two Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 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-81 was fitted with five Шаблон:Convert torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one [[8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun|Шаблон:Convert SK C/35 naval gun]], 220 rounds, and a [[2 cm FlaK 30|Шаблон:Convert C/30]] anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.Шаблон:Sfn

Building and commissioning

She was ordered on 25 January 1939 and laid down on 11 May 1940 at Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack, becoming yard number 9. She was launched on 22 February 1941 and commissioned under her first commander, Oberleutnant zur See (Oblt.z.S.) Friedrich Guggenberger, on 26 April of that year. Guggenberger commanded her for her work-ups with the 1st U-boat Flotilla between 26 April and 31 July 1941. She then became a front (operational) boat of the 1st U-boat Flotilla, and set out on a number of training patrols.

Service history

Early patrols

Her first successes came on her second patrol, which took her from Trondheim into the North Sea and the North Atlantic, before putting into the French port of Brest. During the patrol she attacked Convoy SC 42. She sank the cargo ship Empire Springbuck on 9 September, followed by the motor ship Sally Maersk on 10 September, for a combined total of 8,843 GRT.

U-81 was one of the U-boats ordered into the Mediterranean. Her first attempt to break into the 'Italian Lake' almost ended in disaster, when on 30 October she was attacked and severely damaged by a British Catalina of No. 209 Squadron RAF, as she attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. The Catalina was joined by a Lockheed Hudson, which dropped depth charges onto U-81 causing severe damage and forcing her to return to Brest. There she was repaired to return to the Mediterranean.

Sinking the Ark Royal

Шаблон:Main On 4 November U-81 left Brest bound for La Spezia in Italy. On 13 November off Gibraltar, she encountered the inbound ships of Force H. She fired a single torpedo into the aircraft carrier Шаблон:HMS, and then avoided depth charge attacks from the escorts. Despite efforts to salvage her, the Ark Royal had to be abandoned 12 hours after the attack and capsized two hours later and sank. Only one man was killed, by the torpedo explosion.Шаблон:Sfn U-81 reached La Spezia on 1 December, where she joined the 29th U-boat Flotilla.

Patrols in the Mediterranean

Her next patrol was uneventful and resulted in no ships attacked. She sailed again on 4 April 1942 and headed into the eastern Mediterranean. On 16 April she sank the Egyptian sailing ships Bab el Farag and Fatouh el Kher, as well as the British Caspia and the Free French anti-submarine naval trawler Шаблон:Ship. U-81 sank a further two Egyptian sailing ships, Hefz el Rahman on 19 April and the El Saadiah on 22 April. The U-boat put into port at Salamis in Greece on 25 April, having spent 22 days at sea and sunk 7,582 GRT of shipping. A further patrol from Salamis was uneventful and she returned to La Spezia on another patrol, which saw the sinking of the British Havre on 10 June. U-81Шаблон:'s next patrol was into the western Mediterranean. She sank the British Garlinge on 10 November and went on to intercept one of the convoys of Operation Torch (the invasion of French North Africa), sinking the Maron on 13 November.

U-81Шаблон:'s next patrol was uneventful and saw her briefly shift operations to Pola (now Pula, Croatia). On 25 December Oblt.z.S. Johann-Otto Krieg took command of U-81 from Guggenberger. She sailed from Pola on 30 January 1943 on her next patrol. On 10 February she damaged the Dutch Saroena and on 11 February she sank four sailing vessels, the Egyptian Al Kasbanah and Sabah el Kheir, the Lebanese Husni and the Palestinian Dolphin. U-81 put into Salamis on 19 February after 21 days at sea, 388 GRT of shipping sunk and 6,671 GRT damaged. Her next patrol sank three more Egyptian sailing vessels, the Bourghieh, the Mawahab Allah and the Rousdi. Her next patrol brought more substantial results, sinking the British troopship Шаблон:SS on 17 June killing 484 people, followed by the Egyptian sailing vessel Nisr on 25 June and the Syrian sailing vessels Nelly and Toufic Allah on 26 June. On 27 June she sank the Greek Michalios, but was engaged by shore-based guns off Latakia. Her next patrol saw only the Empire Moon hit on 22 July, but she was declared a total loss and spent the rest of the war under repair. The U-boat's next three patrols were uneventful but on 18 November she sank the cargo ship Шаблон:SS.

Sinking

US bombers attacked U-81 while the submarine was in port in Pola, at 1130hrs on 9 January 1944.Шаблон:Sfn She sank with two of her crew dead and 51 survivors. The wreck was raised on 22 April 1944 and broken up. She had conducted 17 patrols, sinking 26 ships totalling 42,934 GRT and 22,600 tons, damaging one other totalling 6,671 GRT and causing one total loss totalling 7,472 GRT.

Summary of raiding history

Файл:HMS Ark Royal sinking.jpg

Шаблон:HMS moves alongside the damaged and listing Шаблон:HMS to take off survivors

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
9 September 1941	Empire Springbuck	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,591	Sunk
10 September 1941	Sally Mærsk	Шаблон:Flagcountry	3,252	Sunk
13 November 1941	Шаблон:HMS	Шаблон:Navy	22,600	Sunk
16 April 1942	Bab el Farag	Шаблон:Flagcountry	105	Sunk
16 April 1942	Caspia	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,018	Sunk
16 April 1942	Fatouhel el Rahman	Шаблон:Flagcountry	97	Sunk
16 April 1942	FFL Vikings	Шаблон:Navy	1,150	Sunk
19 April 1942	Hefz el Rahman	Шаблон:Flagcountry	90	Sunk
22 April 1942	El Saadiah	Шаблон:Flagcountry	122	Sunk
22 April 1942	Aziza	Шаблон:Flagcountry	100	Sunk
22 April 1942	Havre	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,073	Sunk
10 November 1942	Garlinge	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,012	Sunk
13 November 1942	Maron	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,487	Sunk
10 February 1943	Saroena	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,671	Damaged
11 February 1943	Al Kasbanah	Шаблон:Flagcountry	110	Sunk
11 February 1943	Dolphin	Шаблон:Flagcountry	135	Sunk
11 February 1943	Husni	Файл:Lebanese French flag.svg Lebanon	107	Sunk
11 February 1943	Sabah al Kheir	Шаблон:Flagcountry	36	Sunk
20 March 1943	Bourgheih	Шаблон:Flagcountry	244	Sunk
20 March 1943	Mawahab Allah	Шаблон:Flagcountry	77	Sunk
28 March 1943	Rouisdi	Шаблон:Flagcountry	133	Sunk
17 June 1943	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	8,131	Sunk
25 June 1943	Nisr	Шаблон:Flagcountry	80	Sunk
26 June 1943	Nelly	Шаблон:Flagcountry	80	Sunk
26 June 1943	Toufic Allah	Шаблон:Flagcountry	75	Sunk
27 June 1943	Michalios	Шаблон:Flagcountry	3,742	Sunk
22 July 1943	Empire Moon	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,472	Total loss
18 November 1943	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,887	Sunk

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