| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-62 |
| Ordered: | 21 July 1937 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel |
| Laid down: | 2 January 1938 as 'werk' 261 |
| Launched: | 16 November 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 21 December 1939 |
| Fate: | Scuttled at Wilhelmshaven, 2 May 1945 Wreck later scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Type IIC U-boat |
| Displacement: | 291 long tons (296 t) surfaced 341 long tons (346 t) submerged 435 long tons (442 t) total |
| Length: | 43.9 m (144 ft 0 in) o/a 29.6 m (97 ft 1 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in) o/a 4 m (13 ft 1 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MWM RS127S 6-cylinder diesel engines, 700 hp (522 kW) 2 × SSW PGVV322/26 double-acting electric motors, 402 hp (300 kW) |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) surfaced 7 knots (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 6,100 km (3,300 nmi) at 8 kn (15 km/h) surfaced 67 km (36 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 150 m (490 ft) |
| Complement: | 22 to 24 men |
| Armament: | 3 × torpedo tubes (bow), five torpedoes |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | Kriegsmarine: * 5th U-boat Flotilla (Training ) *1st U-boat Flotilla (Operational boat) * 21st U-boat Flotilla (School Boat)[1] |
| Commanders: | Oblt. Hans-Bernhard Michaelowski |
| Operations: | Five 1st patrol: 13 February–6 March 1940 2nd patrol: 4–25 April 1940 3rd patrol: 18 May–3 June 1940 4th patrol: 13 June–5 July 1940 5th patrol: 10 July–2 August 1940 |
| Victories: | One ship sunk, of 4,851 GRT one warship sunk, of 1,350 tons[2] |
German submarine U-62 was a Type IIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine that served in World War II. She was built by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel, and commissioned on 21 December 1939.
U-62 was initially assigned to the 5th U-boat Flotilla during her training period, until 1 January 1940, when she was re-assigned to the 1st flotilla for a front-line combat role.
U-62 carried out five war patrols, sinking one warship in May 1940 and one merchant ship in July.
The U-boat was scuttled in Wilhelmshaven in May 1945.
Contents |
Operational career [edit]
1st and 2nd patrols [edit]
U-62's first patrol began with her departure from the German island of Helgoland (also known as 'Heligoland'), on 13 February 1940. She crossed the North Sea to the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The return journey terminated in Wilhelmshaven on 6 March.
Her second sortie was also through the North Sea but stayed closer to Norway, beginning in Wilhelmshaven and ending in Kiel.
3rd patrol [edit]
The boat was attacked by an unidentified submarine on 24 May 1940, but U-62 evaded the torpedoes. She went on to sink the destroyer HMS Grafton off the Kwinte Bouy northwest of Ostend in Belgium on 29 May. The British warship had been employed on Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). As a result, many of the dead included soldiers.
4th and 5th patrols [edit]
Her fourth foray was through the 'gap' between the Faroe and Shetland Islands as far as Northern Ireland, but finished in Bergen in Norway on 7 July 1940.
U-62's final patrol was marked by the sinking of the Pearlmoor 62 mi (100 km) on 19 July 1940 west of Malin Head, (the most northerly point on the Irish mainland).[3] Disaster almost struck on the return leg to Bergen when she was attacked by the British submarine HMS Dolphin on the 29th. She avoided the attack and entered Bergen with just 27 minutes of battery life remaining.
Training and fate [edit]
U-62 was assigned to the 21st U-boat Flotilla as a training boat on 1 October, and was briefly commanded by Waldemar Mehl between 5 November and 19 November 1941.
She was scuttled in Wilhelmshaven on 2 May 1945, shortly before the German surrender.[4][5]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ http://uboat.net/boats/u60htm
- ^ "Ships Hit by U-62". U-boat.net. 17 November 2012.
- ^ The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, ISBN 0 7230 0809 4, p. 9
- ^ U-boats.net
- ^ Hitler's U-boat War, by Clay Blair. Random House, 1996 ISBN 0-394-58839-8
External links [edit]
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