German submarine U-442
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-442 was a Type VIIC U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
of the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The submarine was laid down on 19 October 1940 at the Schichau-Werke
Schichau-Werke
The Schichau-Werke was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, formerly part of the German Empire, and which is today the town of Elbląg in northern Poland. It also had a subsidiary shipyard in Danzig .-Early years:...
at Danzig, launched on 17 January 1942, and commissioned on 21 March 1942 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Hans-Joachim Hesse.
U-442 first served with 5th U-boat Flotilla, a training unit, and then operationally with 7th U-boat Flotilla from 1 October 1942 until the time of her loss.
1st patrol
U-442 departed KielKiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
on 17 September 1942 for her first operational war patrol. Heading via the North Sea toward the north-central Atlantic Ocean, she was near Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
when convoy UR-42 was sighted. At 16.16 hours on 25 September, U-442 torpedoed and sank her first victim, the 1,744 GRT
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
British steam merchant Empire Bell. Ten of her 37 crew died in the attack, the survivors were picked up by the Norwegian merchant Lysaker IV and landed at Reykjavik
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
. Over a month would pass before U-442 crossed paths with he second and final victim for this patrol, the 6,690 GRT British ammunition ship Hatimura. Already on fire and slowly sinking from an attack three hours earlier (delivered by U-132
German submarine U-132 (1941)
German submarine U-132 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 10 August 1940 by Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack, launched on 10 April 1941 and commissioned on 29 May that year. In four patrols, U-132 sank eight ships for a total...
), the hit resulted in a catastrophic explosion which threw debris in a large radius around the ship. It is believed the U-132 was still nearby and was sunk as a result of this detonation. The patrol was terminated at St. Nazaire in occupied France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on 03 November 1942.
2nd patrol
Her second patrol began 20 December 1942, when she sortied from St. Nazaire bound for the central Atlantic via the Bay of BiscayBay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
. On the morning of 9 January 1943, U-442 attacked convoy TM-1 west of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, claiming hits on two tankers. In reality only one was hit, the 9,807 GRT steam tanker Empire Lytton. 14 men were lost in this attack. The remaining 34 men abandoned ship and were picked up by and . The British tanker turned out to be a tough ship; the escorts attempted to scuttle her with gunfire before breaking off their efforts and heading for Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
to land the survivors. Seven hours later (14.50 hours), the burning, drifting tanker was located again by U-442 who torpedoed her a second time; still she would not drown. Finally, a third torpedo at 19.38 hours sent the hardy tanker to the bottom.
The evening of 27 January 1942 found U-442 stalking her second (and last) victim of the patrol, the 7,176 GRT American Liberty Ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
Julia Ward Howe, a straggler from convoy UGS-4. The first torpedo at 18.07 hours hit on the starboard side between #3 hold and the deck house blowing off #3 hatch cover, wrecking two lifeboats, and destroying the radio equipment. The ship immediately took on a 15° list but flooded slowly, gradually righting herself to an even keel. Three shots were fired from the merchant's defensive 5" gun, but no hits were scored on the submarine. Three men, including the ship master, died in the attack; seventy one abandoned ship. One more (the chief engineer) died of his wounds later. 40 minutes after the initial attack, a coup de grâce struck amidships and broke the ship in two. The U-boat then surfaced and took the second mate on board for questioning, releasing him afterward. As the U-boat departed the area, the rafts were secured together and steered toward the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. Fifteen hours later, they were resued by the Portuguese destroyer Lima and landed at Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada is a city and municipality on the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. It includes 44,403 residents in the urban area, and approximately 20,113 inhabitants in the three central parishes that comprise the historical city: São Pedro,...
.
Loss
U-442 met her end on 12 February 1943. She was attacked and sunk by depth charges from a British HudsonLockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
aircraft of No. 48 Squadron
No. 48 Squadron RAF
No. 48 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both World War I and World War II.-First World War:No. 48 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Netheravon, Wiltshire, on 15 April 1916. The squadron was posted to France in March 1917 and became the first fighter...
west of Cape St. Vincent
Cape St. Vincent
Cape St. Vincent , next to the Sagres Point, on the so-called Costa Vicentina , is a headland in the municipality of Sagres, in the Algarve, southern Portugal.- Description :This cape is the southwesternmost point in Portugal...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Her wreck lies at position 37°32′N 11°56′W.
See also
- List of German U-boats