German submarine U-1023
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-1023 was a 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...
Type VIIC/41 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 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 It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine.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...
. She was laid down on 20 May 1943 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany, and commissioned on 15 June 1944 with Oberleutnant Wolfgang Strenger in command. U-1023 sank one ship and damaged one more for a total of 7680 gross register ton
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...
s. After the war she was sunk in Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight was the code name for the scuttling of U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II....
.
Construction and design
U-1023 was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 13 June 1942. She was laid down about one year later at Blohm & Voss, HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
on 20 May 1943. Almost a year later, U-1023 was launched from Hamburg on 3 May 1944. She was formally commissioned later that year on 15 July. U-1023 carried 5 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s (4 located in the bow, 1 in the stern) and had one C35 88mm/L45 deck gun
Deck gun
A deck gun is a type of artillery cannon mounted on the deck of a ship or submarine.The deck gun was used as a defensive weapon against smaller boats or ships and in certain cases where torpedo use was limited. Typically a crew of three; gunner, loader, and layer, operated the gun, while others...
with 220 rounds. She could also carry 14 G7e torpedo
G7e torpedo
The G7e or more appropriately the G7e/T2, G7e/T3, and G7e/T4 Falke torpedoes were, with the exception of the T4 model, the standard torpedoes for Germany during World War II...
es or 26 TMA mines and had a crew of 44–52 men. She was one of the U-boats that used the Schnorchel underwater breathing apparatus.
Service history
After her redesignation as a front-line U-boat, U-1023 left port on her first and only patrol. By that time, she had moved from Kiel to her current location in Bergen via a stopover in Horten on two minor patrols. After she left on her first patrol, U-1023 intercepted the Riverton, a 7345 tonnes (7,229 LT) British steam merchant. She was damaged and beached off of St. Ives Bay. Later, U-1023 found the 335 ton Norwegian minesweeperMinesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
HNoMS NYMS-382, which was sunk with 22 dead. Three days later, the ship surrendered at Weymouth, England.After the war she was used in Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight was the code name for the scuttling of U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II....
and sunk by the Allies.
See also
- List of U-boats
- German U-boat bases in occupied NorwayGerman U-boat bases in occupied NorwayGerman U-boat bases in occupied Norway existed between 1940 and 1945, when the German Navy, the Kriegsmarine, converted several naval bases in Norway into Submarine bases. Norwegian coastal cities became available to the German Navy after the invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940...