German submarine U-466
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-466 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...
built for 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 It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine.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...
for service 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...
.
She was scuttled at sea on 19 August 1944.
U-466 was first launched by Deutsche Werke AG in Kiel on 17 June 1942, under the command of Captain Gerhard Thäter
Gerhard Thäter
Gerhard Thäter was a German naval officer.Entering the Kriegsmarine in 1936 he served in the submarine branch and as commander of U-466 and U-3506 saw action during the Second World War.When the Federal Republic of Germany established her own armed forces in 1956, Thäter joined the German Navy again...
. U-466 undertook five war patrols, lasting a total of 182 days at sea, with no ships sunk or damaged. The U-466 took damage on 29 January 1943 by depth charges dropped from U.S. B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
aircraft. The boat was damaged and five men were wounded. On 30 March 1944 in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
off Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, 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...
, the British submarine HMS Uproar
HMS Uproar (P31)
HMS Uproar was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Uproar...
attacked U-466 with four torpedoes, all of which missed. In August 1944, the harbour at Toulon was attacked by the USAAF 8th Air Force and U-466 was severely damaged. U-466 was eventually scuttled on 19 August 1944 at Toulon during the Allied invasion of southern France in Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
. U-466 was the last U-boat to be scuttled in the Mediterranean.
U-466 bore the "heart & sunburst" emblem on its conning tower.