German submarine U-480
Encyclopedia
U-480 was an experimental 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 It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine.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...
Type VIIC
German Type VII submarine
Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag which was set up by Germany after...
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 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...
, considered by many to be the first stealth
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
submarine. It was equipped with a special rubber coating (codenamed "Alberich", probably after the German mythological character who had the ability to become invisible
Alberich
Alberich was a legendary sorcerer who originated in the mythology or epic sagas of the Frankish Merovingian Dynasty of the 5th to 8th century AD, and whose name means king of the elves , who possessed the ability to become invisible...
) that made it harder to detect by British ASDIC sonar.
The coating
The Germans developed a 4-millimetre (0.16 in) thick sheet of synthetic rubber that attenuated sound in the 10 to 18 kHz range to 15% of its normal strength. This frequency range matched the operating range of the early ASDIC active sonar used by the Allies. ASDIC's operating range would have been correspondingly reduced from its optimal range of 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft) to somewhere around 300 metres (984.3 ft). The rubber contained a series of holes, which helped break up sound waves. There were problems with this technology: the material performed differently at different depths, due to the holes being compressed by water pressure, and securing the tiles to the submarine's hull required a special adhesive and careful application. The first tests were conducted in 1940, but it was not used operationally until 1944, with U-480. According to the Naked ScienceNaked Science
Naked Science is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2004 on the National Geographic Channel. The program features various subjects related to science and technology.-External links: ***...
television episode "Stealth Submarine", U-480 had a perforated inner rubber layer covered by a smooth outer one. This formed air pockets with the right separation and size to muffle sonar waves.
World War II service
U-480 made three war patrols, all under the command of OberleutnantOberleutnant
Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "Senior Lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty...
Hans-Joachim Förster
Hans-Joachim Förster
Hans-Joachim Förster was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
. Because of its coating, the ship was sent to the heavily-defended English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. The coating worked; U-480 was never detected by sonar.
On its first patrol, the ship was attacked by a Canadian Consolidated PBY Catalina piloted by Laurance Sherman. The aircraft was shot down.
On the second patrol, Förster departed from Brest on August 3, 1944 and sank two warships and two merchantmen:
- the Canadian Flower class corvetteFlower class corvetteThe Flower-class corvette was a class of 267 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic...
(925 tons) on August 21 - the British Algerine class minesweeperAlgerine class minesweeperThe Algerine-class was a class of minesweepers of the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth. 110 ships of the class were launched between 1942 and 1944 and served in World War II....
(850 tons) on August 22 - the Fort Yale (7134 GRTGross Register TonnageGross 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...
), sailing in convoy ETC-72, on August 23 - the Orminister (5712 GRT) on August 25
For his success, Förster was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
on 18 October 1944.
U-480 left Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
on January 6, 1945 for its third and last patrol. It did not return. In 1997, the wreck of a Type VIIC U-boat discovered by accident by divers at 50°22′4"N 1°44′10"W, 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) southwest of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. The following year it was correctly identified as the Alberich coated U480 by wreck hunter Innes McCartney. subsequent research by the Naval Historical Branch established that it had fallen victim to the secret minefield Brazier D2 some time between January 29 and February 20. A mine had damaged the tail of U-480, sending it to the bottom 55 metres (180.4 ft) down. The entire crew of 48 was lost. Helmsman Horst Rösner survived because he had been left behind in Norway for training.
External links
- "Stealth Submarine", part of a National Geographic Channel documentary television episode on U-480