Unterseeboot 550
Encyclopedia
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German submarine U-550 was a Type IXC/40
U-boat
of the Kriegsmarine
(the German Navy
of Nazi Germany
) built for service during World War II
. She was constructed by Deutsche Werft
of Hamburg
and was commissioned on 28 July 1943 under the command of Captain Lieutenant
Klaus Hänert, (born 2 January 1918; class of 1936).
, France
. She departed Lorient on her first patrol on 6 February 1944. She sailed from Kiel
for the North Atlantic and conducted weather reporting duties before sailing for Newfoundland and later the northeast coast of the United States
.
, bound for Great Britain
from New York City
. The tanker , one of the largest tankers in the world, was unwisely straggling behind the convoy and U-550 torpedoed her. The tanker quickly caught fire and began to sink. As the tanker settled, the submerged U-boat maneuvered underneath the Pan Pennsylvania's hull in an effort to hide from the inevitable counterattack by the convoy's escorts.
Convoy CU-21 was escorted by Escort Division 22, consisting of Coast Guard-manned destroyer escort
s reinforced by one Navy DE, the , which took the place of the , which had been lost in action the previous month. The escort division's flagship, and the rescued the tanker's surviving crew, and then the Joyce detected the U-boat on sonar as the Germans attempted to escape after hiding beneath the sinking tanker. The U-550s engineering officer later said, "We waited for your ship to leave; soon we could hear nothing so we thought the escort vessels had gone; but as soon as we started to move - bang!" The Joyce delivered a depth-charge pattern that bracketed the submerged submarine. The depth charges were so well placed, a German reported, that one actually bounced off the U-boat's deck before it exploded.
The attack severely damaged the U-550 and forced the Germans to surface, where they manned and fired their deck guns. The Joyce, Peterson, and Gandy, returned fire. Gandy rammed U-550 abaft the conning tower, and the Peterson dropped two depth charges which exploded near the U-boat's hull. Realizing they were defeated, the U-boat's crew prepared scuttling charges and began abandoning ship. The Joyce rescued 13 of the U-550s crew, one of whom later died from wounds received during the fire-fight. The remainder of the U-boatmen went down with their submarine. Joyce delivered the prisoners of war and the Pan Pennsylvania survivors to the authorities in Great Britain.
's War Diary account of the sinking of the U-550, apparently some of the crew actually survived the sinking and were trapped in a forward compartment. They apparently attempted to escape from the U-boat as it lay on the ocean floor using their escape lungs.
At 1515 on 5 May 1944, the Coastal Picket Patrol CGR-3082 recovered a body from the sea in 39° 51' NN. 71° 58' W., about 93 miles (150 km) ESE of Ambrose. The body was clothed in a German type life jacket. From the markings on his clothing it was possible that the man's name was "Hube". A German escape lung was found near his body as well. An autopsy
performed on the body indicated that the individual died only five days before his body was discovered - the U-550 had been sunk on 16 April and the body was found 19 days later.
Two other bodies were subsequently found. The first, picked up by another picket boat, CGR-1989, at 1730 on 11 May, was fully clothed, had an escape lung and life jacket on. He was found in a rubber raft. Identification marks indicated the man was a German sailor named Wilhelm Flade, age about 17. The body was transferred from CGR-1989 to CGR-1338 on the morning of 12 May 1944 and was brought to Tompkinsville
.
On 16 May a third body was sighted and picked up by USS SC-630. It was stated that the uniform and insignia indicated the victim had been a German crewman, although he carried no identification; that he had been in the water more than 18 days.
The War Diary report continued:
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German submarine U-550 was a Type IXC/40
German Type IX submarine
The Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for...
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...
(the German Navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...
of Nazi Germany
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...
) built 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 constructed by Deutsche Werft
Deutsche Werft
Deutsche Werft was a German shipbuilding company, located in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 on initiative by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte , Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft and Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft as investors.During World War II...
of 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...
and was commissioned on 28 July 1943 under the command of Captain Lieutenant
Captain Lieutenant
Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary....
Klaus Hänert, (born 2 January 1918; class of 1936).
Commissioning
After undergoing training she was assigned to the 10th U-boat Flotilla based out of LorientLorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
, 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...
. She departed Lorient on her first patrol on 6 February 1944. She sailed from Kiel
Kiel
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...
for the North Atlantic and conducted weather reporting duties before sailing for Newfoundland and later the northeast coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Loss of the ship
On 16 April, south of Nantucket Island, she located convoy CU 21CU convoys
The CU convoys were a World War II series of fast trans-Atlantic convoys to the British Isles. The earliest convoys of the series were tankers sailing directly from petroleum refineries at Curaçao to the United Kingdom...
, bound for Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The tanker , one of the largest tankers in the world, was unwisely straggling behind the convoy and U-550 torpedoed her. The tanker quickly caught fire and began to sink. As the tanker settled, the submerged U-boat maneuvered underneath the Pan Pennsylvania's hull in an effort to hide from the inevitable counterattack by the convoy's escorts.
Convoy CU-21 was escorted by Escort Division 22, consisting of Coast Guard-manned destroyer escort
Destroyer escort
A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...
s reinforced by one Navy DE, the , which took the place of the , which had been lost in action the previous month. The escort division's flagship, and the rescued the tanker's surviving crew, and then the Joyce detected the U-boat on sonar as the Germans attempted to escape after hiding beneath the sinking tanker. The U-550s engineering officer later said, "We waited for your ship to leave; soon we could hear nothing so we thought the escort vessels had gone; but as soon as we started to move - bang!" The Joyce delivered a depth-charge pattern that bracketed the submerged submarine. The depth charges were so well placed, a German reported, that one actually bounced off the U-boat's deck before it exploded.
The attack severely damaged the U-550 and forced the Germans to surface, where they manned and fired their deck guns. The Joyce, Peterson, and Gandy, returned fire. Gandy rammed U-550 abaft the conning tower, and the Peterson dropped two depth charges which exploded near the U-boat's hull. Realizing they were defeated, the U-boat's crew prepared scuttling charges and began abandoning ship. The Joyce rescued 13 of the U-550s crew, one of whom later died from wounds received during the fire-fight. The remainder of the U-boatmen went down with their submarine. Joyce delivered the prisoners of war and the Pan Pennsylvania survivors to the authorities in Great Britain.
Trapped crew attempted escape
There is a grisly postscript to the sinking of the U-550. According to the Eastern Sea FrontierEastern Sea Frontier
The Eastern Sea Frontier was a United States Navy operational command during World War II, that was responsible for the coastal waters from Canada to Jacksonville, Florida, extending out for a nominal distance of two hundred miles....
's War Diary account of the sinking of the U-550, apparently some of the crew actually survived the sinking and were trapped in a forward compartment. They apparently attempted to escape from the U-boat as it lay on the ocean floor using their escape lungs.
At 1515 on 5 May 1944, the Coastal Picket Patrol CGR-3082 recovered a body from the sea in 39° 51' NN. 71° 58' W., about 93 miles (150 km) ESE of Ambrose. The body was clothed in a German type life jacket. From the markings on his clothing it was possible that the man's name was "Hube". A German escape lung was found near his body as well. An autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
performed on the body indicated that the individual died only five days before his body was discovered - the U-550 had been sunk on 16 April and the body was found 19 days later.
Two other bodies were subsequently found. The first, picked up by another picket boat, CGR-1989, at 1730 on 11 May, was fully clothed, had an escape lung and life jacket on. He was found in a rubber raft. Identification marks indicated the man was a German sailor named Wilhelm Flade, age about 17. The body was transferred from CGR-1989 to CGR-1338 on the morning of 12 May 1944 and was brought to Tompkinsville
Tompkinsville, Staten Island
Tompkinsville is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island in New York City in the United States. Though the neighborhood sits on the island's eastern shore, along the waterfront facing Upper New York Bay — between St...
.
On 16 May a third body was sighted and picked up by USS SC-630. It was stated that the uniform and insignia indicated the victim had been a German crewman, although he carried no identification; that he had been in the water more than 18 days.
The War Diary report continued:
- "Further evidence is lacking to complete the apparent story of successful attempts made by certain men to escape from compartments in the vicinity of torpedo tubes or escape hatches. Curiously, the area was not entirely deserted by patrol vessels. On the day following the torpedoing of the Pan Pennsylvania, a vessel was sent to the area to effect salvage operations or to sink the derelict [tanker] in order to remove such a menace to navigation. This vessel spent some time in trying to sink with gunfire the still buoyant and burning hulk of the Pan Pennsylvania. No survivors were sighted during these operations. Questions were raised as to the possibility of some survivors having been able to reach the southern shore of Long Island, since the sub sank only 150 miles from Montauk Point; only 70 miles from Nantucket. Although such considerations should not be dismissed, it is doubtful that men aboard the smallest type rubber rafts would be able to cover so great a distance without being detected before they reached shore."