Unterseeboot 552
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-552 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 It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine.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 laid down on 1 December 1939 at 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...
and went into service on 4 December 1940. U-552 was nicknamed the Roter Teufel ("Red Devil") after its mascot of a grinning devil which was painted on the conning tower. She was one of the more successful of her class, operating for over three years of continual service and sinking or damaging 30 Allied ships with 164,276 tons sunk and 26,910 tons damaged.
U-552 was involved in two controversial actions: in October 1941 she sank the USS Reuben James
USS Reuben James (DD-245)
USS Reuben James —a post-World War I four-funnel Clemson-class destroyer—was the first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in World War II and the first named for Boatswain's Mate Reuben James , who distinguished himself fighting in the Barbary Wars.Reuben James was laid down on 2 April...
the first US Navy warship to be lost in World War II; this was at a time when the US was still officially neutral, and caused a diplomatic row. In April 1942 she sank the freighter SS David H. Atwater
SS David H. Atwater
The SS David H. Atwater was a small unarmed coastal steamer which was sunk on 2 April 1942 by gunfire from German submarine U-552 in one of the more controversial actions of the Kriegsmarine during World War II, primarily due to the manner of the sinking.-History:The ship began life as the...
off the US seaboard in a particularly brutal attack, characterized as a naval atrocity.
U-552 had an unusually long service life, surviving to the end of World War II; after evacuating from her French base during the spring of 1944 she operated on training duties in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
until 2 May 1945, when her crew scuttled her to prevent her falling into enemy hands.
Initial voyage to Helgoland
Following construction, which was completed on 4 December 1940, U-552 was given two months of working-up training, during which she prepared her crew and equipment for the operations ahead. She then sailed from Kiel on 13 February to Helgoland for her first official patrol, arriveing there on 18 February 1941. This port city was to remain U-552s home base until she was transferred to the occupied French port of St Nazaire in mid-March 1941.First patrol
U-552s first official war patrol began on 18 February 1941 when she left the port city of Helgoland for a patrol in the North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and the North Atlantic south of Iceland. This first operation yielded one British tanker, and one 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...
ic trawler
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
carrying fish. The British tanker, Cadillac was sunk just north of Scotland on 1 March while the Icelandic trawler was sunk just south of Iceland on 10 March. Following these victories, U-552 headed back to her new home port of St Nazaire. The remainder or her later patrols were all conducted from the French port city, which gave her easy access to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and allowed her more time to stay at sea.
Second patrol
U-552 began her second war patrol on 7 April 1941 when she left her new home port of St Nazaire for the North Atlantic. For a period of 30 days she searched the area of Ocean south of Iceland and West of Ireland for any Allied convoys. During this time she sank 3 British merchant vessels and damaged another one for a total of 24,119 tones. Following her torpedoing of the British ship Capulet on 28 April, which only managed to damage the vessel, U-552 was depth charged in 5 separate attacks by 2 accompanying destroyers. After several hours, the U-boat managed to escape but was unable to pursue the convoy any longer. After these attacks, U-552 returned to St Nazaire on 6 May 1941.Third patrol
U-552 left St Nazaire for her third war patrol on 25 May 1941. In 39 days, U-552 traveled into the North Atlantic and during this time, she sank three British vessels, the Ainderby on 10 June, the Chinese Prince on 12 June and the Norfolk on 18 June. During the attack on the Norfolk, U-552 attempted to attack the remaining ships in the convoy but was forced to break off the attack due to the arrival of several of the convoy's escorts. All of these attacks occurred off of the North-West coast of Ireland and once U-552 returned to St. Nazaire on 2 July 1941, she had amassed a total of 24,401 tones lost from the ships she had sunk.Fourth patrol
U-552s fourth patrol was much less successful than her previous ones. Having left St Nazaire on 18 August, she preceded to head south into the waters off of Portugal and Spain. It was here that she sank the Norwegian vessel, Spind. Following the sinking of the Spind, U-552 returned to her home port at St Nazaire on 26 August 1941, after only being at sea for 9 days.Fifth and Sixth patrols
Her next two patrols all took her further into the Atlantic, where the danger was lessened, but so were the targets, with the result that she only hit three more cargo ships. This was also the time, during her final patrol of 1941, that she sank the Reuben James, which was torpedoed on 30 October in controversial circumstances.Sinking of the Reuben James
On 31 October 1941, the Reuben James was one of five destroyerDestroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s escorting convoy HX-156
Convoy HX-156
Convoy HX-156 was the 156th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool. Forty-three ships departed Halifax on 22 October 1941; and were met two days later by United States Navy Task Unit 4.1.3 consisting of Gleaves class destroyer Niblack, Clemson...
, close to the coast of Iceland, about 600 mi (965.6 km) west of the island. The James had just begun turning to investigate a strong direction-finder bearing when a torpedo fired from U-552 struck her port side and caused an explosion in her forward magazine. The entire bow section of the destroyer was blown off as far back as the fourth funnel and sank immediately. The stern remained afloat for around 5 minutes before sinking; unsecured depth charges compounded the damage, exploding as they sank and killing survivors in the water. One hundred and fifteen of her 160-man crew were killed, including all the officers. The destroyer was the first US Navy warship to be sunk in World War II.
The incident provoked a furious outburst in the United States, especially when Germany refused to apologize, instead countering that the destroyer was operating in what Germany considered to be a war zone and had suffered the consequences. The sinking of the Reuben James did not lead the US to declare war on Germany; it did, however, provide a pretext to officially transfer the US Coast Guard from its peacetime role as an arm of the US Treasury Department to a wartime function as part of the US Navy. Congress also amended the Neutrality Act to permit the arming of US-registered merchant ships and authorized them to enter European waters for the first time since 1939.
Second happy time
In 1942, again commanded by Erich ToppErich Topp
Rear Admiral Erich Topp was the third most successful of German U-Boot Experten commanders of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
(who would later become an admiral of the post-war Bundesmarine), U-552 participated in the "Second Happy Time
Second happy time
The Second Happy Time , also known among German submarine commanders as the "American shooting season" was the informal name for a phase in the Second Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines attacked merchant shipping along the east coast of North America...
", during which German submarines had great success against unescorted American merchantmen sailing alone along the eastern seaboard of the US. U-552 was particularly successful during this period, sinking 13 ships and damaging another in just three patrols in the first six months of 1942. Two further patrols under Topp during the summer netted four more ships. However on an attack against Convoy ON-155 on August 3, 1942, U-552 was nearly sunk when it was caught on the surface by the Canadian corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
HMCS Sackville
HMCS Sackville (K181)
HMCS Sackville was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later served as a civilian research vessel. She is now a museum ship located in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the last surviving Flower-class corvette.-Wartime service:...
. The corvette machine gunned the submarine and hit the conning tower with a four inch shell causing severe damage and forcing Topp to return to base for repairs. U-552 was badly damaged by heavy seas during another patrol and was put into port for repairs, during which Topp was promoted and replaced by a more cautious commander, Klaus Popp.
Sinking of the David H. Atwater
The destruction of the SS David H. AtwaterSS David H. Atwater
The SS David H. Atwater was a small unarmed coastal steamer which was sunk on 2 April 1942 by gunfire from German submarine U-552 in one of the more controversial actions of the Kriegsmarine during World War II, primarily due to the manner of the sinking.-History:The ship began life as the...
, in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
10 mi (16.1 km) off Chincoteague
Chincoteague
Chincoteague may refer to:Geography*Chincoteague Bay, a bay on the coast of Maryland and Virginia*Chincoteague Channel, a channel in Virginia connecting Chincoteague Bay and Chincoteague Inlet*Chincoteague Inlet, an inlet on the coast of Virginia...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, was one of the more controversial actions of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War, primarily due to the manner of the sinking.
On the night of 2 April 1942, at the height of the U-boat offensive against US shipping known as the Second Happy Time
Second happy time
The Second Happy Time , also known among German submarine commanders as the "American shooting season" was the informal name for a phase in the Second Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines attacked merchant shipping along the east coast of North America...
, the unarmed coastal steamer David H. Atwater was en route from Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
to Fall River, Massachusetts, with a full load of 4,000 tons of coal.
Around 21:00, between Cape Charles
Cape Charles
Cape Charles may refer to:*Cape Charles, Virginia, a town in Northampton County, Virginia*Cape Charles , headland or cape in Northampton County, Virginia...
and Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware...
, the ship was ambushed by U-552, commanded by Erich Topp
Erich Topp
Rear Admiral Erich Topp was the third most successful of German U-Boot Experten commanders of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, which had followed her underwater. U-552 surfaced about 600 yd (548.6 m) from the freighter and opened fire with her 88mm deck gun and machine guns without warning, one of her first shells destroying the bridge and killing all of the officers. In all, 93 shots were fired from the deck gun, with 50 hits being recorded on the small freighter, which rapidly began to sink.
As it did so, Erich Topp directed his crewmen to continue firing, striking the Atwaters crewmen as they tried to man the lifeboats. When Captain Webster was shot, the crew abandoned attempts to launch the lifeboats and leapt into the sea.
The first ship to arrive on the scene was the small Coast Guard Patrol Boat USS CG-218, which found a lifeboat holding three survivors and three bodies; the survivors reported that they had dived overboard and swum to the boat. Next on the scene was Coast Guard cutter USCGC Legare (WPC-144), which had heard the gunfire and arrived just fifteen minutes later. The Legare found a second lifeboat with a body aboard; the boat was discovered to have been riddled by gunfire, and lent strength to the widespread belief at the time that U-boats were deliberately murdering the survivors of ships they had sunk. The Legare landed the three survivors and four bodies at Chincoteague Island Coastguard Station, then returned to sea to carry out further searching. The destroyers USS Noa
USS Noa (DD-343)
The first USS Noa was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was named for Loveman Noa.-History:...
and USS Herbert
USS Herbert (DD-160)
USS Herbert was a Wickes-class destroyer. She was named for Hilary A. Herbert , Secretary of the Navy from 1893 to 1897....
were directed to the scene at 21:22 and arrived at 24:00, but the U-552 had by then escaped the scene, going on to sink other vessels.
Whether the attack on the liferafts was deliberate, or an unfortunate and unintended consequence of a nighttime attack has been heavily debated. Some of the crew of U-552 survived the war, and her captain, Erich Topp, later became an Admiral in the post-war Bundesmarine. No charges were brought against Topp, as happened to Helmuth von Ruckteschell
Helmuth von Ruckteschell
Helmuth von Ruckteschell was an officer in the German navy, serving in both World War I and World War II.He was one of the most successful merchant raider commanders, serving as...
, captain of the raider Widder
German auxiliary cruiser Widder
Widder was an auxiliary cruiser of the German Navy that was used as a merchant raider in the Second World War.Her Kriegsmarine designation was Schiff 21, to the Royal Navy she was Raider D....
for a similar offence.
Later patrols
U-552 had less success in later years, as did the U-boat force in general, as U-boats failed to keep ahead of the rapidly increasing numbers and capabilities of Allied anti-submarine efforts. She was transferred to operations off of the SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Portuguese
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...
and African coasts, which were nearer to base and less dangerous than the newly reorganized defenses of the United States, where she attempted to sink troopships during Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
. Whilst on this duty, Topp sank a small British minesweeper
Minesweeper (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:...
and later a cargo ship, but failed to enter the Straits of Gibraltar or seriously threaten the landings.
During 1943, U-552 was increasingly unable to serve effectively against the well-prepared and organized Allied convoy system, a fact reflected by her failure to sink a single ship during her two patrols into the North Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. During one of these, a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
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 spotted her and she was seriously damaged by depth charges, causing four months' repairs.
In 1944 she had a single unsuccessful patrol, but was unable to close with or threaten any Allied convoys, and so was withdrawn to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in April 1944 for use as a training craft in the 22nd U-boat Flotilla, a role she fulfilled until 2 May 1945, when her German crew scuttled her in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
bay to prevent her capture.
Raiding career
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March 1941 | SS Cadillac | British | 12,062 | Sunk |
| 10 March 1941 | SS Reykjaborg | Icelandic | 687 | Sunk |
| 27 April 1941 | (anti-submarine trawler) | British | 227 | Sunk |
| 27 April 1941 | MV Beacon Grange | British | 10,160 | Sunk |
| 28 April 1941 | MV Capulet | British | 8,190 | Damaged |
| 1 May 1941 | British | 5,583 | Sunk | |
| 10 June 1941 | SS Ainderby | British | 4,860 | Sunk |
| 12 June 1941 | MV Chinese Prince | British | 8,593 | Sunk |
| 18 June 1941 | SS Norfolk | British | 10,948 | Sunk |
| 23 August 1941 | SS Spind | Norwegian | 2,129 | Caught fire, sunk by after firefighting attempts were abandoned |
| 20 September 1941 | SS T.J. Williams | Panamanian | 8,212 | Sunk |
| 20 September 1941 | Panamanian | 4,150 | Sunk | |
| 20 September 1942 | MV Barbaro | Norwegian | 6,325 | Sunk |
| 30 October 1941 | American | 1,190 | Sunk | |
| 15 January 1942 | SS Dayrose | British | 4,113 | Sunk |
| 18 January 1942 | SS Frances Salman | American | 2,609 | Sunk |
| 25 March 1942 | MV Ocana | Dutch | 6,256 | Damaged |
| 3 April 1942 | American | 2,438 | Sunk | |
| 5 April 1942 | SS Byron T Benson | British | 7,953 | Sunk |
| 7 April 1942 | MV British Splendour | British | 7,138 | Sunk |
| 7 April 1942 | SS Lancing | Norwegian | 7,866 | Sunk |
| 9 April 1942 | SS Atlas | American | 7,137 | Sunk |
| 10 April 1942 | SS Tarnaulipas | American | 6,943 | Sunk |
| 15 June 1942 | SS Etrib | British | 1,943 | Sunk |
| 15 June 1942 | MV Pelayo | British | 1,346 | Sunk |
| 15 June 1942 | MV Slemdal | Norwegian | 7,374 | Sunk |
| 15 June 1942 | SS City of Oxford | British | 2,759 | Sunk |
| 15 June 1942 | British | 2,436 | Sunk | |
| 25 July 1942 | MV British Merit | British | 8,093 | Damaged |
| 25 July 1942 | SS Broompark | British | 5,136 | Sunk - note: this ship had in 1940 carried the entire Norwegian stocks of heavy water Heavy water Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction... from France to Britain |
| 3 August 1942 | MV G.S. Walden | British | 10,627 | Damaged |
| 3 August 1942 | SS Belgian Soldier | Belgian | 7,176 | Damaged |
| 19 September 1942 | British | 520 | Sunk | |
| 3 December 1942 | SS Wallsend | British | 3,157 | Sunk |