German submarine U-156 (1941)

Conning tower emblem of U-156
History
Nazi Germany
Name:	U-156
Ordered:	25 September 1939
Builder:	DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen
Yard number:	998
Laid down:	11 October 1940
Launched:	21 May 1941
Commissioned:	4 September 1941
Fate:	Sunk on 8 March 1943
General characteristics
Class and type:	Type IXC submarine
Displacement:	1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged
Length:	76.76 m (251 ft 10 in) o/a 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull
Beam:	6.76 m (22 ft 2 in) o/a 4.40 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height:	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught:	4.70 m (15 ft 5 in)
Installed power:	4,400 PS (3,200 kW; 4,300 bhp) (diesels) 1,000 PS (740 kW; 990 shp) (electric)
Propulsion:	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Range:	13,450 nmi (24,910 km; 15,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:	230 m (750 ft)
Complement:	48 to 56
Armament:	6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) 22 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedoes 1 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) deck gun (180 rounds) 1 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) AA gun 1 × twin 2 cm FlaK 30 AA guns
Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine 4th U-boat Flotilla 4 September – 31 December 1941 2nd U-boat Flotilla 1 January 1942 – 8 March 1943
Commanders:	Werner Hartenstein
Operations:	Five patrols
Victories:	20 ships sunk for a total of 97,504 GRT Three ships damaged for a total of 18,811 GRT One warship damaged for a total of 1,190 tons

The German submarine U-156 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid on 11 October 1940 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen, Germany, as yard number 998. She was commissioned on 4 September 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein (Knight's Cross). The city of Plauen, Hartenstein's home city, adopted the submarine within the then popular sponsorship programme (Patenschaftsprogramm), organising gifts and holidays for the crew.

The U-boat took part in five patrols, which included attacks on shipping in which she sank twenty merchantmen, damaged another three merchantmen, and damaged the American destroyer USS Blakeley. An attack on the oil refinery on the island of Aruba was also attempted, but abandoned when her naval gun exploded.

U-156 was the main participant in the Laconia Incident in September 1942, during which she torpedoed and sank the troopship Laconia west of Africa. Whilst rescuing the survivors and flying the Red Cross flag, the U-boat was attacked by an American aircraft and forced to dive, resulting in the shipwrecked survivors being cast back into the sea. The incident led to the Laconia Order, banning U-boats from attempting rescues, and later caused major embarrassment to the US during the Nuremberg trials.