German submarine U-505
U-505 shortly after being captured
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany
|
|
| Name: | U-505 |
| Ordered: | 25 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg-Finkenwerder |
| Yard number: | 295 |
| Laid down: | 12 June 1940 |
| Launched: | 24 May 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 26 August 1941 |
| Fate: | Captured on 4 June 1944 by US Navy ships in the Atlantic. |
| Status: | Preserved as a museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: |
|
| Beam: |
|
| Height: | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power: |
|
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: |
|
| Range: |
|
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
| Part of: |
|
| Identification codes: | M 46 074 |
| Commanders: |
|
| Operations: | 12 patrols |
| Victories: | Eight ships sunk for a total of 44,962 GRT |
|
U-505 (IXC U-boat)
|
|
 |
|
| Coordinates | 41°47′30″N 87°34′53″W / 41.79167°N 87.58139°WCoordinates: 41°47′30″N 87°34′53″W / 41.79167°N 87.58139°W |
| Built | 1941 |
| Architect | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg, Germany |
| NRHP Reference # | 89001231 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 1989 |
| Designated NHL | 1989 |
U-505 is a German Type IXC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was captured on 4 June 1944 by United States Navy Task Group 22.3 (TG 22.3). Her codebooks, Enigma machine, and other secret materials found on board helped the Allied codebreakers.
All but one of U-505's crew were rescued by the Navy task group. The submarine was towed to Bermuda in secret and her crew was interned at a US prisoner-of-war camp where they were denied access to International Red Cross visits. The Navy classified the capture as top secret and prevented its discovery by the Germans.
In 1954, U-505 was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois and is now a museum ship.
She is one of six U-boats that were captured by Allied forces during World War II, and the first warship to be captured by US forces on the high seas since the War of 1812. In her uniquely unlucky career with the Kriegsmarine, she also had the distinction of being the "most heavily damaged U-boat to successfully return to port" in World War II (on her fourth patrol) and the only submarine in which a commanding officer took his own life in combat conditions (on her tenth patrol, following six botched patrols).U-505 is one of four German World War II U-boats that survive as museum ships, and one of two Type IXCs still in existence, the other being U-534.
German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-505 had a displacement of 1,120 tonnes (1,100 long tons) when at the surface and 1,232 tonnes (1,213 long tons) while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in), a pressure hull length of 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in), a beam of 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draft of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in). The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4,400 metric horsepower (3,240 kW; 4,340 shp) for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1,000 shaft horsepower (1,010 PS; 750 kW) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m (6 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 meters (750 ft).
...
Wikipedia