German Submarine U-548

German submarine ''U-548'' was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II.

She was laid down at the ''Deutsche Werft'' (yard) in Hamburg as yard number 369 on 4 September 1942, launched on 14 April 1943 and commissioned on 30 June with ''Kapitänleutnant'' Eberhard Zimmermann in command.

''U-548'' began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 30 June 1943. She was reassigned to the 2nd flotilla for operations on 1 April 1944, then the 33rd flotilla on 1 October.

She carried out four patrols and sank one ship.

She was sunk on 19 April 1945 by depth charges from American warships southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Design

German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. ''U-548'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . ''U-548'' was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.

Service history

First patrol

''U-548''s first patrol began with her departure from Kiel on 21 March 1944. She passed through the gap separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean. The boat was involved in a rather bizarre incident on the night of 3 May when a B-24 Liberator illuminated east of Conception Bay, Newfoundland, thinking she was a U-boat. ''U-548'' fired at the aircraft which in turn wrongly assumed they had been engaged by the ship. The real quarry aborted her attack and escaped.

The boat was the target of an unsuccessful hunt by Allied escorts after the sinking of on 7 May south of Cape Race, (Newfoundland).

She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 24 June 1944.

Second and third patrols

On her second foray, ''U-548'' lost a man overboard, (''Mechanikergefreiter'' (A) Walter Heise), during a crash-dive on 30 August 1944. Reversing the course of her first patrol, she arrived at Bergen in Norway, on 25 September.

Having moved to Hölen (southeast of Stavanger) in Norway, the boat began her third sortie on 7 October 1944. She docked at Flensburg on the 12th.

Fourth patrol and loss

By now, ''U-548'' was based at Horten Naval Base (south of Oslo) also in Norway, from where she began her fourth and last patrol on 5 March 1945. She crossed the Atlantic once more and was sunk southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia on 19 April by depth charges from the American destroyer escorts and .

Fifty-eight men died with the U-boat; there were no survivors.

Summary of raiding history

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:U0548
German Type IX submarines
U-boats commissioned in 1943
U-boats sunk in 1945
World War II submarines of Germany
1943 ships
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Ships built in Hamburg
U-boats sunk by depth charges
U-boats sunk by US warships
Submarines lost with all hands
Maritime incidents in April 1945