German submarine ''U-565'' was a

Type VIIC Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. 703 boats were built by the end of the war. The lone surviving example, , is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial located in Laboe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Conc ...

U-boat built for Nazi Germany's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' for service during World War II. She was laid down on 30 March 1940 by

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

in Hamburg as yard number 541, launched on 20 February 1941 and commissioned on 10 April 1941 under ''

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

'' Johann Jebsen.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-565'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She 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 Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two BBC GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s. 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-565'' was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

The boat's service began on 10 April 1941 with training as part of the

1st U-boat Flotilla The 1st U-boat flotilla (German ''1. Unterseebootsflottille'') also known as the Weddigen flotilla, was the first operational U-boat unit in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy). Founded on 27 September 1935 under the command of ''Fregattenkap ...

. She was transferred to the 29th flotilla on 1 January 1942 in the Mediterranean where she remained until being scuttled in 1944. In 20 patrols she sank three merchant ships, for a total of , plus two warships sunk and another two merchant ships damaged.

Wolfpacks

She took part in two wolfpacks, namely: *Arnauld (5 – 18 November 1941) *Wal (10 – 12 November 1942)

Fate

''U-565'' was badly damaged by bombs dropped by US aircraft on 19 and 24 September 1944 in the Mediterranean near Skaramanga in Greece. She was scuttled on 30 September 1944 at Skaramanga Bay.

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0565 German Type VIIC submarines 1941 ships U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk by depth charges U-boats sunk in 1944 World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships built in Hamburg Maritime incidents in September 1944 Shipwrecks of Greece