German submarine ''U-574'' 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 of 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

'' during World War II. She carried out one war patrol (partaking in two wolfpacks) and sank one warship of 1,190 tons. The U-boat was sunk west of Portugal on 19 December 1941.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-574'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

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 Brown, Boveri & Cie 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-574'' 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 submarine was laid down on 15 June 1940 at

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 ...

, Hamburg as yard number 550, launched on 12 April 1941 and commissioned on 12 June under the command of ''

Oberleutnant zur See ''Oberleutnant zur See'' (''OLt zS'' or ''OLZS'' in the German Navy, ''Oblt.z.S.'' in the ''Kriegsmarine'') is traditionally the highest rank of Lieutenant in the German Navy. It is grouped as OF-1 in NATO. The rank was introduced in the Imper ...

'' Dietrich Gengelbach. She served with 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 ...

from 12 June 1941 for training and stayed with that organization for operations until her loss, from 1 November 1941 until 19 December.

Operational career

Patrol and loss

The boat departed Kiel on 8 November 1941, moved through the North Sea, negotiated the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and entered the Atlantic Ocean. Just after sinking her only victim, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS ''Stanley'', she was sunk near Punta Delgada by

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s and ramming by the British sloop on 19 December 1941. The boat was scuttled; the captain, Dietrich Gengelbach, refused to leave the submarine and went down with her. Twenty-eight men died; there were 16 survivors.

Wolfpacks

''U-574'' took part in two wolfpacks, namely: * Steuben (14 November – 1 December 1941) * Seeräuber (14 – 19 December 1941)

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U0574 German Type VIIC submarines U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk in 1941 U-boats sunk by British warships World War II submarines of Germany 1941 ships World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Hamburg Maritime incidents in December 1941