German submarine ''U-628'' 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 7 August 1941 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 ...

, Hamburg as yard number 604, launched on 29 April 1942 and commissioned on 25 June 1942 under '' Kapitänleutnant'' Heinrich Hasenschar.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-628'' 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-628'' 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 25 June 1942 with training as part of the

5th U-boat Flotilla The 5th U-boat Flotilla (German ''5. Unterseebootsflottille''), also known as Emsmann Flotilla, was a U-boat flotilla of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The flotilla was formed in December 1938 in Kiel under the command of '' ...

. She was transferred to the

1st Flotilla The First Flotilla was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy commanded by the Flag Officer, First Flotilla from 1971 to 1990. The Western Fleet and Far East Fleet were merged into the single Commander-in-Chief Fleet in 1971. Within this new ...

on 1 December 1942 for active service in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. In four patrols she sank four merchant ships, for a total of , plus three merchant ships damaged.

Wolfpacks

''U-628'' took part in six wolfpacks, namely: * Ungestüm (11 – 30 December 1942) * Hartherz (3 – 7 February 1943) * Ritter (11 – 26 February 1943) * Without name (15 – 18 April 1943) * Specht (19 April – 4 May 1943) * Fink (4 – 6 May 1943)

Fate

''U-628'' was sunk on 3 July 1943 in the

NW of Cape

Ortegal Ortegal is a ''comarca'' in the north of the Galician Province of A Coruña, Spain. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea to the north, the Province of Lugo to the east, the comarca of O Eume O Eume is a comarca in the province o ...

in position ; bombed and depth charged by RAF Liberator aircraft (FL963) of 224/J Squadron out of RAF St Eval in Cornwall. All 49 hands were lost.

Summary of raiding history

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U0628 Submarines lost with all hands German Type VIIC submarines 1941 ships U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk by depth charges U-boats sunk by British aircraft U-boats sunk in 1943 World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Hamburg Maritime incidents in July 1943