German submarine ''U-64'' was a Type IXB

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

'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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was ordered by them in July 1937. Her keel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

by AG Weser in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

in December 1938. Following about nine months of construction, she was launched in September 1939 and formally commissioned into the ''Kriegsmarine'' in December. ''U-64'' had a very short career and sank no enemy vessels. Having left her home port of Wilhelmshaven for her first war patrol on 6 April 1940, she was intercepted by Allied aircraft seven days later off the coast of Norway during the

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

of that country and was sunk by a bomb from a Fairey Swordfish aircraft of . Of her crew of 46, eight men died and 38 escaped from the sinking submarine.

Construction and design

Construction

''U-64'' was ordered by the ''

'' on 16 July 1937 as part of Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Her keel was

on 15 December 1938 by AG Weser in

as yard number 952. She was launched on 20 September 1939 and commissioned on 16 December under the command of '' Kapitänleutnant''

Georg-Wilhelm Schulz Georg-Wilhelm Schulz (10 March 1906 – 5 July 1986) was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War. From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in September 1941, he sank 19 ships for a total of . For this he received the K ...

Design

Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. ''U-64'' 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 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 MAN M 9 V 40/46

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 ...

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

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-64'' 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

''U-64'' went to sea on 6 April 1940. For eight days, she roamed the North Sea in search of Allied convoys heading to Norway in support of the campaign centred around that country. During that time she encountered no enemy vessels. On 13 April, the eighth day of her first patrol, she was hove-to in

Herjangsfjord or (or unofficially: ''Herjangen'') is a fjord that branches off of the Ofotfjorden in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The long fjord is located just north of the Rombaken fjord. The villages along the fjord are Bjerkvik and He ...

in Norway, around 50 yards from the shore; the crew were repairing a minor problem with the submarine's periscope. However a strong British force was approaching the area. This consisted of the battleship and nine destroyers. Their intention was to attack a group of eight German destroyers that were nearby - this action would later be known as the

Second Battle of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...

. Just before the battle, a Fairey Swordfish float-plane was launched from ''Warspite'', with the crew ordered to reconnoitre for German ships and to bomb any targets of opportunity. The aircraft was carrying two high explosive bombs, two anti-submarine bombs and eight anti-personnel bombs. After spotting and reporting several of the German destroyers, the crew spotted the ''U-64'' and decided to attack. They dived down to and dropped their anti-submarine bombs. One was a near-miss, but one bomb hit just behind the submarine's conning-tower. Anti-aircraft fire from the U-boat caused minor damage to the aircraft. The U-boat sank to the bottom of the fjord. Eight crew went down with her but 38 escaped. They were picked up by German mountain troops stationed ashore and would later form the crew of . The wreck of the ''U-64'' was raised in August 1957 and moved to Sandnessjøen in Norway, where it was scrapped.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0064 Battles of Narvik German Type IX submarines U-boats commissioned in 1939 U-boats sunk in 1940 World War II submarines of Germany 1939 ships World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea U-boats sunk by British aircraft Ships built in Bremen (state) Maritime incidents in April 1940