German submarine ''U-85'' was a Type VIIB

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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

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 ...

at the

Flender Werke Flender Werke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Lübeck. It was founded in 1917 as a branch of Brückenbau Flender AG of Benrath on the Rhine. In 1926 it was made a fully independent business and renamed Lübecker Flenderwerke AG. It ...

in Lübeck on 18 December 1939 as yard number 281. Launched on 10 April 1941, she was commissioned on 7 June and assigned to the

3rd U-boat Flotilla The 3rd U-boat Flotilla (German ''3. Unterseebootsflottille''), also known as Lohs Flotilla, was the third operational U-boat unit in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''. Founded on 4 October 1937 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Eckermann, ...

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 ...

'' Eberhard Greger. ''U-85'' conducted four war patrols with the flotilla, and sank three ships, totalling . She was sunk in April 1942 by the US

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

Roper Roper is a craftsman who makes ropes; a ropemaker. It may also refer to: Places *Roper, North Carolina, USA *Roper River, Northern Territory, Australia People * Roper (surname) Other *'' Roper v. Simmons'', a decision of the United States Sup ...

''.

Design

German Type VIIB submarines German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. ''U-85'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a

pressure hull A submarine hull has two major components, the ''light hull'' and the ''pressure hull''. The light hull (''casing'' in British usage) of a submarine is the outer non-watertight hull which provides a hydrodynamically efficient shape. The pressure ...

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 6 V 40/46 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 engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s 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-85'' was fitted with five

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

First patrol

''U-85'' departed

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

in Norway on 28 August 1941 for her first patrol. She sank the ''Thistleglen'' on 10 September northeast of

Cape Farewell Cape Farewell ( kl, Nunap Isua; da, Kap Farvel) is a headland on the southern shore of Egger Island, Nunap Isua Archipelago, Greenland. As the southernmost point of the country, it is one of the important landmarks of Greenland. Geography Loc ...

(Greenland). She docked at

St. Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

on the French Atlantic coast on 18 September.

Second patrol

''U-85''s second patrol started and finished in Lorient, but was unremarkable.

Third patrol

On her third foray, she sank the southeast of St. Johns,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, after a seven-hour chase, on 9 February 1942. Nine crew members were lost.

Fourth patrol and loss

Having left St. Nazaire on 21 March 1942, ''U-85'' sank the Norwegian freighter ''Christen Knudsen'' off the coast of New Jersey on 10 April.

Wolfpacks

''U-85'' took part in four wolfpacks, namely: * Markgraf (1 – 11 September 1941) * Schlagetot (20 October – 1 November 1941) * Raubritter (1 – 17 November 1941) * Störtebecker (17 – 22 November 1941)

Sinking

''U-85'' was operating within visual distance of Bodie Island Light at midnight on 13 April 1942 when the US destroyer detected the submarine on British Type 286

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

at a range of . The boat attempted to run south on the surface and fired its stern torpedo at ''Roper'' when the range closed to . ''Roper'' evaded the torpedo and ''U-85'' turned sharply to starboard when the range closed to . ''Roper'' illuminated the U-boat with its searchlight and observed men on deck near the gun whose firing arc had just been cleared by the course change. ''Roper'' raked ''U-85'' with

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

fire and scored a hit with a

3"/50 caliber gun The 3"/50 caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). Different guns (identifi ...

. ''Roper'' then dropped a pattern of 11

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 where ''U-85'' had disappeared beneath the surface.Rouse, Parke, Jr., "Under the Cloak of Night", ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'', June 1982, pp. 74–75 U-85 Beerdigung

Numerous men were observed in the water, but no rescue attempt was made until daylight. By then, there were no survivors among the 29 bodies floating in life jackets. Some of the bodies were wearing civilian clothes, carrying wallets with United States currency and

identification cards An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

.Rouse suggests ''U-85'' had been preparing to launch a raft of spies when discovered by ''Roper''. The bodies were fingerprinted, photographed and buried in a night-time military ceremony at the

Hampton National Cemetery Hampton National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Hampton, Virginia. It encompasses , and as of 2014, had over 30,000 interments. There are two separate parts to this facility. The original cemetery is called the "Ham ...

. ''U-85'' lies in less than of water; the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

briefly attempted to salvage her. More recent investigation by sport divers has raised questions about Navy reports on the wreck.Blair, Clay, Jr. ''Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942'' Random House (1996) p.543 ''U-85'' was the first U-boat loss of "

Operation Drumbeat The "Second Happy Time" (; officially Operation Paukenschlag ("Operation Drumbeat"), and also known among German submarine commanders as the "American Shooting Season") was a phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis powers, Axis s ...

" (''Paukenschlag''), the offensive off the eastern seaboard of the United States in 1942. For their actions in sinking ''U-85'', Destroyer Division 54 commander,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Stanley C. Norton and the ''Roper''s captain,

Lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Hamilton W. Howe, were each awarded the Navy Cross.

Wreck

The hatch of ''U-85'' is on display in the

Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is a maritime museum that focuses on the maritime history and shipwrecks of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The museum is located in Hatteras Village, the southernmost community on Hatteras Island, North ...

; the submarine herself still serves as an attraction for divers. The Labrador current influences the site and visibility can be low. The majority of the debris lies within a radius of the wreck. The wreck site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2015. The Enigma machine was recovered from the wreck by private divers (Jim Bunch, Roger & Rich Hunting) and in 2003 the German government agreed to allow the machine to be displayed at the

, in Hatteras, North Carolina.

Summary of raiding history

References

Bibliography

* * * * Hickam, Homer "Torpedo Junction" Naval Institute Press *

External links

U-85 Memorial Page with Crew members' birth dates and places
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0085 German Type VIIB submarines U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk in 1942 World War II submarines of Germany 1941 ships Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Ships built in Lübeck U-boats sunk by depth charges U-boats sunk by US warships Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in April 1942 National Register of Historic Places in Dare County, North Carolina Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina World War II on the National Register of Historic Places