German submarine ''U-173'' was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. She was laid down at the

DeSchiMAG Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser in Bremen. History The Deschimag was founded in 19 ...

AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. „Weser”) was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ...

yard 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 con ...

as yard number 1013, launched on 11 August 1941 and commissioned on 15 November with ''

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' (O ...

'' Heinz-Ehler Beucke in command. ''U-173'' began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She was reassigned to the 2nd flotilla for operations on 1 July 1942.

Design

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. ''U-173'' 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 of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

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 propellers. 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-173'' 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 A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...

of forty-eight.

Service history

First patrol

The boat departed Kiel on 15 June 1942, moved through the North Sea and negotiated the gap between Iceland and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean and entered the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 20 September.

Second patrol

The submarine attempted the disruption of the Operation Torch landings (the invasion of North Africa) on 11 November 1942. She attacked convoy UGF-1 which was at anchor in Fedhala Roads. She hit three ships, sinking and damaging two more. One of the damaged vessels, the destroyer , was towed to nearby

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

where Seabees cut the ship in two, removed about of hull, then joined the two halves together again; she survived the war. A few days later and further north, ''U-173'' torpedoed but did not sink , on 15 November. This vessel also survived the war, not being broken up until 1974.

Loss

The boat was sunk by depth charges from the American destroyers , , and in the Atlantic Ocean off Casablanca () on 16 November 1942. All fifty-seven hands were lost.An Army at Dawn, Rick Atkinson, page 153

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0173 German Type IX submarines U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk in 1942 World War II submarines of Germany 1941 ships World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Bremen (state) U-boats sunk by depth charges U-boats sunk by US warships Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in November 1942