German submarine ''U-584'' was a Type VIIC

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 ...

built for

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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

'' for service 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 ...

on 1 October 1940 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 (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

as yard number 560, launched on 26 June 1941 and commissioned on 21 August 1941 under '' Kapitänleunant'' Joachim Deecke.

Design

German Type VIIC 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 VIIB submarines. ''U-584'' 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 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 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

Brown, Boveri & Cie Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1 ...

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-584'' 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 a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a

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of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

The boat's career began with training at

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 '' ...

on 21 August 1941, followed by active service on 1 December 1941 as part of the 1st Flotilla for the remainder of her service. In 10 patrols she sank three merchant ships, for a total of and one warship of 206 tons.

US Saboteur Landing

On 25 May 1942, the boat departed Brest, France for a special mission as part of

Operation Pastorius Operation Pastorius was a failed Nazi Germany, German Espionage, intelligence plan for sabotage inside the United States during World War II. The operation was staged in June, 1942 and was to be directed against strategic American economic tar ...

. On 18 June, she landed a 4-man saboteur team just south of

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Florida. This was one of two teams landed within a week of each other on the US east coast; the other team came aboard . The boat then returned safely to Brest on 22 July.

Wolfpacks

''U-584'' took part in 16 wolfpacks, namely: * Ulan (25 December 1941 – 10 January 1942) * Stier (29 August – 2 September 1942) *

Vorwärts ''Vorwärts'' (, "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as ...

(2 – 26 September 1942) * Luchs (27 – 29 September 1942) * Letzte Ritter (29 September – 1 October 1942) * Falke (4 – 19 January 1943) * Landsknecht (19 – 28 January 1943) * Hartherz (3 – 7 February 1943) * Löwenherz (1 – 10 April 1943) * Lerche (10 – 15 April 1943) * Specht (21 April – 4 May 1943) * Fink (4 – 6 May 1943) * Elbe (7 – 10 May 1943) * Elbe 1 (10 – 14 May 1943) * Leuthen (15 – 24 September 1943) * Rossbach (24 September – 6 October 1943)

Fate

''U-584'' was sunk on 31 October 1943 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 position , by depth charges from US

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aircraft operating from escort carrier . All hands were lost.

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0584 German Type VIIC submarines 1941 ships U-boats commissioned in 1941 Ships lost with all hands U-boats sunk in 1943 U-boats sunk by US aircraft World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean World War II submarines of Germany Ships built in Hamburg Maritime incidents in October 1943