German submarine ''U-132'' 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 10 August 1940 by Vegesacker Werft,

Bremen-Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of the city of Bremen. Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the river Weser (). Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is ...

as yard number 11, launched on 10 April 1941 and commissioned on 29 May that year under ''

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer and ...

'' Ernst Vogelsang. In four patrols, ''U-132'' sank ten ships for a total of and 2,216 tons. She was a member of three wolfpacks. The submarine was lost after an attack on

Convoy SC-107 Convoy SC 107 was the 107th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 24 October 1942 and were found and engaged by a wolfpack of ...

in November 1942.

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-132'' 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 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 chromos ...

6-cylinder 4-stroke 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

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-132'' 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

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 between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

First patrol

''U-132'' departed on her first patrol when she left

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 7 September 1941. Rounding the North Cape, she criss-crossed that part of the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

northwest of

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

before heading further east. She sank two Soviet ships, ''Argun'' and ''SKR-11 Ural'' on 18 October. The boat docked in

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

, also in Norway, on 21 October.

Second patrol

Having moved from Kirkenes back to Trondheim in late October 1941, ''U-132'' commenced her second foray on 15 January 1942. Her route took her due west through the gap between

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and the

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

to a point west of

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

. Here she sank on the 29th. She then moved to the port of

La Pallice La Pallice (also known as ''grand port maritime de La Rochelle'') is the commercial deep-water port of La Rochelle, France. During the Fall of France, on 19 June 1940, approximately 6,000 Polish soldiers in exile under the command of Stanisław ...

in occupied France, arriving on 8 February.

Third patrol

The boat's most successful patrol began when she left

on 10 June 1942. Having crossed the Atlantic Ocean, she attacked shipping in the Gulf of St Lawrence. On 6 July the ''U-132'' sank 3 ships in short order, ''Anastasios Pateras'', ''Hainaut'' and ''Dinaric'', all southeast of Cap Chat, Quebec from convoy ''QS-15''''.''Rohwer, p.149 ''The convoy escort'' the Canadian minesweeper retaliated with a depth charge attack. The warship's

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 damaged the U-boat's ballast pumps and resulted in the loss of 4 m³ of fuel. Fourteen days later on 20 July, the submarine attacked ''Frederika Lensen'' in convoy ''QS-19'' near

Anticosti Island ; moe, Notiskuan; mic, Natigostec , sobriquet = , image_name = RiviereHuileAnticosti.jpg , image_caption = Salmon fisherman on Rivière à l'Huile , image_map ...

. The ship was towed to Grand Valée Bay and beached, but with her back broken, she was declared a total loss. On 29 July the ''U-132'' sights convoy ON-113 and the next day sinks one ship from it.Rohwer, p.152 The boat returned to La Pallice on 16 August.

Fourth patrol and loss

''U-132'' left La Pallice for the last time on 6 October 1942. Operating southeast 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 was triumphant after sinking ''Hobbema'' and ''Empire Lynx'', but was sunk, probably by falling debris from the ammunition ship ''Hatimura'' when that vessel exploded, following an attack by ''U-132'' and on 4 November. All 47 crew members died; there were no survivors.

Wolfpacks

''U-132'' took part in three wolfpacks, namely: * Endrass (12 – 17 June 1942) * Panther (13 – 19 October 1942) * Veilchen (20 October - 3 November 1942)

Previously recorded fate

Had originally been recorded as sunk the next day, 5 November 1942, by British aircraft of

No. 120 Squadron RAF Number 120 Squadron or No. CXX Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was established as a Royal Flying Corps unit late in World War I, disbanded a year after the end of the war, then re-established as a RAF Coastal Command squadro ...

. The 120 Squadron attack, in the same area southeast of Cape Farewell where ''U-132'' inadvertently sunk herself, had actually been on operating nearby, causing severe damage but not sinking her.

Summary of raiding history

*Credit for sinking this vessel belongs to ''U-442''

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0132 German Type VIIC submarines World War II submarines of Germany U-boat accidents U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk in 1942 1941 ships Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Bremen (state) Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in November 1942