German submarine U-190

German submarine ''U-190'' was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' built for service during World War II.Alberta diver to search for WWII u-boats off East Coast
''Edmonton Journal'', 18 January 2006

Her keel was laid down on 7 October 1941 by DeSchiMAG AG Weser of Bremen. She was launched on 8 June 1942 and commissioned on 24 September 1942 with ''Kapitänleutnant'' Max Wintermeyer in command.

She carried out a total of six war patrols during which she sank two ships. On 6 July 1944 Wintermeyer was relieved by ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Hans-Erwin Reith who commanded the boat for the rest of her career in the Kriegsmarine.

After VE Day, she was surrendered to the Royal Canadian Navy, in which she served for two more years as HMCS ''U-190''.

Design

German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. ''U-190'' 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 M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 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-190'' 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.

Armament

FLAK weaponry

''U-190'' was mounted with two 2cm Flak C38 in a M 43U ''Zwilling'' mount with short folding shield on the upper ''Wintergarten''. The M 43U mount was used on a number of U-boats (, , , , , , , , , and ).

File:2cm_Flak_C38_in_a_M_43U_Zwilling_Mount.png, 2 cm Flak C38 in a M 43U Zwilling mount with short folding shield.

Service history

''U-190'' conducted six war patrols, sinking two ships with a total of 7,015 GRT and 590 tons. The first was the 7,015 GRT British cargo ship ''Empire Lakeland'', sunk off Rockall on 8 March 1943, one week into ''U-190''s first operation. The next four patrols were unsuccessful.

Attack on ''William H. Webb''

On 13 June 1943, ''U-190'' attacked a convoy off the east coast of the United States, east of New York. The Liberty Ship ''William H. Webb'' was in the most dangerous convoy position (tail ship, outside starboard column), when ''U-190'' fired a torpedo at the vessel, but the Liberty Ship was equipped with a special anti-torpedo mine, which detonated the torpedo 200 feet away from the ship, causing minor damage. The captain of ''U-190'' would report to U-boat HQ in Germany that he had fired a torpedo, and that the ship had detonated the torpedo and proceeded apparently unhurt.

''U-190''s final war patrol began on 22 February 1945. She left Norway equipped with six contact and eight T-5 "GNAT" acoustic torpedoes. Her mission was to interdict Allied shipping off Sable Island and in the approaches to Halifax, Nova Scotia harbour. On 16 April she was keeping station off the Sambro light ship when her crew heard ASDIC (Sonar) pinging.

Sinking of HMCS ''Esquimalt''

The minesweeper was conducting a routine patrol of the harbour. She was employing none of the mandatory anti-submarine precautions: she was not zig-zagging; she had not streamed her towed Foxer-type decoy, designed as a countermeasure against GNAT torpedoes; she had turned off her radar. Nonetheless, the U-boat crew was sure that they had been detected, and when ''Esquimalt'' turned toward them, ''U-190'' turned to run and fired one GNAT from a stern tube.

The torpedo struck ''Esquimalt''s starboard side. She sank within four minutes, the last Canadian vessel to be lost due to enemy action in World War II. While eight of her crew went down with her, the remainder survived the immediate disaster. ''Esquimalt'' sank so rapidly, however, that no distress signals were sent, and no one knew of the sinking until some eight hours later when discovered the survivors. During the delay 44 crewmen had died of exposure, leaving only 26.

Surrender and the tour

''U-190'' escaped the area and remained on patrol off the North American east coast until she received ''Reichspräsident'' Karl Dönitz's 8 May order to surrender. The boat met the Canadian frigate off Cape Race, Newfoundland, on 11 May. Reith signed a document of unconditional surrender, and was taken prisoner with his crew aboard ''Victoriaville'' which escorted the submarine to Newfoundland. With the white ensign flying from her masthead, ''U-190'' sailed under the command of Lieutenant F. S. Burbidge into Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, on 14 May. The prisoners were taken to Halifax.

''U-190'' was formally commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 19 May. Her first assignment, in the summer of 1945, was a ceremonial tour of communities along the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, with stops in Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Quebec City, Gaspé, Pictou, and Sydney. On returning to Halifax she assumed duties as an anti-submarine training vessel, which she continued to fulfill for a year and a half.

Operation Scuttled

''U-190'' was paid off on 24 July 1947, but had one last mission to complete.

The official purpose of "Operation Scuttled" was to provide training for inexperienced post-war recruits in the art of combined operations. ''U-190'', painted in lurid red and yellow stripes, was towed to the spot where she had sunk ''Esquimalt'', and at precisely 11:00 hours on Trafalgar Day 1947, the fireworks began. The "exercise" called for a deliberately escalating firepower demonstration, beginning with airborne rockets and culminating in a destroyer bombardment with 4.7-inch guns and a hedgehog anti-submarine weapon providing the ''coup de grace''.

While numerous reporters and photographers watched, and , , and stood by awaiting their turn, the Naval Air Arm began the attack with eight Seafires, eight Fairey Fireflies, two Avro Ansons, and two Fairey Swordfish.

The first rocket attack struck home, and almost before the destroyers had a chance to train their guns, the U-boat was on the bottom of the ocean less than twenty minutes after the commencement of "Operation Scuttled."

Periscope and search

Before ''U-190'' was sunk, her periscope had been salvaged. In 1963 it was installed at the Crow's Nest Officers Club in St. John's, Newfoundland. Many years of exposure to the weather damaged it to the point of uselessness, but it was overhauled and repaired; in a ceremony on 22 October 1998 it was "recommissioned" and is once again looking out at Water Street from the club. Original shipment of the periscope had been effected by Commodore Edward N. "Cookie" Clarke from HMC Dockyard, Halifax, where it had been in storage, to the Crow's Nest where Cookie had been a member during the war.
''U-190'' suffered no casualties from her crews during her career.

An 18 January 2006 article in the Edmonton Journal reported that a team of divers planned to search for ''U-190'' and another U-boat, .

Summary of raiding history

See also

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* List of ships of the Canadian Navy

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:U0190
German Type IX submarines
U-boats commissioned in 1942
World War II submarines of Germany
1942 ships
Ships built in Bremen (state)
Submarines of the Royal Canadian Navy
Ships sunk as targets
Maritime incidents in 1947
Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean