German submarine ''U-70'' was a Type VIIC submarine of

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's '' Kriegsmarine'' during

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. The U-boat was

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on 19 December 1939 at the

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shipyard at

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as yard number 604, launched on 12 October 1940, and commissioned on 23 November under the command of ''

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'' Joachim Matz to serve with the

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from 23 November 1940 until she was sunk on 7 March 1941.

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-70'' 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 of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged

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-ca ...

s producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c 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-70'' 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, s ...

es, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a

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of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

''U-70''s first and only patrol began on 20 February 1941. On 26 February she sank the 820 GRT Swedish merchant ship ''Göteborg'', south of

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. ''U-70'' joined , , and in a wolfpack that attacked Convoy OB 293 south-east of Iceland on 7 March 1941. In her first attack at 04:45 ''U-70'' damaged the 6,568 GRT British tanker ''Athelbeach'' (later sunk by ''U-99''), and the 6,423 GRT British merchant vessel ''Delilian''. At 07:25 ''U-70'' struck again and hit the 7,493 GRT Dutch tanker ''Mijdrecht''. However the

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spotted the periscope of ''U-70'', rammed the submerged U-boat at , damaging the conning tower and reported its position to the convoy escorts.

Fate

At 08:15, the British corvette sighted ''U-70'', which promptly dived. Until 10:30 ''Camellia'' and her sister ship attacked five times with depth charges, then ''Arbutus'' made another four attacks. In total the two corvettes dropped 48 depth charges. Finally, at 12:44, ''U-70'' was forced to the surface and was abandoned by her crew at . Twenty-five survivors of her crew of forty-five, were picked up and taken prisoner.

Summary of raiding history

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0070 German Type VIIC submarines U-boats commissioned in 1940 U-boats sunk in 1941 U-boats sunk by British warships World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1940 ships Ships built in Kiel U-boats sunk by depth charges Maritime incidents in March 1941