German submarine U-104 (1940)

German submarine U-104 was a Type IXB U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 24 May 1938 as part of the German naval rearmament program Plan Z. Her keel was laid down by AG Weser in Bremen in November 1939. Following about six and a half months of construction, she was launched in May 1940 and formally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine in August 1940.

U-104 had a very short career, sinking just one enemy vessel and damaging one other during one war patrol. In the middle of her first patrol, U-104 was posted missing off the north coast of Ireland on 28 November 1940 and was presumed sunk in minefield SN 44, which was laid a few days prior to her arrival in the area.

Construction
U-104 was ordered by the German Kriegsmarine on 24 May 1938 (as part of Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versailles). Her keel was laid down on 10 November 1939 by AG Weser in Bremen as Werk 967. U-104 was launched on 25 May 1940 and commissioned on 19 August of that year under the command of Kapitänleutnant Harald Jürst.

Design
Like all Type IXB submarines, U-104 had a total output of 1000 hp while submerged and 4400 hp when surfaced. As a result, she could travel at a maximum speed of 33.9 km/h while surfaced and 13.5 km/h while submerged. U-104 had a range of 41000 km at 19 km/h while on the surface and 219 km at 7.4 km while submerged. She was equipped with six torpedo tubes (four in the bow, two in the stern) and carried a total of 22 533 mm torpedoes. The submarine could also be equipped with 44 TMA mines instead of torpedoes. U-104's main deck gun was a Utof 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun with 110 rounds. U-104 also carried the standard 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun. She had a crew of 49 men, but could carry up to 56 crew members at any given time. After being commissioned and deployed, U-104 was stationed in the German port city of Wilhelmshaven.

Service history
During her short career, U-104 sank one enemy vessel and damaged another on her first and only war patrol in the North Sea, off the northern coast of Ireland and Great Britain. She went to sea on her first and only war patrol on 12 November 1940. For a period of 17 days, she roamed the North Sea and eventually the northern coast of Scotland and Ireland in search of any Allied convoys heading to Great Britain. During that time she attacked two enemy vessels, sinking one and damaging the other. On 27 November 1940, U-104 torpedoed and sank the British merchant vessel Diplomat with the loss of 14 of her crew. The other merchant vessel was the British motor tanker Charles F. Meyer, which survived the attack. The next day, U-104 went missing just north of neutral Ireland. She is presumed to have been sunk by a mine from the SN 44 minefield, which was laid on 8 November 1940, just 20 days prior to U-104's disappearance. All of her crew are presumed dead.