| German submarine U-254 | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Name: | U-254 |
| Ordered: | 23 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack |
| Laid down: | 14 December 1940 |
| Launched: | 20 September 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 8 November 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk after collision, 8 December 1942[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: |
769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged |
| Length: |
67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: |
6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296 |
| Speed: |
17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) surfaced 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) submerged |
| Range: |
15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: |
230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers and ratings |
| Armament: |
• 5 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) • 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × C35 88mm gun/L45 deck gun (220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (November 1941–July 1942) 9th U-boat Flotilla (August–December 1942) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Hans Gilardone (8 November 1941–8 December 1942) Kptlt. Odo Loewe (September–October 1942) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 14 July–19 August 1942 2nd patrol: 21 September–22 October 1942 3rd patrol: 21 November–8 December 1942 |
| Victories: | Three commercial vessels (18,553 GRT) |
German submarine U-254 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine, built for service in the Second World War and the Battle of the Atlantic. She was a mildly successful boat which carried out three war patrols, but fell victim to a freak accident during an attack on an Allied convoy in the mid-Atlantic Ocean on her third patrol and was lost.
Built in 1941 at Vegesack, U-254 was commanded for all her brief career by Kapitänleutnant Hans Gilardone, except for a brief period of illness, when Kptlt. Odo Loewe took command for her second patrol. She conducted her warm-up and training period in the Baltic Sea in the first half of 1942, before she was despatched to Kiel from where she participated in her first war operations.
Operational career[]
1st patrol[]
Her first war patrol was a simple one, entailing a passage between Kiel and her new home base in Brest in occupied France. During this month-long journey, U-254 was ordered to spend sometime cruising off Reykjavík, Iceland, hoping to catch some stragglers from northern convoys or supply ships running to the Allied forces stationed on the island. She had one success, sinking a small British freighter on 2 August before she headed for her new home.
2nd patrol[]
Her second patrol was more eventful, when on 3 October, after twelve days of cruising, she spotted the 11,000 ton American tanker SS Robert H. Colley in the central North Atlantic and sank her with one torpedo, killing 28.[2] This was followed six days later by another success in a similar area, when the 6,000 ton British ship SS Pennington Court was sunk by three torpedoes with all 40 sailors on board.[3]
The promising career of U-254 was almost cut short on this cruise, when the Norwegian Flower class corvette HNoMS Eglantine damaged her with depth charges during an attack on a convoy in the same area as her previous victories.
3rd patrol[]
After repairs, U-254 departed in late November 1942, returning to her old operating grounds of the North Atlantic routes. In December, the weather in the region is atrocious and visibility practically nil, so as U-254 manoeuvered to attack Convoy HX-217, to which she had been directed on 8 December, it is perhaps unsurprising that her crew failed to see U-221 come steaming out of the gloom and straight into her broadside. The two submarines had become lost in the dark and collided with one another in a freak accident, which claimed 41 of U-254's crew, who were spilled into the ocean as the boat heeled over and sank. Sailors from U-221 dived into the turbulent sea tied to ropes, and succeeded in rescuing four bedraggled survivors of the sinking. U-221 was badly damaged. Unable to dive, Oberleutnant Trojer aborted the patrol and returned to St. Nazaire, France.
Summary of raiding career[]
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 August 1942 | SS Flora II |  United Kingdom |
1,218 | Sunk |
| 3 October 1942 | SS Robert H Colley |  USA |
11,651 | Sunk |
| 9 October 1942 | SS Pennington Court | United Kingdom |
6,098 | Sunk |
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, pp. 97-98.
- ↑ uboat.net - Allied Ships hit by U-boats - Robert H. Colley (Steam tanker)
- ↑ uboat.net - Allied Ships hit by U-boats - Pennington Court (Steam merchant)
- Sharpe, Peter, U-Boat Fact File, Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
- U-boat.net webpage for U-254
Coordinates: 55°0′N 40°0′W / 55°N 40°W
The original article can be found at German submarine U-254 and the edit history here.