German submarine U-53 (1939)

Service record
Part of:	7th U-boat Flotilla; (24 June 1939 – 23 February 1940)
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. Dietrich Knorr; (24 June–August 1939) Ernst-Günter Heinicke; (August 1939–14 January 1940) Oblt.z.S. Heinrich Schonder; (December 1939–January 1940) Krvkpt. Harald Grosse; (15 January–23 February 1940)
Operations:	Three:; 1st patrol:; 29 August–30 September 1939; 2nd patrol:; 21 October–30 November 1939; 3rd patrol:; 2–23 February 1940
Victories:	Seven ships sunk for a total of 27,316 GRT; one ship damaged, 8,022 GRT

German submarine U-53 (1939)
German submarine U-53 (1939)
Name:	U-53
Ordered:	15 May 1937
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Cost:	4,439,000 Reichsmark
Yard number:	588
Laid down:	13 March 1937
Launched:	6 May 1939
Commissioned:	24 June 1939
Fate:	Sunk by HMS Gurkha 23 February 1940 near the Orkney Islands
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type VIIB U-boat
Displacement:	753 t (741 long tons) ↑; 857 t (843 long tons) ↓
Length:	66.5 m (218 ft 2 in) o/a; 48.8 m (160 ft 1 in) pressure hull
Beam:	6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) overall; 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Draught:	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:	2 × supercharged MAN 6 cylinder, 4-stroke M 6 V 40/46 diesel engines totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW) Max rpm 470-490 ↑; 2 × AEG GU 460/8-276 electric engines totalling 750 shp (560 kW) ↓
Speed:	17.9 kn (33.2 km/h); 8 kn (15 km/h)
Range:	8,700 nmi (16,112 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)↑; 90 nmi (170 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h)
Test depth:	230 m (750 ft). Calculated crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement:	44 to 48 officers and ratings
Armament:	5 x 53.3 cm torpedo tubes: four bow, one stern (14 torpedoes or 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines); 1 x 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds; C30 20 mm flak guns;

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-53.

German submarine U-53 was a Type VIIB U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 13 March 1937 at Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel and went into service on 24 June 1939 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See (Oblt.z.S.) Dietrich Knorr.^[1]

1st patrol[]

U-53 began her first patrol on 29 August 1939, just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, under the command of Ernst-Günter Heinicke. Also aboard was Ernst Sobe, the commander of the 7th ("Wegener") Flotilla.^[2] U-53 sank two British ships on this patrol: the tanker SS Cheyenne and the freighter SS Kafiristan.^[3]

2nd patrol[]

A second patrol under Heinicke, beginning on 21 October produced no results. U-53, along with U-25 and U-26, was to penetrate the Strait of Gibraltar and raid Allied shipping in the Mediterranean Sea. Daunted by the strong British forces at the straits, Heinicke did not attempt to force them and was transferred to the merchant raider German auxiliary cruiser Widder on his return to Germany.^[4]^[5]

3rd patrol[]

Harald Grosse replaced Heinicke for U-53's third and final war patrol, which began on 2 February 1940. Grosse sank six ships for 21,230 GRT, including the Spanish neutral Banderas, whose sinking strained relations between Germany and Spain. On 23^[6] or 24^[7] February (sources vary), U-53 was engaged and sunk by depth charges dropped by the British destroyer HMS Gurkha west of the Orkney Islands with the loss of all hands, (42 dead).

In popular culture[]

In the film The Cruel Sea (1953) U53 was the last (and only) submarine the crew of the fictitious frigate HMS Saltash Castle sank.

Summary of raiding career[]

Date^[8]	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
15 September 1939	SS Cheyenne	United Kingdom	8,825	Sunk
17 September 1939	SS Kafiristan	United Kingdom	5,193	Sunk
11 February 1940	MV Imperial Transport	United Kingdom	8,022	Damaged
11 February 1940	SS Snestad	Norway	4,114	Sunk
12 February 1940	SS Dalarö	Sweden	3,927	Sunk
13 February 1940	SS Norna	Sweden	1,022	Sunk
14 February 1940	SS Martin Goldschmidt	Denmark	2,095	Sunk
18 February 1940	SS Banderas	Spain	2,140	Sunk

Sources[]

↑ "U-53 Type VIIB". ubootwaffe.net. http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=53. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
↑ Blair (1996), 56.
↑ Blair (1996), 90; 94.
↑ Blair (1996), 115–119.
↑ "Korvettenkapitän Ernst-Günter Heinicke". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/444.html. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
↑ Blair (1996), pp. 140–141.
↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. 1997. p. 64. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-53". WWII U-boat successes. Uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/successes/u53.html. Retrieved 21 November 2010.

Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.

External links[]

U-53 at uboatnet

Coordinates: 60°32′00″N 6°14′00″W / 60.533333°N 6.233333°W / 60.533333; -6.233333

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at German submarine U-53 (1939) and the edit history here.

[u53-1] "U-53 Type VIIB". ubootwaffe.net. http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=53. Retrieved 21 November 2010.

[2] Blair (1996), 56.

[3] Blair (1996), 90; 94.

[4] Blair (1996), 115–119.

[5] "Korvettenkapitän Ernst-Günter Heinicke". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/444.html. Retrieved 21 November 2010.

[6] Blair (1996), pp. 140–141.

[7] Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. 1997. p. 64. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3

[hit-8] Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-53". WWII U-boat successes. Uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/successes/u53.html. Retrieved 21 November 2010.

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