German submarine U-59 (1938)

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-59.

German submarine U-59 (1938)
Career (Nazi Germany)
Name:	U-59
Ordered:	17 June 1937
Builder:	Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel, 'werk' 258
Cost:	2,063 Reichsmarks
Laid down:	5 October 1937
Launched:	12 October 1938
Commissioned:	4 March 1939
Fate:	Scuttled, broken up 1945
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type IIC U-boat
Displacement:	291 t (286 long tons) surfaced 341 t (336 long tons) submerged 435 t (428 long tons) total
Length:	43.9 m (144 ft 0 in) o/a 29.6 m (97 ft 1 in) pressure hull
Beam:	4.1 m (13 ft 5 in) o/a 4 m (13 ft 1 in) pressure hull
Height:	8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)
Draught:	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:	2 × MWM RS127S 6-cylinder diesel engines, 700 hp (522 kW) 2 × SSW PGVV322/26 double-acting electric motors, 402 hp (300 kW)
Speed:	12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) surfaced 7 knots (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged
Range:	6,100 km (3,300 nmi) at 8 kn (15 km/h) surfaced 67 km (36 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged
Test depth:	150 m (490 ft)
Complement:	22 to 24 men
Armament:	3 × torpedo tubes (bow), five torpedoes

Service record
Part of:	5th U-boat Flotilla 1st U-boat Flotilla 22nd U-boat Flotilla 19th U-boat Flotilla
Commanders:	Kplt. Harald Jürst (4 March 1939–17 July 1940) Joachim Matz (18 July–10 November 1940) Kptlt. Freiherr Siegfried von Forstner (11 November 1940–16 April 1941) Oblt. Günter Gretschel (17 April–December 1941) Günter Poser (December 1941–15 July 1942) Oblt. Karl-Heinz Sammler (16 July 1942–10 June 1943) Ltn Herbert Walther (July 1944–1 April 1945)
Operations:	Thirteen: 1st patrol: 29 August 1939–11 September 1939 2nd patrol: 22 October 1939–9 November 1939 3rd patrol: 30 November–8 December 1939 4th patrol: 14 December–19 December 1939 5th patrol: 14– 22 January 1940 6th patrol: 29 January–8 February 1940 7th patrol: 14–20 March 1940 8th patrol: 31 March– 7 May 1940 9th patrol: 18 July– 4 August 1940 10th patrol: 8–19 August 1940 11th patrol: 26 August–3 September 1940 12th patrol: 7 –21 September 1940 13th patrol: 7–21 October 1940
Victories:	Seventeen ships sunk, total 34,130 GRT (gross register tonnage); two auxiliary warship sunk 864 GRT; one ship damaged, 8,009 GRT; one ship declared a total loss, 1,943 GRT

German submarine U-59 was a Type IIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine that served in the Second World War. She was built by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel. Ordered on 17 June 1937, she was laid down on 5 October as Werk 258. She was launched on 12 October 1938 and commissioned on 4 March 1939 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Harald Jürst.

History

The boat began her career by training with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from March to December 1939. She was declared operational on 1 January 1940 with the 1st flotilla. She was assigned to the 22nd flotilla on 1 January 1941, then the 19th flotilla on 1 July 1944. The last two assignments were as a "school" boat.

She carried out 13 patrols in which she sank 17 merchant ships, two auxiliary warships, and damaged a tanker. A further victim was declared a "total loss".

She was scuttled in the Kiel Arsenal at the end of the war. The wreck was broken up in 1945.

Operational career

1st, 2nd and 3rd patrols

For her first patrol, U-59 departed Helgoland, (the German island in the North Sea), on 29 August 1939, before war was declared. She arrived in Kiel on 11 September after an uneventful trip.

Her second sortie saw her first success, sinking the British trawler Lynx II west of the Shetland Islands on 28 October 1939. She also sank the St. Nidian on the same date and HMS Northern Rover on the 30th.

Her third patrol also passed without incident.

4th, 5th and 6th patrols

The boat departed Wilhelmshaven on 14 December 1939 and sank the Lister 130 mi (210 km) off Newcastle on the 16th. She then sank the neutral Glitfriejell on the same day; the ship broke in two 75 mi (121 km) off St. Abbs Head. Her next victim was the neutral Bogø which also broke in two, 75 mi (121 km) east of May Island. U-59 returned to Germany, but this time to Kiel.

Her fifth outing took her from Kiel (leaving on 14 January 1940), to the vicinity of the British East Anglian coast. She returned, empty-handed, to Wilhelmshaven on 22 January.

The boat's sixth patrol saw her return to the East Anglian coast, but this time she was more successful, sinking the Ellen M. on 1 February 1940 and the Creofield and Portlet, both on 2 February.

7th, 8th, 9th and 10th patrols

Her seventh effort was uneventful, but her eighth, which commenced on 31 March 1940 was, at 38 days, her longest. She sank the Navarra on 6 April, but was in turn attacked by a submarine on 5 May; a torpedo track was seen 100 m from her stern. She returned to the 'Fatherland', to Kiel on 7 May.

The submarine's ninth patrol was marked with the sinking of the Sigyn on 1 August 1940 west of Oban (on the Scottish west coast). She completed the operation by docking at Bergen in occupied Norway on 4 August.

U-59's tenth sortie began on 8 August 1940, it finished at Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on the 19th. In between, she sank the Betty 35 mi (56 km) west of Tory Island on 14 August.

11th, 12th and 13th patrols

On her eleventh patrol, the boat damaged two ships, the San Gabriel and the Anadara, both on 30 August 1940 and both west of Scotland.

Her twelfth effort, west of Ireland and Scotland, was followed by the journey from Lorient back to Bergen.

Her thirteenth and last operational patrol was a fairly straightforward affair: from Bergen, down the Norwegian coast arriving in Kiel on 20 October 1940.

Raiding History

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
28 October 1939	Lynx II	Great Britain	250	Sunk
28 October 1939	St. Nidian	Great Britain	565	Sunk
30 October 1939	HMS Northern Rover	Great Britain	655	Sunk
6 December 1939	HMS Washington	Great Britain	209	Sunk (Mine)
12 December 1939	Marwick Head	Great Britain	496	Sunk (Mine)
16 December 1939	Glitrefjell	Norway	1,568	Sunk
16 December 1939	Lister	Sweden	1,366	Sunk
17 December 1939	Bogø	Denmark	1,214	Sunk
17 December 1939	Jaegersborg	Denmark	1,245	Sunk
19 January 1940	Quiberon	France	1,296	Sunk
1 February 1940	Ellen M.	Great Britain	498	Sunk
2 February 1940	Creofield	Great Britain	838	Sunk
2 February 1940	Portelet	Great Britain	1,064	Sunk
6 April 1940	Navarra	Norway	2,118	Sunk
1 August 1940	Sigyn	Sweden	1,981	Sunk
14 August 1940	Betty	Great Britain	2,339	Sunk
30 August 1940	Anadara	Great Britain	8,009	Damaged
30 August 1940	San Gabriel	Greece	4,943	Total Loss
31 August 1940	Bibury	Great Britain	4,616	Sunk
7 October 1940	Touraine	Norway	5,811	Sunk
12 October 1940	Pacific Ranger	Great Britain	6,865	Sunk