| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-978 |
| Ordered: | 5 June 1941 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Laid down: | 24 July 1942 |
| Launched: | 1 April 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 12 May 1943 |
| Fate: | sunk on 11 December 1945 during Operation Deadlight. |
| 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 & ratings |
| Armament: |
• 5 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) • 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × C35 88mm gun/L45 deck gun (220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Kriegsmarine: 5th U-boat Flotilla 3rd U-boat Flotilla 11th U-boat Flotilla |
| Victories: | 1 ship damaged ; 7,176 gross register tons (GRT) |
German submarine U-978 was a World War II German Type VIIC U-boat operated by the Kriegsmarine. She holds the distiniction of having completed the longest underwater patrol of World War II.
Service history
U-978 was commissioned on 12 May 1943 and assigned to 5th U-boat Flotilla for crew training. On 1 August 1944, U-978 was assigned to 3rd U-boat Flotilla for operational service, and completed one patrol with that unit. On 4 September 1944 she was ordered to 11th U-boat Flotilla, beginning service on 5 September. During her second war patrol, U-978 completed the longest underwater Schnorchel patrol of World War II, lasting 68 days.[1] The record-breaking patrol began on 9 October 1944 when she left Bergen, Norway and ended on 16 December when she returned to Bergen from her patrol. Note that the famed underwater patrol of U-977, during her surrender to Argentina, was not the longest, as sometimes stated, it lasted at most 66 days. During her two patrols U-978, did not sink any ships, but damaged one ship beyond repair, which totalled 7,176 GRT.
Fate
U-978 survived the war as did her whole crew, and was surrendered at Trondheim on 8 May 1945. She was sunk on 11 December 1945 during Operation Deadlight by torpedoes at location 55°50′N 10°05′W / 55.833°N 10.083°W.
Notes
- ↑ Bishop, p.116.
References
- Bishop, C. Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939 –45. Amber Books, 2006.
- uboat.net. Retrieved, 14 February 2007.
The original article can be found at German submarine U-978 and the edit history here.