German submarine U-73 (1940)

"Unterseeboot 73" or "U-73" was a Type VIIB submarine of the Kriegsmarine. U-73 was launched 27 July 1940, by Bremer Vulkan of Bremen-Vegesack, Germany. [Lenton 1976 p.151] U-73 sank one ship of 4260 tons during the first patrol from 2 February 1941 to 3 March 1941, with Helmut Rosenbaum in command. [Blair 1996 p.713] Rosenbaum was credited with sinking four ships for 25148 tons during U-73's second patrol from 25 March 1941 to 24 April 1941. [Blair 1996 p.714] No ships were sunk during U-73's third patrol from 20 May 1941 to 25 June 1941, 4th patrol from 29 July 1941 to 1 August 1941, fifth patrol from 7 August 1941 to 17 September 1941, or sixth patrol from 11 October 1941 to 11 November 1941. [Blair 1996 pp.714-717]

U-73 entered the Mediterranean Sea on 14 January 1942 during its seventh patrol. [Blair 1996 p.718] Helmut Rosenbaum claimed U-73 sank a destroyer in February, but post-war records offer no confirmation. [Blair 1996 p.554] U-73 was under repair at Spezia for four months after being depth-charged by an allied aircraft on 1 April 1942. [Blair 1996 p.645] On 11 August 1942 U-73 sank the aircraft carrier HMS "Eagle" of Operation Pedestal. [Blair 1996 p.650] Rosenbaum was awarded the "Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes" and sent to command the Black Sea U-boat flotilla. [Blair 1996 p.650]

First watch officer Horst Deckert was promoted to command of U-73. [Blair 1996 p.651] Deckert was the son of German-American parents living in Chicago [Blair 1996 p.651] and had joined U-73's crew as a midshipman in 1940. [Sanders, January 1969, p.58] U-73 was depth-charged during an unsuccessful attack on Operation Torch troopships on 7 November 1942. [Blair 1998 p.96] On 10 November 1942, U-73 missed the battleship "Rodney" with four torpedoes launched at a range of 5 kilometers. [Blair 1998 p.98] In January 1943, U-73 sank the 7200-ton American Liberty ship "Arthur Middleton". [Blair 1998 p.209] As allied forces prepared for Operation Husky U-73 sank the 1600-ton British freighter "Brinkburn" off Oran on 21 June 1943 and damaged the 8300-ton Royal Navy oiler "Abbeydale" on 28 June 1943. [Blair 1998 pp.377-378] U-73 sank a medium-sized allied freighter in November 1943. [Blair 1998 p.456]

U-73 found convoy GUS-24 off Oran on 16 December 1943, and torpedoed the 7200-ton American Liberty ship "John S. Copley". [Blair 1998 p.457] As the damaged Liberty ship returned to port, destroyers USS Woolsey (DD-437), USS Trippe (DD-403), and USS Edison (DD-439) left Mers-el-Kebir to find the U-boat. [Blair 1998 p.457] U-73 was located by SONAR at 1815. [Sanders, January 1969, p.59] Hull turbulence made hydrophones ineffective at the speed U-73 was leaving the area, so U-73 was unaware of the destroyers until "Woolsey"s pattern of depth charges exploded below the submarine at 1839. [Sanders, January 1969, p.62] Sea water poured in between the bow torpedo tubes and from a salt water inlet valve for the diesel engine cooling system. [Sanders, January 1969, p.62] All ballast tanks were blown to bring U-73 to the surface as inflowing water exceeded pumping capacity. [Sanders, January 1969, p.62] U-73 surfaced in darkness at 1927 and manned the heavy machine guns. [Sanders, January 1969, p.62] The destroyers promptly detected U-73 on RADAR and illuminated the submarine with searchlights. [Sanders, January 1969, p.61] U-73 sank by the stern following a brief exchange of gunfire, and 34 of the crew were rescued by 2210. [Sanders, January 1969, p.62] Three of "Woolsey"s crew were wounded by machine gun fire, [Sanders, January 1969, p.60] and sixteen of the U-boat crew perished. [Blair 1998 p.457]

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