German submarine U-260

Unterseeboot 260 (U-260) was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down May 7, 1941 by Bremer Vulkan, of Bremen-Vegesack. She was commissioned March 14, 1942 with "Kapitänleutnant" Herbertus Purkhold in command.

U-260 conducted 9 patrols in total. On her second patrol U-260 was part of the "Spitz" wolf pack [Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.183] which attacked Convoy ON-154, making contact with the convoy on December 28 1942, and sinking the 4893-ton British freighter "Empire Wagtail" (lost with all hands - 43 dead) [Hague 2000 p.135] (This was the only ship sunk by U-260).

Purkhold was relieved in April of 1944 by "Oberleutnant zur See" Klaus Becker. Becker commanded the boat until March 1945.

On March 12, 1945, U-260 was scuttled south of neutral Ireland, in position coord|51|15|N|09|05|W|scale:5000000, after sustaining mine damage. The crew were interned in Ireland for the remainder of the war. In her entire career, U-260 suffered no casualties to her crew.

Post war

The wreck site of the U-260 was discovered in 1975 by Colin Barnes (a local fishermen) after snagging nets, though it was presumed that the wreck of the "Counsellor" (due to a mine in 1917) was in the area.A friend of his, Joe Barry, dove on the noted position and discovered the U-boat rather than the expected cargo ship.

U-260 currently lies in about 40 to 45m depth approximately 4 miles south of Glandore, and is a popular scuba diving site from Baltimore, County Cork and Union Hall.

There is recent speculation that U-260 did not actually strike a mine, but instead struck an underwater pinnacle (now known as '78 Rock' but which was uncharted at the time) leading to its damaged state.

Notes

References

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* [http://www.iol.ie/~hofnanet/pages/U260.html Silent Waters Running Deep - Irish Television production on the U-260 (pages include copyright underwater pictures of the wreck)]
* [http://www.divernet.com/wrecks/u260797.htm Dive review and further history (appeared in Diver Magazine July 1997)]
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u260.htm uboat.net]
* [http://www.gordonmumford.com/ons-154.htm Gordon Mumford's account of Convoy ONS-154]
* [http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/U260-948a.htm Irish Wrecks Online entry for U-260]
* [http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=260 ubootwaffe.net entry for U-260]
* [http://www.divesitedirectory.co.uk/dive_site_ireland_cork_baltimore_wreck_U-260.html U-260 dive review]

ee also

*List of U-boats