German submarine U-3519

U-Boat Infobox
type=XXI
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=September 19, 1944
launch=November 23, 1944
commission=January 7, 1945
yard=Schichau, Danzig
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=8th Flotilla
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=5th Flotilla
U_Boat Command
startdate=January, 1945
enddate=March, 1945
name=Kptlt. Richard von Harpe
U_Boat Sink
type=Type of Ship Sunk
total=Number of Ships Sunk
tonnage=Gross Registered Tonnage
U_Boat Sink
type=Commercial Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0
U_Boat Sink
type=Military Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0

Unterseeboot 3519 (usually abbreviated to U-3519) was a German Type XXI submarine built during World War II intended for service in the Atlantic Ocean. She was a brand new, high technology electric boat which could run constantly submerged rather than having to surface to recharge her batteries every day the way submarines until that point had had to do. Unfortunately for the Germans, these formidable hunters were only introduced to the Kriegsmarine late in 1944, much too late to influence the Second Battle of the Atlantic, and too late for many of them to serve in an offensive capacity at all. "U-3519" was just such an unfortunate U-boat.

On the 2 March 1945, with the end of the war near, training on U-boats had dropped to a minimum due to lack of fuel, falling morale and the effectiveness of allied attacks on U-boat construction and preparation. The exception to this was the new type XXI boats, which continued to train in the Baltic Sea. To prevent this, the Royal Air Force dropped thousands of sea mines into German territorial waters, in the hope that submarines entering or leaving harbour or training in shallow waters would be lost on them. This is what destroyed the "U-3519", when she ran afoul of an air-dropped mine near Warnemünde and sank to the bottom taking all 65 of her crew with her.

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u3519.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-3519"]

*See Also: List of U-boats