- German submarine U-227
U-Boat Infobox
type=VIIC
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=November 8 ,1941
launch=July 30 ,1942
commission=August 22 ,1942
yard=Germaniawerft ,Kiel
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=April 24 1943
enddate=April 30 1943
assigned unit=10th FlotillaU_Boat Command
startdate=August,1942
enddate=April,1943
name=Kptlt. Jürgen Kuntze
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=0Unterseeboot 227 (usually abbreviated to U-227) was a German Type IXC
U-boat of theKriegsmarine built for service in theSecond Battle of the Atlantic , which was cursed with repeated bad luck during her brief service life. She was built during1941 and1942 by theGermaniawerft shipyards in the fleet base ofKiel , and was completed in August 1942, in preparation for operations over the coming winter. Her commander was Kptlt. Jürgen Kuntze, an officer with just five months U-boat experience at the time of his promotion.During the initial working-up period disaster struck one month into the program, when "U-227" ran onto a
Royal Air Force mine dropped by aircraft intoDanzig Bay. The crippled boat survived without any serious injuries, but only just managed to limp into port still afloat. The mining of coastal waters was a new tactic for the RAF, but one which would reap dividends amongst the port-based German Navy. The repairs on the boat following this disaster meant that she was not completed until the following April, when Kuntze, having worked his crew hard, embarked on his only war patrol.War patrol
The "U-227" lasted a mere six days on her first operation patrol, when she was ordered to proceed with all haste for the North
Atlantic Ocean to interdict Canadian convoys. Passing in the large gap between theFaroe Islands andIceland , "U-227" was spotted despite bad weather by a Hampden bomber of No. 455 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, which swooped low onto the submarine and dropped a bomb right onto it. "U-227" went into an uncontrolled dive following the attack and never resurfaced, presumably hitting the sea floor hundreds of feet below, where she still lies with all 49 of her crew.References
* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u227.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-227"]See Also:
List of U-boats
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