German submarine U-470

U-Boat Infobox
type=VIIC
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=November 1, 1941
launch=August 8, 1942
commission=January 7, 1943
yard=Deutschewerke, Kiel
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=5th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=September 28 1943
enddate=October 16 1943
assigned unit=11th FlotillaU_Boat Command
startdate=January, 1943
enddate=October, 1943
name=Kptlt. Günther Grave
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 470 (usually abbreviated to U-470) was a German Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine built for service in the Second Battle of the Atlantic during 1942. She was a very short-lived boat, being commissioned in the months following the turning point of the Atlantic campaign and thus into a time in which many U-boats were being lost. The demise of "U-470" was especially notable as she was sunk with two of her sisters in a brief melee in the waters of the Western Approaches.

Built by the Deutsche Werke shipyards in Kiel, "U-470" took a long time to complete, not being ready for initial working-up operations until a year after her construction began. She was given to Kptlt. Günther Grave, a highly experienced submarine officer, who lead her through her training and mechanical trials and readied the boat for her active career, a difficult six month process.

War Patrol

"U-470"'s only war patrol was an unlucky affair. After a difficult passage round the British Isles, "U-470" received orders to join with "U-844" and "U-964" to form a wolfpack to attack Convoy ON-206 in the Western Approaches to the English Channel. On the 16 October, just 18 days after leaving Bergen, Norway, a patrolling aircraft spotted "U-470" with her sister boats whilst still a long distance from their targets. The aircraft radioed back to base, and soon a whole swarm of British Royal Air Force Liberator aircraft from 59 Squadron and 120 Squadron had descended on the trio, who decided to battle it out on the surface rather than dive, which would have made them easy targets for depth charges as they dived and maneuvered to escape.

Over the course of the next several hours, the Liberators attacked the U-boats again and again, losing two of their number to anti-aircraft fire, one with all aboard and the other with two fatalities from the crew. The submarines however were suffering much worse, and gradually all three were sunk, "U-470" sinking with 46 hands including the captain, only two later being picked off rafts by allied ships. The aircraft had reported 20 survivors in the water, but many of them did not find buoyancy supports and drowned over the next few hours.

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u470.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-470"]

See also: List of U-boats