- Unterseeboot 573
Unterseeboot 573 (U-573) was a Type VIIC
submarine of theKriegsmarine .Her keel was laid down
June 8 ,1940 by Blohm + Voss ofHamburg . She was commissioned onJune 5 ,1941 with "Kapitänleutnant" Heinrich Heinsohn in command. Heinsohn commanded her for her entire career in the Kriegsmarine.U-573 conducted four war patrols, sinking one ship displacing 5,289 tons.
On
April 29 ,1942 , northwest ofAlgiers , U-573 was attacked withdepth charge s byLockheed Hudson s ofNo. 233 Squadron RAF . Seriously damaged, she limped north toSpain , arriving in Cartagena onMay 2 . International agreements allowed ships in neutral ports 24 hours to make emergency repairs before they were to be interred. The Spanish authorities granted U-573 a three-month period for repairs, which prompted several strong protests from the British Embassy inMadrid . Realizing that even three months would not be enough to repair the boat, the Kriegsmarine sold the boat toSpain for 1.5 million Reichsmark. OnAugust 2 ,1942 , at 10am, (one day before the three-month period was to expire), the Spanish navy commissioned the boat as theSpanish submarine G-7 .U-573's crew suffered no casualties during her career in the Kriegsmarine. In March
1943 , Kptlt. Heinsohn went back to Germany, took command of U-438, and died with all his crew two months later.G-7's repairs were completed in
1947 , in 1961, renamed S-01, and she served theSpanish Navy until1970 .One other U-boat was interred in Spain during
World War II : U-760."See Also:
List of U-boats "
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