German submarine U-215

German submarine U-215

Unterseeboot 215 (U-215) was a Type VIID submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down 15 November 1940 by Germaniawerft in Kiel. She was commissioned on 22 November 1941 with Kapitänleutnant Fritz Hoeckner in command.

U-215 conducted one patrol, sinking one 7191-ton ship. On 3 July 1942, while attempting to mine the harbor at Boston, Massachusetts, she interrupted her stealthy mission to torpedo SS "Alexander Macomb", which was carrying tanks and guns to Europe. U-215 was immediately detected by the British ASW Trawler HMS "Le Tiger" (on loan to the US Navy at the time) [cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6394.html|title=Allied Warships, HMS Le Tiger (FY 243)|accessdate=2008-08-14] , depth charged, and sunk with all hands on the Georges Bank in about 90 meters of water some 200 kilometers south of Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

The wreck of U-215 was found by a Canadian dive team in July 2004 with live naval mines aboard and the remains of all 49 crew members. The wreck was located with the aid of local fishermen who had kept accurate records of the positions where their nets had been snagged.

U-215 was one of six U-boats of its kind, equipped with special tubes that could hold mines. Four of the five tubes are still sealed.

According to Jak Showell, a naval historian from Folkestone, England, and member of the U-Boat Archiv in Germany, there were 1,171 U-boats commissioned during World War II, but only 859 were deployed for battle, and three-fourths of them — 648 — were sunk or captured at sea. Only 321 U-boats attacked and caused damage to allied ships. All military ships found at sea remain the property of the country of origin, so that the U-boats found in the Atlantic still belong to the German government. The policy is to leave the ships where found and sites are considered war graves.

References

External links

CBC News Story: [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/07/13/canada/Uboat_040713 First-ever U-boat found off Canadian coast]
USA Today Report: [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-07-21-uboat-usat_x.htm 'Sea Hunters' find deadly U-215]
Shipwreck Central: [http://www.shipwreckcentral.com/livedive/archives/u215/ Shipwreck Central - Live Dive Blog: U-215 Archives]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • German submarine U-405 — Unterseeboot 405 was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine during World War II.Commissioned on 17 September 1941, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Rolf Heinrich Hopmann, she was rammed and sunk by the destroyer USS|Borie|DD 215 on 1 November… …   Wikipedia

  • German Type VII submarine — Type VII U boats were the workhorses of the German World War II U boot waffe . Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor… …   Wikipedia

  • German involvement in the Spanish Civil War — v · …   Wikipedia

  • German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran — Kormoran redirects here. For other uses, see Kormoran (disambiguation). Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran meets a German U boat at sea Career (Nazi Germany) …   Wikipedia

  • German cruiser Deutschland — For other ships of the same name, see Deutschland (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia

  • German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940) — For other uses, see German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (disambiguation). German Soviet Commercial Agreement German Soviet Commercial Agreement Signed February 11, 1940 Location Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Signatories Union of… …   Wikipedia

  • USS Borie (DD-215) — The first USS Borie (DD 215) was a Clemson class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie.History Borie was launched 4 October 1919 by William Cramp and Sons; sponsored by… …   Wikipedia

  • Soviet–German relations before 1941 — German and Soviet troops shaking hands following the invasion of Poland. Soviet–German relations date to the aftermath of the First World War. The Treaty of Brest Litovsk,[1] ending World War I hostilities between Russia and Germany, was signed… …   Wikipedia

  • Collins class submarine — HMAS Rankin, sixth submarine of the Collins class, underway in 2006 Class overview Builders: Australian Submarine Corporatio …   Wikipedia

  • United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”