German submarine U-117 (1941)
{{Short description|German World War II submarine}}
{{other ships|German submarine U-117}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= U-66 U-117 Luftangriff.jpg |Ship image size=300px |Ship caption= U-117 (right) and {{GS|U-66|1940|2}} under attack by aircraft from the {{USS|Card|CVE-11|6}} on 7 August 1943 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Nazi Germany |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}} |Ship name= U-117 |Ship ordered= 31 January 1939 |Ship builder= Germaniawerft, Kiel |Ship yard number= 616 |Ship laid down= 1 July 1939 |Ship launched= 22 July 1941 |Ship commissioned= 25 October 1941{{sfn|Kemp|1999|p=140}} |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship fate= Sunk on 7 August 1943, by five Avenger aircraft while supplying {{GS|U-66|1940|2}}. All hands lost{{sfn|Kemp|1999|p=140}} |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Type X submarine minelayer |Ship displacement=
|Ship length=
|Ship beam=
|Ship height={{convert|10.20|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|4.71|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=
|
| 17|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range=
|Ship test depth=Calculated crush depth: {{convert|220|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship complement= 5 officers, 47 enlisted |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox service record |is_ship= yes |label= Service record{{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/boats/u117.htm |title=The Type XB boat U-117 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |access-date=27 December 2012 |url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/u116.html |title=War Patrols by German U-boat U-117 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |access-date=27 December 2012 }} |partof=*2nd U-boat Flotilla
|codes=M 45 207 |commanders=*F.Kapt. Hans-Werner Neumann
|operations=*5 patrols:
|victories=
}} |
German submarine U-117 was a Type XB minelaying U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was ordered on 31 January 1939, and laid down on 1 July 1939, at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel, as yard number 616. She was launched on 22 July 1941 and commissioned under the command of Fregattenkapitän Hans-Werner Neumann on 25 October of that year.{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u117.htm
|title=U-117
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=27 December 2012
}}
Service record
=First patrol=
On 19 September 1942, U-117 departed from Kiel and headed out into the North Atlantic. Her first patrol involved sailing along the coast of Norway and then in the direction of Iceland. Upon reaching the island, she headed for her new home port of Lorient in France. U-117 made no attacks nor was she attacked during her first patrol.{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_3771.html
|title=Patrol info for U-117 (first patrol)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=29 January 2010
}}
=Second patrol=
Like her first patrol, U-117{{'}}s second foray resulted in no attacks on either merchant vessels or the U-boat itself. Following her departure from Königsberg in East Prussia (now Kaliningrad) on 12 October 1942, she traveled up to Iceland once again. Then she headed south into the Bay of Biscay, she reached Lorient on 22 November 1942.{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_3773.html
|title=Patrol info for U-117 (second patrol)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=29 January 2010
}}
=Third patrol=
Much like her last two patrols, U-117{{'}}s third sortie resulted in no contact with any Allied vessels. She departed Lorient on 23 December 1942, and returned on 3 February 1943.{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_3774.html
|title=Patrol info for U-117 (third patrol)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=29 January 2010
}}
=Fourth patrol=
U-117s fourth patrol was the first and last time that any Allied vessels were hit by the submarine. Following her departure from Lorient on 31 March 1943, she headed out into the Mid-Atlantic, made a sharp turn upon reaching the Canary Islands and headed for French Morocco. It was in this region that she scored her only two successes of the war. On 11 April 1943, Matt W. Ransom was hit and damaged by a mine from U-117. On 25 April 1943, {{SS|Empire Morn}} struck another mine and was badly damaged.{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_3774.html
|title=Patrol info for U-117 (fourth patrol)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=29 January 2010
}}
=Fifth patrol and sinking=
On 1 December 1942, U-117 was assigned to the 12th U-boat Flotilla at Bordeaux. Her fifth and final patrol began on 22 July 1943 from her base in Bordeaux. Her main objective on this patrol was to lay 66 mines off New York City. On 27 July, U-Boat Control directed U-117 to divert from her course to refuel {{GS|U-66|1940|2}}, which was also heading for North America. U-66 was attacked by aircraft on 3 August, before the rendezvous took place, and was in need of medical assistance.{{sfn|Blair|2000|pages=383–384}} U-117 reached U-66 on 6 August and transferred her ship's doctor and other essentials to U-66.
The next day, Grumman TBF Avenger aircraft (VC-1 USN) from the escort carrier {{USS|Card|CVE-11|6}} attacked the two U-boats on the surface while U-117 was refueling U-66. The Avengers dropped depth charges near U-117 and U-66. U-117 tried to help U-66 during the attack, but was attacked herself by a FIDO homing torpedo dropped by another Avenger. Two more Avengers and two F4F Wildcats arrived later from USS Card and forced U-117 to dive and then dropped depth charges. U-117 was hit by one of two FIDO homing torpedoes dropped by the Avengers and sank with the loss of all crew. U-66 was able to escape the Avengers during the attack and make her way back to her home port of Lorient.{{sfn|Kemp|1999|p=140}}{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_3777.html
|title=Patrol info for U-117 (fifth patrol)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=14 February 2010
}}
{{clear}}
Summary of raiding history
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| width="60px"|Date
! width="80px"|Name ! width="120px"|Flag ! width="20px" |GRT ! |Notes |
|---|
| align="right"|11 April 1943
|align="left" |Matt W. Ransom |align="left" |{{flag|United States|1912}} |align="right"|7,177 |align="left" |Damaged by mine |
| align="right"|25 April 1943
|align="left" |Empire Morn |align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}} |align="right"|7,092 |align="left" |Sunk by mine |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book | last1 = Busch | first1 = Rainer | last2 = Röll | first2 = Hans-Joachim | translator-last = Brooks | translator-first = Geoffrey | title = German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary | publisher = Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press | location = London, Annapolis, Md | year = 1999 | isbn = 1-55750-186-6 }}
- {{cite book
|last1=Busch
|first1=Rainer
|last2=Röll
|first2=Hans-Joachim
|title=Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945
|trans-title=German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945
|series=Der U-Boot-Krieg
|volume=IV
|publisher=Mittler
|location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn
|year=1999
|isbn=3-8132-0514-2
|language=de
}}
- {{cite book
|last1=Gröner
|first1=Erich
|last2=Jung
|first2=Dieter
|last3=Maass
|first3=Martin
|translator-last1=Thomas
|translator-first1=Keith
|translator-last2=Magowan
|translator-first2=Rachel
|year=1991
|title=U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels
|volume=2
|series=German Warships 1815–1945
|location=London
|publisher=Conway Maritime Press
|isbn=0-85177-593-4
|ref=CITEREFGröner1991
}}
- {{cite book
|last=Kemp
|first=Paul
|title=U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars
|location=London
|year=1999
|publisher=Arms & Armour
|isbn=1-85409-515-3
}}
- {{cite book|last=Blair|first=Clay|author-link=Clay Blair|title=Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945|publisher=Random House|location=New York|year=2000|edition=Modern Library Paperback|isbn=0-679-64033-9}}
- {{cite book|first1=Gordon|last1=Williamson|author-link1=Gordon Williamson (writer)|first2=Ian|last2=Palmer|title=Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939–45: Vol 2|publisher=Osprey|year=2002|isbn=1-84176-364-0}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- {{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u117.htm
|title=U-117
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=27 December 2012
}}
- {{cite web
| url =http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0117.html
| title =U-117
| last =Hofmann
| first =Markus
| website =Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de
| language =de
| access-date =6 June 2024
}}
{{coord|39|42|N|38|21|W|display=title}}
{{German Type X submarines}}
{{August 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:U0117}}
Category:U-boats commissioned in 1941
Category:World War II submarines of Germany
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Category:German Type X submarines
Category:U-boats sunk by US aircraft