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German submarine Wilhelm Bauer

{{Short description|German World War II submarine}}

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=File:German submarine Wilhelm Bauer b.jpg

|Ship caption=Wilhelm Bauer (U-2540) at night

}}

{{Infobox ship career

|Hide header=

|Ship country=Nazi Germany

|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}}

|Ship name=U-2540

|Ship ordered=6 November 1943

|Ship builder=Blohm & Voss, Hamburg

|Ship yard number=2540

|Ship laid down=28 October 1944

|Ship launched=13 January 1945

|Ship commissioned=24 February 1945

|Ship fate=

  • Scuttled on 4 May 1945
  • Raised in June 1957

}}

{{Infobox ship career

|Hide header=title

|Ship country=West Germany

|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Germany|naval}}

|Ship fate=Museum ship on 27 April 1984

|Ship name=Wilhelm Bauer

|Ship namesake=Wilhelm Bauer

|Ship commissioned= 1 September 1960

|Ship decommissioned=28 August 1968

|Ship in service=May 1970

|Ship out of service=15 March 1982

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship class=Type XXI submarine

|Ship displacement=

  • {{convert|1621|t|LT|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} surfaced
  • {{convert|2100|t|LT|0|abbr=on}} submerged

|Ship length={{convert|76.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (o/a)

|Ship beam={{convert|8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship height={{convert|11.30|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship draught={{convert|6.32|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship power=

|Ship propulsion=

|Ship speed=

  • Surfaced:
  • {{convert|15.6|kn}} (diesel)
  • {{convert|17.9|kn}} (electric)
  • Submerged:
  • {{convert|17.2|kn}} (electric)
  • {{convert|6.1|kn}} (silent running motors)

|Ship range=

  • {{convert|15,500|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}} surfaced
  • {{convert|340|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|5|kn}} submerged

|Ship test depth={{convert|240|m|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship complement=5 officers, 52 enlisted

|Ship sensors=

|Ship armament=

|Ship notes=

}}

{{Infobox service record

|is_ship=yes

|label=Service record (Kriegsmarine)

|partof=

|codes=M 52 062

|commanders=

|url=http://uboat.net/men/commanders/1156.html

|title=Rudolf Schultze

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net

|access-date=23 April 2016

}}

  • 24 February – 4 May 1945

|operations=None

|victories=None

}}

German submarine Wilhelm Bauer (originally designated U-2540) is a Type XXI U-boat of Nazi Germany's navy (Kriegsmarine), completed shortly before the end of World War II. It was scuttled at the end of the war, having never gone on patrol. In 1957, it was raised from the seabed off Flensburg Firth, refurbished, and recommissioned for use by the West-German Bundesmarine in 1960. Finally retired fully in 1983, it is the only floating example of a Type XXI U-boat. It has been modified to appear in wartime configuration and exhibited at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, Germany.{{cite book|author=Gordon Williamson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94SICwAAQBAJ&q=u-boat+type+XXI+only+two+went+out+on+patrol&pg=PT61|title=Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939–45|publisher=841763640|date=2002 |isbn=9781780966618}}

Design

Like all Type XXI U-boats, U-2540 had a displacement of {{convert|1621|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|2100|t|LT|0|abbr=off}} while submerged. She had a total length of {{convert|76.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|6.32|m|ftin|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=85}} The submarine was powered by two MAN SE supercharged six-cylinder M6V40/46KBB diesel engines each providing {{convert|4000|PS|kW shp|lk=on|abbr=off}}, two Siemens-Schuckert GU365/30 double-acting electric motors each providing {{convert|5000|PS|kW shp|abbr=on}}, and two Siemens-Schuckert silent running GV232/28 electric motors each providing {{convert|226|PS|kW shp|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=85}}

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|15.6|kn}} and a submerged speed of {{convert|17.2|kn}}. When running on silent motors the boat could operate at a speed of {{convert|6.1|kn}}. When submerged, the boat could operate at {{convert|5|kn}} for {{convert|340|nmi}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|15500|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=85}} U-2540 was fitted with six {{convert|53.3|cm|in|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes in the bow and four 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft guns. She could carry twenty-three torpedoes or seventeen torpedoes and twelve mines. The complement was five officers and fifty-two men.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=85}}

Construction and wartime service

Construction of U-2540 began on 28 October 1944 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg-Finkenwerder. She was launched on 13 January 1945 and commissioned on 24 February 1945 as part of the 31st U-boat Flotilla for training purposes. In April 1945 the boat went to the front after training at Rønne on Bornholm. Due to the ongoing fuel shortages at the end of the war, the boat was relocated to Swinemünde before being scuttled near the Flensburg lightship on 4 May 1945.

Salvage, refit and new service

In June 1957, after more than 12 years on the floor of the Baltic Sea, U-2540 was raised and overhauled at Howaldtswerke, Kiel. The submarine was commissioned as a research vessel in the Bundesmarine, serving from 1 September 1960 until 28 August 1968 as a test boat (class 241). On relaunch she was renamed Wilhelm Bauer, after the designer of the first German U-boat, Brandtaucher, built in Kiel by August Howaldt in 1850. From May 1970 she again entered service, this time with a civilian crew and served as a testbed for the technical innovations of the Type 206 U-boat. After an underwater collision with the {{Ship|German destroyer|Z-3|D172}} on 6 May 1980 Wilhelm Bauer was discharged from use at Eckernförde on 18 November 1980 and finally released from service in 1983.

Conversion to museum ship

U-2540 was put on sale by the Ministry of Defence and acquired by the board of trustees of the German Maritime Museum Association and the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. The boat was restored to its original World War II configuration after its transfer in August 1983 to the Seebeck yard, opening on 27 April 1984 as a museum ship in Bremerhaven, now sponsored by the Wilhelm Bauer Technology Museum association. It has imitation twin 20mm cannon and the bridge is not glazed as it was during service with the Bundesmarine.

In popular culture

Whilhem Bauer was featured in an episode of the documentary series Nazi Megastructures in 2016, with an episode titled "Hitler's Killer Subs", which included the history of the design and construction of the Type XXI submarine.

{{Clear}}

Gallery

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ( Wilhelm Bauer ) (9445171395) b.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 10.jpg|Officers dining quarters

File:Bugtorpedorohre U-Boot Wilhelm Bauer.jpg|The four bow torpedo tubes on the submarine (Class 241)

File:U boat wilhelm bauer b.jpg|Wilhelm Bauer in Bremerhaven (2002)

File:BremerhavenUWilhelm BauerExU2540 b.jpg|With fresh paint in 2011

File:Wilhelmbauer b.jpg|Wilhelm Bauer, panoramic view

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 13.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 18.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 14.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 05.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 16.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 17.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 19.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 15.jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 12.jpg

File:U2540 Luk zum Turm.JPG

File:U2540 Steuerung der Ruderanlage.JPG

File:München-Maxvorstadt Alter Nördlicher Friedhof Wilhelm Bauer 612.jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9450632160).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447523958).jpg

File:Typ XXI - Wilhelm Bauer - Bremerhaven 05.jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9445171395).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447762248) (2).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447744376) (2).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447639274).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447986460).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447928644).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9444994881) (2).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447728594) (2).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447765705).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9447775645).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9444609163).jpg

File:U-Boot Typ XXI U-2540 ("Wilhelm Bauer") (9445059941) (2).jpg

File:U-Boot 'Wilhelm Bauer' Zentrale mit denVentilen für die Druckluftregulierung (Tannenbaum) Bremerhaven, Museumshafen, (9301188858).jpg

Other surviving U-boats

  • SM U-1
  • {{GS|U-505||2}}
  • {{GS|U-534||2}}
  • {{GS|U-995||2}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

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

|work=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=German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels

|volume=2

|location=London

|publisher=Conway Maritime Press

|isbn=0-85177-593-4

|ref=CITEREFGröner1991

}}

{{Refend}}

External links

{{Sister project links|auto=1}}

  • {{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u2540.htm

|title=U-2540

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net

|access-date=20 April 2016

}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20041010050243/http://www.zeitraum.com/_submarine/tour.htm A tour of the submarine] (requires QuickTime VR software) {{in lang|de}}
  • [http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2003/11/detail_uboot_xxi.htm U-Boot Type XXI in detail], Essay with numerous photos of the Wilhelm Bauer attached.
  • {{cite web

|url = http://uboat.net/gallery/index.html?gallery=U2540A

|title = U-2540 gallery

|website = uboat.net

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061205061734/http://uboat.net/gallery/index.html?gallery=U2540A

|archive-date = 2006-12-05

}}

{{Ship classes of the Deutsche Marine}}

{{German Type XXI submarines}}

{{May 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{Bremerhaven}}

{{coord|53|32|29|N|8|34|40|E|region:DE-HB_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm Bauer}}

Category:Type XXI submarines

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1945

Category:U-boats scuttled in 1945

Category:Museum ships in Germany

Category:1945 ships

Category:Bremerhaven

Category:World War II submarines of Germany

Category:Ships built in Hamburg

Category:Maritime incidents in May 1945

Category:Surviving U-boats