German submarine U-1226

{{Infobox ship career

|Hide header=

|Ship country=Nazi Germany

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

|Ship name=U-1226

|Ship ordered=25 August 1941

|Ship builder=Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg

|Ship original cost=

|Ship yard number=389

|Ship way number=

|Ship laid down=11 January 1943

|Ship launched=21 August 1943

|Ship commissioned=24 November 1943

|Ship homeport=

|Ship identification=

|Ship motto=

|Ship nickname=

|Ship fate=Missing since 23 October 1944

|Ship notes=

|Ship badge=

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship class=Type IXC/40 submarine

|Ship displacement=

{{convert|1144|t|LT|abbr=on|lk=on}} surfaced
{{convert|1257|t|LT|abbr=on}} submerged

|Ship length=

{{convert|76.76|m|ftin|abbr=on}} o/a
{{convert|58.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}} pressure hull

|Ship beam=

{{convert|6.86|m|ftin|abbr=on}} o/a
{{convert|4.44|m|ftin|abbr=on}} pressure hull

|Ship height={{convert|9.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship draught={{convert|4.67|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship power=

{{convert|4400|PS|kW bhp|abbr=on}} (diesels)
{{convert|1000|PS|kW shp

1|abbr=on}} (electric)

|Ship propulsion=

2 shafts
2 × diesel engines
2 × electric motors

|Ship speed=

{{convert|18.3|kn}} surfaced
{{convert|7.3|kn}} submerged

|Ship range=

{{convert|13,850|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn

} surfaced

{{convert|63|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|4|kn}} submerged

|Ship test depth={{convert|230|m|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship complement=4 officers, 44 enlisted

|Ship armament=*6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern)

22 × {{convert|53.3|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} torpedoes
1 × 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun deck gun (180 rounds)
1 × 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43 AA gun
2 x twin 2 cm FlaK 30 AA guns

|Ship notes=

}}

{{Infobox service record

|is_ship=yes

|label=Service record{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u1226.htm

|title=The Type IXC/40 boat U-1226

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=5 March 2010

}}{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/u1226.html

|title=War Patrols by German U-boat U-1226

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=5 March 2010

}}

|partof=

31st U-boat Flotilla
24 November 1943 – 31 July 1944
2nd U-boat Flotilla
1 August – 30 September 1944
33rd U-boat Flotilla
1 – 28 October 1944

|codes=M 54 305

|commanders=

Oblt.z.S. August-Wilhelm Claussen
24 November 1943 – 28 October 1944

|operations=*1 patrol:

30 September – 28 October 1944

|victories=None

}}

German submarine U-1226 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The U-boat, built for service in the Battle of the Atlantic, was completed in Hamburg in November 1943, and placed under the command of Oberleutnant zur See August-Wilhelm Claussen (Crew X/37), whose brother Emil had been killed on board {{GS|U-469||2}} the previous year. She underwent working up cruises in the Baltic Sea before embarking on her only operational patrol from Horten Naval Base in Norway during September 1944.

Design

German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-1226 had a displacement of {{convert|1144|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|1257|t|LT}} while submerged.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}} The U-boat had a total length of {{convert|76.76|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a pressure hull length of {{convert|58.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|6.86|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a height of {{convert|9.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|4.67|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of {{convert|4400|PS|kW shp|-1}} for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of {{convert|1000|shp|PS kW|-1}} for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two {{convert|1.92|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to {{convert|230|m}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}}

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|18.3|kn}} and a maximum submerged speed of {{convert|7.3|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}} When submerged, the boat could operate for {{convert|63|nmi}} at {{convert|4|kn}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|13850|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}. U-1226 was fitted with six {{convert|53.3|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43 as well as two twin 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}}

Service history

This patrol was uneventful for the first three weeks during the Atlantic crossing as she deliberately avoided the highly-effective allied countermeasures. The last contact with the boat was on 23 October 1944 reporting trouble with its Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus after which nothing more was heard from her. It is possible she was sunk in an unrecorded encounter with an Allied ship or aircraft, or more likely she suffered some unknown catastrophic accident which claimed the boat and all its crew.A large number of German U-boats had been lost to snorkel defects, and its possible this was the cause of the loss of U-1226

Whatever the cause, she was given up for lost in mid-November. Her remains were claimed to have been found east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1993 however, this identification is unlikely. The vessel's last radio contact instructed the submarine to maintain its faulty snorkel in the upright position and return to base, giving U-1226{{'}}s position as {{convert|605|km|nmi|abbr=on|order=flip}} south of Iceland at {{coord|56|30|N|20|00|W|scale:10000000|display=title, inline}}.[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/21/opinion/l-u-boat-didn-t-sink-in-waters-off-cape-cod-055693.html U-Boat Didn't Sink in Waters Off Cape Cod] New York Times 21 July 1993

References

Bibliography

{{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