German submarine U-402

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-402 had a displacement of {{convert|769|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|871|t|LT}} while submerged.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43-46}} She had a total length of {{convert|67.10|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a pressure hull length of {{convert|50.50|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|6.20|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a height of {{convert|9.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|4.74|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of {{convert|2800 to 3200|PS|kW shp|-1}} for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of {{convert|750|PS|kW shp}} for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two {{convert|1.23|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to {{convert|230|m}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43-46}}

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|17.7|kn}} and a maximum submerged speed of {{convert|7.6|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43-46}} When submerged, the boat could operate for {{convert|80|nmi}} at {{convert|4|kn}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|8500|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}. U-402 was fitted with five {{convert|53.3|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43-46}}

No ships were sunk during the first patrol which lasted from 26 October to 9 December 1941. U-402 followed the Norwegian coast from Kiel before heading west towards the Atlantic. The submarine sailed into St. Nazaire in France, after 45 uneventful days.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u402.htm

|title=The Type VIIC boat U-402

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=26 December 2014

}}

On her second patrol, U-402 damaged the 11,951 GRT troopship {{MV|Llangibby Castle||2}} off the Bay of Biscay on 16 January 1942, but the troopship was able to make repairs in the Azores.{{sfn|Blair|1996|pp=489-492}} U-402 returned to St. Nazaire on 11 February 1942.

For her third sortie, U-402 headed for the US east coast, sinking a total of three ships, two of which were the 5,284 GRT Soviet freighter Ashkhabad and her escort, the 602 GRT converted yacht {{USS|Cythera|PY-26|6}} off Cape Hatteras on 2 May 1942.{{sfn|Blair|1996|p=544}} The U-boat had been unsuccessfully attacked by a US Navy PBY Catalina in mid-Atlantic on 29 April 1942.

The boat returned to the US eastern seaboard for her fourth patrol, but success eluded her. She returned to France, having been depth charged by patrol bombers off Cape Hatteras in mid-July and suffering a battery explosion.{{sfn|Waters|1966|p=99}} U-402 limped back to France, but this time to La Pallice, on 5 August 1942.

It was a different story on her fifth patrol; the boat attacked over 20,000 GRT of shipping, including the torpedoing of five ships from convoy SC 107 which involved the sinking of the British 4,945 GRT {{SS|Empire Antelope||2}} on 2 November 1942{{cite web|url=http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireA.html |title=Empire – A |publisher=Mariners | access-date=2008-11-21}} and a sister, Empire Sunrise, a few hours earlier.

She also had plenty of success when she attacked seven ships from convoy SC 118 on her sixth patrol. including the USS Henry R. Mallory.Missingmarines

Her seventh outing saw her sinking two ships from convoy SC 129. Retribution was swift; one of the escorts, {{HMS|Gentian|K90|6}} depth charged the boat causing severe damage, which included a tear 3 metres long in a ballast tank, which forced it to return to La Pallice on 26 May.{{sfn|Blair|1998|p=329}}{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/B-001-001-310 | title=U-Boat Killer | year=1979 }}

Her eighth and final patrol was marked with a paucity of targets and an ever-increasing frequency of air attacks; one of which involved a Wellington of 612 Squadron, RAF on 8 September. U-402 was not hit. The aircraft was damaged and reached RAF Portreath on one engine.{{cite web | url=https://uboat.net/boats/u402.htm | title=The Type VIIC U-boat U-402 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net }}

U-402 had departed La Pallice on 4 September 1943. On the 13 October she was sunk by a Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo dropped by Grumman TBF Avenger aircraft from the escort carrier {{USS|Card|CVE-11|6}}.{{sfn|Kemp|1999|p=150}}{{sfn|Waters|1966|p=105}}

U-402 took part in twelve wolfpacks, namely:

• Störtebecker (17 – 19 November 1941)
• Benecke (19 – 25 November 1941)
• Letzte Ritter (25 November – 4 December 1941)
• Panther (10 – 20 October 1942)
• Veilchen (20 October – 5 November 1942)
• Landsknecht (19 – 28 January 1943)
• Pfeil (1 – 8 February 1943)
• Amsel 1 (3 – 6 May 1943)
• Elbe (7 – 10 May 1943)
• Elbe 2 (10 – 12 May 1943)
• Leuthen (15 – 24 September 1943)
• Rossbach (24 September – 6 October 1943)

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Blair |first=Clay |year=1996 |title=Hitler's U-Boat War – The Hunted 1942–1945 |place=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-394-58839-8 }}
• {{cite book |last=Blair |first=Clay |year=1998 |title=Hitler's U-Boat War – The Hunted 1942–1945 |place=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-679-45742-9 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Busch |first1=Rainer |last2=Röll |first2=Hans-Joachim |translator-last=Brooks |translator-first=Geoffrey |year=1999 |title=German U-boat commanders of World War II: a biographical dictionary |place=London, Annapolis, MD |publisher=Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press |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

|last=Edwards

|first=Bernard

|title=Dönitz and the Wolf Packs – The U-boats at War

|year=1996

|isbn=0-304-35203-9

|pages=144, 147, 149, 206, 211

|publisher=Cassell Military Classics

|ref={{sfnRef|Edwards}}

}}

• {{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=Hague |first=Arnold |year=2000 |title=The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 |place=Annapolis, MD |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=1-55750-019-3 }}
• {{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=Lenton |first=HT |year=1976 |title=German Warships of the Second World War |publisher=Arco Publishing Company |isbn=0-668-04037-8 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Waters |first=John M Jr |date=December 1966|title=Stay Tough |publisher=United States Naval Institute|journal=Proceedings}}

{{Refend}}

• {{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u402.htm

|title=The Type VIIC boat U-402

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=26 December 2014

}}

{{German Type VII submarines}}

{{October 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0402}}

Category:German Type VIIC submarines

Category:World War II submarines of Germany

Category:1940 ships

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1941

Category:U-boats sunk in 1943

Category:U-boats sunk by US aircraft

Category:Submarines lost with all hands

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Category:Ships built in Danzig

Category:Maritime incidents in October 1943