German submarine U-506

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-506 had a displacement of {{convert|1120|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|1232|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|6.76|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a height of {{convert|9.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|4.70|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|13450|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}. U-506 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 SK C/30 as well as a 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}}

U-506 first departed Hamburg on 2 March 1942 and sailed to Heligoland, leaving there on 9 March for her first patrol, which took her around the British Isles to Lorient in occupied France via the gap between the Shetland and Faeroe Islands, by 25 March.{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_1091.html

|title=Patrol of U-boat U-506 from 9 Mar 1942 to 25 Mar 1942

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=24 February 2010

}}

The U-boat sailed from Lorient on 6 April 1942, crossed the Atlantic, and entered the Gulf of Mexico to operate off the Mississippi River Delta against the crucial oil trade.{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_1092.html

|title=Patrol of U-boat U-506 from 6 Apr 1942 to 15 Jun 1942

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=24 February 2010

}} En route she sank a Nicaraguan merchant ship off the southern tip of Florida.{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1588.html

|title=Sama (Motor merchant)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=24 February 2010

}} Between 10 and 20 May she sank three American oil tankers and a banana boat, and damaged four other oil tankers, one so badly it was declared a total loss. On the return journey she sank two British merchant ships off the Bahamas, eventually returning to Lorient on 15 June.

U-506 sailed from Lorient once again on 28 July 1942 and headed south to the coast of West Africa, operating against ships sailing from Freetown, Sierra Leone. There she sank five more merchant ships, four British, one Swedish. On the return journey the U-boat took part in the rescue operations after the sinking of the RMS Laconia, before returning to Lorient on 7 November after 103 days at sea.{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_1093.html

|title=Patrol of U-boat U-506 from 28 Jul 1942 to 7 Nov 1942

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=24 February 2010

}}

The U-boat sailed from Lorient on 14 December 1942 and again headed south, this time to the coast of South Africa, where she sank two merchant ships, one British, the other Norwegian, before returning to base on 8 May.{{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_1094.html

|title=Patrol of U-boat U-506 from 14 Dec 1942 to 8 May 1943

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=24 February 2010

}} She was away even longer than on her third patrol-146 days.

U-506{{'}}s final voyage began on 6 July 1943. On 12 July the U-boat was attacked by a USAAF B-24 Liberator bomber of the 1st Anti-Submarine Squadron in the North Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain, in position {{coord|42|30|N|16|30|W|dim:2000000|display=inline,title}}. The U-boat was located by the aircraft's SC137 10 cm radar, which the Germans could not detect, and was attacked with seven depth charges. The U-boat broke in two, and about 15 men were seen in the water by the pilot, who dropped a liferaft and a smoke flare. Only six men were rescued by a British destroyer three days later.

{{reflist}}

{{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

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|last3=Maass

|first3=Martin

|translator-last1=Thomas

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|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=Tougias

|first=Michael

|title=So Close to Home: The True Story of an American Family's Fight for Survival in WWII

|date=3 May 2016

|location=New York

|publisher=Pegasus Books

|isbn=978-1681771304

}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u506.htm

|title=The Type IXC boat U-506

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=7 December 2014

}}

• {{Cite web

|url=http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0506.html

|title=U 506

|last=Hofmann

|first=Markus

|website=Deutsche U-Boote 1935–1945 - u-boot-archiv.de

|language=de

|access-date=7 December 2014

}}

{{German Type IXC submarines}}

{{July 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0506}}

Category:German Type IX submarines

Category:World War II submarines of Germany

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Category:U-boats sunk in 1943

Category:U-boats sunk by depth charges

Category:U-boats sunk by US aircraft

Category:Maritime incidents in July 1943

Category:1941 ships

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1941

Category:Ships built in Hamburg

Category:Caribbean Sea operations of World War II

Category:Wars involving the Bahamas