German submarine U-507

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-507 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-507 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}}

Once U-507 had completed her working up period of six months following her commissioning, she departed German waters and entered the Atlantic Ocean for her first patrol; an uneventful and simple cruise to Lorient in occupied France, which was to be her permanent home port for the remainder of her life.

The second patrol was more eventful, as the boat rounded Florida at the end of April 1942, taking full advantage of the lit-up settlements on the shoreline to pick and choose her targets amongst the unescorted shipping which bottlenecked between Cuba and the Floridan peninsula. Here she sank four large cargo ships in three days before following the coastline along Western Florida and Alabama, where in three more days she sank four more large unprotected ships, making full use of the failure of the local authorities to enforce either convoy regulations or the blackout. On 6 May she sank the {{SS|Alcoa Puritan|1941|2}} about 45 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. On the 12 May she sank the 10,731 GRT Virginia in the mouth of the Mississippi, killing 26 sailors in an audacious attack which shocked the American authorities. Swinging south, she sank a Honduran freighter as she cruised out of the Caribbean Sea, leaving a shaken seaboard behind her. On this cruise alone she had sunk nine ships totalling 44,782 GRT.

File:Baependi (1930).jpg

Her third patrol was even more controversial, as a fruitless passage across the Atlantic brought her to the Brazilian coast in mid-August 1942. There she searched for Allied shipping hugging the coastline in Brazilian territorial waters heading for North America. Here she again saw unescorted ships and a lit coastline, and Schacht attacked without first ascertaining the nationalities of her targets. The first was the Brazilian {{SS|Baependy||2}} on 15 August, which was sunk by torpedo, killing 270 people. A few hours later U-507 sank {{MV|Araraquara||2}}, killing 131 people, and early on 16 May she sank {{SS|Annibal Benévolo||2}}, on which 150 civilians were killed. On 17 May, U-507 sank {{lang|pt|Itagiba}}, within sight of the city of Valença, killing 36 people; and {{lang|pt|Arará}}, killing 20, as she rescued survivors from {{lang|pt|Itagiba}}. Two days later, the tiny sailing vessel {{lang|pt|Jacyra}} was sunk; and a Swedish ship was torpedoed three days after that. In one week, U-507 sank seven ships totalling {{GRT|18131}}, and killed over 600 people, all of them neutral citizens.Carey, 2004. Page 19, last paragraph.Scheina, 2003. Page 161.

Although since February 1942 German and Italian submarines had attacked Brazilian ships, during May Brazilian aero-naval forces began to attack Axis submarines. From July popular demonstrations occurred demanding that the Brazilian government officially abandon its neutrality; the political ramifications of what Schacht and his crew had done off the Brazilian coast were enormous. The then Brazilian dictatorship went from a neutral nation somewhat favourable towards the Axis powers, to an enraged opponent in the space of few days, declaring war on Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Brazil would send an Expeditionary Force to the Mediterranean theatre of operations, besides the full involvement of its navy in the Battle of the Atlantic.

More importantly, Brazilian Air Force bases were made available to American naval air squadrons, thus denying the U-boats their previous advantage of hiding in Brazilian coastal waters, and giving the Allies air cover across most of the Southern Atlantic, making the job of the U-boats significantly harder. In addition, Germany's standing amongst neutral nations, particularly the formerly pro-German dictatorships of South America, was in tatters, never to recover.Ibidem Carey, 2004. Pages 9 & 10.Ibidem Scheina, 2003.

File:U-156 37-35 Laconia 1942 09 15.jpg

The third patrol of U-507, was also highly significant, as after two months ineffective cruising between the West African and Brazilian coasts of the South Atlantic, U-507 received a radio call from {{GS|U-156|1941|2}} on 15 September reporting that she had sunk a ship carrying 1,500 Italian prisoners of war. This ship was {{RMS|Laconia|1921|6}}, and U-507 made all haste to aid in the rescue operation, collecting a large number of survivors on board and towing several lifeboats, until attacks by American aircraft on the rescuing submarines forced her to dive and escape. She returned to Germany with her human cargo, and there received the orders which were the result of the Laconia incident, which consisted of a total ban on aiding shipwreck survivors, except ships' officers who were to be captured for information purposes.

On her fourth and final patrol she put these new orders to full use, as she sank three British ships off the northern Brazilian coast, and captured the masters of all the ships; J. Stewart, F.H. Fenn and D. MacCallum. These victories had taken her into 1943 with a reputation for success, confirmed when her captain was informed of his Knight's Cross award. On 13 January 1943 U-507 was spotted by a United States Navy PBY Catalina aircraft of VP-83 flying from a newly available Brazilian base, which dropped several depth charges on the boat. The site of the attack was 330 miles off the Brazilian coast at Cape São Roque (Cape of Saint Roch). There were no survivors from the entire crew of 56 including the three captives and the boat's new captain Heinz Radau, who was conducting an observation and familiarization patrol.

{{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=Der U-Boot-Krieg, 1939-1945: Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945

|trans-title=The U-Boat War, 1939-1945: German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945

|volume=IV

|publisher=Mittler

|location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn

|year=1999

|isbn=3-8132-0514-2

|language=de

}}

• Carey, Alan C. Galloping Ghosts of the Brazilian Coast. iUniverse, Inc. 2004. {{ISBN|0595315275}}
• {{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

|chapter=U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels

|volume=2

|title=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=Sharpe

|first=Peter

|title=U-Boat Fact File

|publisher=Midland Publishing

|location=Great Britain

|year=1998

|isbn=1-85780-072-9

}}

• Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars Volume II: The Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900–2001. Potomac Books, 2003. {{ISBN|978-1574884524}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u507.htm

|title=The Type IXC boat U-507

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=7 December 2014

}}

{{Coord|1|38|N|39|52|W|display=title|source:frwiki}}

{{German Type IXC submarines}}

{{January 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{Subject bar

| commons=y

| commons-search=Category:U-507 (submarine, 1941)

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0507}}

Category:German Type IX submarines

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Category:World War II submarines of Germany

Category:Military history of Brazil

Category:U-boats sunk by US aircraft

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1941

Category:1941 ships

Category:U-boats sunk in 1943

Category:Ships built in Hamburg

Category:U-boats sunk by depth charges

Category:Submarines lost with all hands

Category:Maritime incidents in January 1943