German submarine U-532

German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-532 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-532 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}}

The boat departed Kiel on 25 March 1943, moved through the North Sea, negotiated the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and entered the Atlantic Ocean. There, east of Greenland, she was intercepted by the escorts of Convoy ONS 5 and damaged in a 15-hour engagement.

She entered Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on 15 May 1943.

Her second foray involved a move to the Far East. Departing Lorient on 3 July 1943, she had rounded Africa by the 27th and entered the Indian Ocean. On 19 September she sank Fort Longueuil southwest of the Chagos Archipelago (south southwest of the Indian mainland).The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, {{ISBN|0 7230 0809 4}}, p. 36 Two Indian crewmen, the only survivors, came ashore on a raft in Sumatra, after spending 134 days adrift; they became prisoners of the Japanese on 1 February 1944.

U-532 went on to sink other ships, such as the Tahsinia, (using the deck gun) on 1 October 1943, northeast of the Maldive Islands.The Times Atlas of the World, p 39 She also damaged British Purpose south of Mangalore on the 20th. This ship fell out of line in her convoy after being hit; the following vessel in the line, the California Standard, struck her a glancing blow but the damage was slight.

The submarine docked in Penang, in Malaya (now Malaysia) on 30 October 1943. She was in the first wave of U-boats in the newly formed Monsun Gruppe operating out of Japanese-occupied Penang.

The pickings continued to be rich; amongst other victims, she sank Tulagi northeast of Cape Comorin in southern India on 27 March 1944. The ship capsized and sank in less than 30 seconds.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u532.html

|title=Ships hit by U-532

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=30 January 2014

}}

U-532 moved from Penang to Singapore in May 1944 and on to Batavia (now Jakarta in Indonesia) in December.

For her fourth sortie, the boat sank Baron Jedburgh on 10 March 1945 and the Oklahoma on the 28th. She returned to Europe in May following the German capitulation.

File:U-boat Warfare 1939-1945 A28677.jpg, Liverpool after surrender to the Royal Navy.]]

The submarine docked at Liverpool on 10 May 1945 before moving to Loch Eriboll and to Loch Ryan (both in Scotland) on the 17th, for Operation Deadlight.

She then arrived at Barrow in Furness on 25 May 1945 under the escort of HMS Grindall, departing again on 7 June 1945 escorted by HMS Gardiner.Barrow Pier Head Arrivals Book Reference BTDH 24/1/6 at Barrow in Furness Archives

She was sunk at {{coord|56|08|N|10|07|W}} by a torpedo from the British submarine {{HMS|Tantivy|P319|2}} on 9 December 1945.

{{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

|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

}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u532.htm

|title=The Type IXC/40 boat U-532

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=7 December 2014

}}

• {{Cite web |url=http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=532 |title=U-Boat Operations: U-532 |last1=Almeida |first1=Fernando|website=Ubootwaffe |access-date=1 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427214601/http://www.ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=532 |archive-date=27 April 2012|display-authors=etal}}

{{German Type IXC/40 submarines}}

{{December 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{coord|56|08|N|10|07|W|source:kolossus-ruwiki|display=title}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0532}}

Category:German Type IX submarines

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1942

Category:U-boats sunk in 1945

Category:World War II submarines of Germany

Category:1942 ships

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Category:Ships built in Hamburg

Category:Operation Deadlight

Category:Maritime incidents in December 1945