German submarine U-536
{{Short description|German World War II submarine}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Nazi Germany |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}} |Ship name=U-536 |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered=10 April 1941 |Ship builder=Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=354 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=13 March 1942 |Ship launched=21 October 1942 |Ship commissioned=13 January 1943 |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship fate=Sunk on 20 November 1943 northeast of the Azores by one British and two Canadian warships |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Type IXC/40 submarine |Ship displacement=
|Ship length=
|Ship beam=
|Ship height={{convert|9.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|4.67|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship power=
|
| 1|abbr=on}} (electric)
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=
|Ship range=
|Ship test depth={{convert|230|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=4 officers, 44 enlisted |Ship armament=*6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern)
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox service record |is_ship=yes |label=Service record{{Cite web |url=http://uboat.net/boats/u536.htm |title=The Type IXC/40 boat U-536 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |access-date=6 February 2010 |url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/u536.html |title=War Patrols by German U-boat U-536 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |access-date=6 February 2010 }} |partof=
|codes=M 49 397 |commanders=
|operations=*2 patrols:
|victories=None }} |
German submarine U-536 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft (yard) in Hamburg as yard number 354 on 13 March 1942, launched on 21 October and commissioned on 13 January 1943 with Kapitänleutnant Rolf Schauenburg in command.
U-536 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 13 January 1943. She was reassigned to the 2nd flotilla for operations on 1 June.
She carried out two patrols, but did not sink any ships. She was a member of one wolfpack.
She was sunk by the British frigate {{HMS|Nene|K270|2}} and Canadian corvette {{HMCS|Snowberry|K166|2}} on 19 or 20 November 1943 while she was attacking Convoy SL 139/MKS 30 northeast of the Azores.{{cite book |author=Kemp, Paul |title=U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1997 |page=158 |isbn= 978-1-557-50859-1}}
Design
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-536 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-536 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}}
Service history
=First patrol=
=Second patrol and loss=
Her second foray took her as far as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where she participated in Operation Kiebitz, an unsuccessful attempt to rescue four U-boat commanders from a prisoner of war camp in Bowmanville, east of Toronto. U-536 successfully escaped from a trap carefully laid by the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the point on the New Brunswick coast where she was to pick up the escapees on September 26, 1943. However, less than two months later, on 20 November, she was sunk northeast of the Azores by depth charges from a British frigate, {{HMS|Nene|K270|6}}, and two Canadian corvettes, {{HMCS|Snowberry|K166|6}} and {{HMCS|Calgary|K231|6}}.Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2 [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-15Fr-River-Nene.htm HMS Nene] gives gunfire as the cause of the sinking after depth-charging brought the submarine to the surface.
Thirty-eight men died; there were seventeen survivors.{{sfn|Kemp|1997|p=158}}
=Wolfpacks=
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{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
}}
- {{cite book
|last=Kemp
|first=Paul
|title=U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars
|year=1997
|publisher=Arms & Armour
|isbn=1-85409-515-3
}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- {{Cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u536.htm
|title=The Type IXC/40 boat U-536
|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/u0536.html
|title=U 536
|last=Hofmann
|first=Markus
|website=Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de
|language=de
|access-date=1 February 2015
}}
{{German Type IXC/40 submarines}}
{{November 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|43|50|N|19|39|W|source:kolossus-ruwiki|display=title}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:U0536}}
Category:German Type IX submarines
Category:U-boats commissioned in 1943
Category:World War II submarines of Germany
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Category:Ships built in Hamburg
Category:U-boats sunk by depth charges
Category:U-boats sunk by British warships