German submarine U-85 (1941)

German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. U-85 had a displacement of {{convert|753|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|857|t|LT}} while submerged.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}} She had a total length of {{convert|66.50|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a pressure hull length of {{convert|48.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|6.20|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a height of {{convert|9.50|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|4.74|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 6 V 40/46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of {{convert|2800 to 3200|PS|kW shp|-1}} for use while surfaced, two BBC GG UB 720/8 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=43–44}}

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|17.9|kn}} and a maximum submerged speed of {{convert|8|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}} When submerged, the boat could operate for {{convert|90|nmi}} at {{convert|4|kn}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|8700|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}. U-85 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 one 2 cm Flak 30 anti-aircraft gun The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}}

U-85 departed Trondheim in Norway on 28 August 1941 for her first patrol. She sank the Thistleglen on 10 September northeast of Cape Farewell (Greenland).

She docked at St. Nazaire on the French Atlantic coast on 18 September.

U-85{{'}}s second patrol started and finished in Lorient, but was unremarkable.

On her third foray, she sank the {{SS|Empire Fusilier||2}} southeast of St. Johns, Newfoundland, after a seven-hour chase, on 9 February 1942. Nine crew members were lost.{{cite web |url=https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1324.html |title=Empire Fusilier |publisher=Uboat |access-date=23 May 2020}}

Having left St. Nazaire on 21 March 1942, U-85 sank the Norwegian freighter Christen Knudsen off the coast of New Jersey on 10 April.{{Cite book|title=Hitler's U-boat war|last=Blair|first=Clay|publisher=Modern Library|year=2000|isbn=0679640320|location=New York|pages=541|oclc=44531654}}

U-85 took part in four wolfpacks, namely:

• Markgraf (1 – 11 September 1941)
• Schlagetot (20 October – 1 November 1941)
• Raubritter (1 – 17 November 1941)
• Störtebecker (17 – 22 November 1941)

U-85 was operating within view of Bodie Island Light at midnight on 13 April 1942 when the destroyer {{USS|Roper|DD-147|6}} detected the submarine on British Type 286 radar at a range of {{convert|2700|yd|m}}. The boat attempted to run south on the surface and fired its stern torpedo as Roper closed to {{convert|700|yd}}. The destroyer evaded the torpedo and closed to {{convert|300|yd}}, when U-85 turned sharply to starboard. Roper illuminated the U-boat with its searchlight and observed men on deck near the gun whose firing arc had just been cleared by the course change. Roper raked U-85 with machine gun fire and scored a hit with a 3"/50 caliber gun. Roper then dropped a pattern of 11 depth charges, among the U-85 survivors where she had disappeared beneath the surface.Rouse, Parke, Jr., "Under the Cloak of Night", United States Naval Institute Proceedings, June 1982, pp. 74–75

File:U-85 Beerdigung.jpg

Numerous men were observed in the water, but no rescue attempt was made until daylight. By then, there were no survivors among the 29 bodies floating in life jackets. Some of the bodies were wearing civilian clothes, carrying wallets with United States currency and identification cards.Parke S. Rouse Jr. suggested U-85 had been preparing to launch a raft of spies when discovered by Roper. The bodies were fingerprinted, photographed, and buried in a nighttime military ceremony at the Hampton National Cemetery.{{cite web |url=http://www.virginialiving.com/virginiana/history/u-boats-in-the-atlantic/ |title=U-boats in the Atlantic |last1=Larson |first1=Chiles T.A. |date=20 January 2015 |website=Virginia Living |publisher=Cape Fear Publishing |access-date=24 June 2016 }} U-85 lies in less than {{convert|100|ft|m|abbr=on}} of water; the United States Navy briefly attempted to salvage her. More recent investigation by sport divers has raised questions about Navy reports on the wreck.Blair, Clay, Jr. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942 Random House (1996) p.543

U-85 was the first U-boat loss of "Operation Drumbeat" (Paukenschlag), the offensive off the eastern seaboard of the United States in 1942.

For their actions in sinking U-85, the Navy Cross was awarded to the Roper{{'}}s captain, Lieutenant Commander Hamilton W. Howe, and his commander, Destroyer Division 54 commander Commander Stanley C. Norton.{{cite book|last=Bunch|first=Jim|title=U-Boats off the Outer Banks: Shadows in the Moonlight|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2017|isbn=9781467137676|page=138}}{{cite book|last=Roscoe|first=Theodore|title=United States destroyer operations in World War II |date=1953 |publisher=United States Naval Institute|isbn=9780870217265|pages=74–75 |url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc/page/74/mode |access-date=24 September 2021}}

File:U -85 diver and deck gun.jpg

The hatch of U-85 is on display in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum; the submarine herself still serves as an attraction for divers.{{cite web|url=http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/WRECKS/U85/U85.HTML|title=Wreck of the U-85|publisher=North Carolina Wreckdiving & BFDC | access-date=19 September 2018}} The Labrador current influences the site and visibility can be low.{{cite journal |author=Hoyt, JC |title=2008 Battle of the Atlantic Survey Methodology |journal=In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2009. |year=2009 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10136 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416005240/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10136 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 April 2013 |access-date=2013-03-11}} The majority of the debris lies within a {{Convert|100|m}} radius of the wreck. The wreck site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The Enigma machine was recovered from the wreck by private divers (Jim Bunch, Roger & Rich Hunting){{cite web|last1=Thibodeau|first1=Ryan|title=U-Boats Off the Outer Banks|url=https://blog.carolinadesigns.com/2017/10/30/u-boats-off-the-outer-banks/|website=Carolina Designs Blog|date=30 October 2017 |publisher=Carolina Designs Realty, Inc.|access-date=6 November 2017}} and in 2003 the German government agreed to allow the machine to be displayed at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, in Hatteras, North Carolina.

{{cite web

|first=Miles

|last=Hadley

|publisher=Naval Historical Center

|url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=6660

|title=Home Found for "Enigmatic" WW II U-boat Relic

|date=5 April 2003

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905013432/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=6660

|archive-date=5 September 2012

|url-status=dead

|access-date=23 December 2015

}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book

|last=Bishop

|first=Chris

|title=Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939–45

|publisher=Amber Books

|location=London

|year=2006

|isbn=978-1-904687-96-2

}}

• {{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 = 1999a | 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=1999b

|isbn=3-8132-0514-2

|language=de

}}

• Hickam, Homer "Torpedo Junction" Naval Institute Press
• {{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=German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels

|volume=2

|location=London

|publisher=Conway Maritime Press

|isbn=0-85177-593-4

|ref=CITEREFGröner1991

}}

{{Refend}}

• [http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/u-boote/uboote_wk2/wk2_u85.htm U-85 Memorial Page with Crew members' birth dates and places]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070402003758/http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85.htm Uboat Archive – U-85]
• {{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u85.htm

|title=The Type VIIB boat U-85

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

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

|access-date=8 December 2014

}}

• {{cite web

|url=http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0085.html

|title=U 85

|last=Hofmann

|first=Markus

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

|language=de

|access-date=2 February 2015

}}

{{German Type VII submarines}}

{{April 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|35|55|N|75|13|W|type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0085}}

Category:German Type VIIB submarines

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1941

Category:U-boats sunk in 1942

Category:World War II submarines of Germany

Category:1941 ships

Category:Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast

Category:Ships built in Lübeck

Category:U-boats sunk by depth charges

Category:U-boats sunk by US warships

Category:Submarines lost with all hands

Category:Maritime incidents in April 1942

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Dare County, North Carolina

Category:Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina

Category:World War II on the National Register of Historic Places