German_submarine_U-627

German submarine <i>U-627</i>

German submarine U-627

German World War II submarine

German submarine U-627 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. Its hull was laid down on 8 August 1941 at the yards of Blohm & Voss in Hamburg and it was commissioned on 18 June 1942 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Robert Kindelbacher.

Quick Facts History, Nazi Germany ...

U-627 was sunk on 27 October 1942 just south of Iceland in position 59.14°N 22.49°W / 59.14; -22.49 by depth charges from a British B-17 Flying Fortress bomber from 206 Squadron RAF. This resulted in the loss of all 44 crew members.[1]

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-627 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.[2] She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two BBC GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).[2]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).[2] When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-627 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.[2]

Patrol and loss

U-627 departed Kiel on 15 October 1942 bound for the North Atlantic via the Norwegian coastline and the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She was at sea for only 13 days before being spotted South by Southwest of Iceland by a B-17 patrol bomber of 206 Squadron RAF - FL457/F, piloted by Pilot Officer R.L. Cowey - and sunk with depth charges, in position 59.14°N 22.49°W / 59.14; -22.49 with a loss of all 44 men aboard.

References

  1. [1]
    Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-627". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  2. [2]
    Gröner 1991, pp. 43–46.

Bibliography

59.14°N 22.49°W / 59.14; -22.49
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article German_submarine_U-627, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.