Name U-1022 Yard number 222 Commissioned 7 June 1944 Launched 13 April 1944 Draft 4.74 m Builder Blohm + Voss | Ordered 13 June 1942 Laid down 6 May 1943 Construction started 6 May 1943 Length 67 m Beam 6.2 m | |
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Fate Transferred from her base at Bergen, Norway to Loch Ryan on 30 May 1945 for participation in Operation Deadlight where she was later sunk. | ||
German submarine U-1022 was a Type VIIC/41 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was laid down on 6 May 1943 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned on 7 June 1944, the day after the Allied landings in Normandy, with Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim Ernst in command. She sank two ships for a total of 1,720 metric tonnes. After the war she was handed over to the Allies and sunk in Operation Deadlight.
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Construction and design
German Type VIIC/41 submarines were preceded by the heavier Type VIIC submarines. U-1022 had a displacement of 759 tonnes (747 long tons) when at the surface and 860 tonnes (850 long tons) while submerged. 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 Brown, Boveri & Cie 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).
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). 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-1022 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 an anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
U-1022 was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 13 June 1942. She was laid down less than one year later at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg on 6 May 1943 . U-1022 was launched from Hamburg on 13 April 1944. She was formally commissioned later that year on 7 June 1944, the day after the Allied landings at Normandy. U-1022 carried 5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 located in the bow, 1 in the stern) and had one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun with 220 rounds. She could also carry 14 G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines and had a crew of 44-52 men.
After her training (during which she travelled from Germany to Norway), U-1022 left her home port of Bergen, Norway on her first and only patrol. During this patrol, which lasted 49 days, U-1022 traveled from Norway to the southern coast of Iceland. In this time span she managed to sink two enemy vessels, the Panamanian steam merchant Alcedo for a loss of 1,392 tonnes and the British vessel, HMS Southern Flower for a loss of 328 tonnes. U-1022 arrived back in Bergen on 1 April 1945 and remained in port for the remainder of the war. Following Germany's defeat in the war, U-1022 along with most of the remaining German submarine fleet were sunk in Operation Deadlight.