Name U-194 Yard number 1040 Commissioned 8 January 1943 Construction started 17 January 1942 Length 77 m Beam 6.86 m | Ordered 4 November 1940 Laid down 17 January 1942 Fate Sunk, 24 June 1943 Launched 22 September 1942 Draft 4.7 m Builder AG Weser | |
Part of 4th U-boat Flotilla, 10th U-boat Flotilla | ||
German submarine U-194 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built during World War II for service in the Atlantic Ocean. Notable for having been fitted with the new Balkon sonar, she was a short-lived vessel, being sunk on her first and only operational war patrol.
Contents
Design
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-194 had a displacement of 1,144 tonnes (1,126 long tons) when at the surface and 1,257 tonnes (1,237 long tons) while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in), a pressure hull length of 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in), a beam of 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.67 m (15 ft 4 in). The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4,400 metric horsepower (3,240 kW; 4,340 shp) for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1,000 shaft horsepower (1,010 PS; 750 kW) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m (6 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 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph). When submerged, the boat could operate for 63 nautical miles (117 km; 72 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 13,850 nautical miles (25,650 km; 15,940 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-194 was fitted with six 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one 10.5 cm (4.13 in) SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a 3.7 cm (1.5 in) as well as a 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.
Service history
U-194 was laid down in Bremen on 17 January 1942 and launched on 22 September. Kapitänleutnant Hermann Hesse took command upon commissioning on 8 January 1943.
Balkon group listening apparatus
The passive sonar, known as Gruppenhorchgerät (group listening apparatus) or GHG, fitted to early U-boats could not be used at periscope depth. To solve this, a new listening device, known as Balkon (balcony) fitted to a second, lower hull, was successfully tested on U-194 in January 1943.
Loss
Twelve days into her first and only patrol, U-194 was attacked and sunk by a homing torpedo from an American Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft of VP-84 in position 59°00′N 26°18′W. All 54 men aboard were lost. An initial post-war assessment gave credit for sinking U-194 to a British Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft of No. 120 Squadron RAF squadron, however this attack actually resulted in the sinking of U-200.