Name U-401 Yard number 102 Commissioned 10 April 1941 Launched 16 December 1940 Draft 4.74 m Builder Danziger Werft | Ordered 23 September 1939 Laid down 8 April 1940 Construction started 8 April 1940 Length 67 m Beam 6.18 m Part of 1st U-boat Flotilla | |
Fate Sunk in mid-Atlantic, August 1941 by Allied warships | ||
German submarine U-401 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Contents
She carried out one patrol. She sank or damaged no ships.
She was sunk in mid-Atlantic, in August 1941 by Allied warships.
Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-401 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 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-401 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
The submarine was laid down on 8 April 1940 at the Danziger Werft (yard) at Danzig (now Gdansk) as yard number 102, launched on 16 December and commissioned on 10 April under the command of Kapitänleutnant Gero Zimmermann.
She served with the 1st U-boat Flotilla from 10 April 1941 (training) and stayed with that organization from 1 July until her loss.
The boat's only patrol was preceded by the short journey from Königsberg (Kaliningrad) to Trondheim.
Patrol and loss
U-401 departed Trondheim on 9 September 1941. On 3 August she was sunk by depth charges dropped from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer, the Norwegian-crewed destroyer HMS St. Albans and the British corvette HMS Hydrangea.
Forty-five men died in U-401; there were no survivors.