Name U-508 Yard number 304 Commissioned 20 January 1941 Launched 30 July 1941 Draft 4.7 m Builder Deutsche Werft | Ordered 20 October 1939 Laid down 24 September 1940 Construction started 24 September 1940 Length 77 m Beam 6.76 m | |
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Fate Sunk, November 1943 in the Bay of Biscay by a US aircraft Part of 4th U-boat Flotilla, 10th U-boat Flotilla | ||
German submarine U-508 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Contents
She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as yard number 304 on 24 September 1940, launched on 30 July 1941 and commissioned on 20 October with Oberleutnant zur See Georg Staats in command.
U-508 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 20 October 1941. She was reassigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 July 1942.
She carried out six patrols and sank 14 ships. She was sunk by an American aircraft in November 1943.
Design
German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-508 had a displacement of 1,120 tonnes (1,100 long tons) when at the surface and 1,232 tonnes (1,213 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 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 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 13,450 nautical miles (24,910 km; 15,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-508 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.
1st patrol
The boat departed Kiel on 30 July 1942, moved through the North Sea and negotiated the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She sailed close to the west coast of Ireland in a southerly direction, then turned southwest toward Cuba.
She sank the Manzanillo on 12 August 1942 in the Straits of Florida.
She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, (which was to be her base for most of the rest of her career), on 15 September 1942.
2nd patrol
U-508's second foray took her to the waters off South America. The pickings were rich. This sortie, while not the boat's longest, was her most successful. Some, but not all of her victims are shown below:
She sank the City of Corinth north of Trinidad on 17 November 1942.
Ten days later, she sank the Clan Mcfayden 95 nautical miles (176 km; 109 mi) east of Galeota Point, Trinidad.
She went on to sink the Solon II on 3 December northeast of Georgetown, British Guiana. The ship went down in twenty seconds.
The Nigerian, which was sunk on 9 December, had among her passengers, four British army officers. They were taken prisoner and landed at Lorient on the submarine's return.
3rd, 4th and 5th patrols
On her third patrol, the boat was attacked by a British B-24 Liberator of No. 224 Squadron RAF and seriously damaged.
Her fourth sortie was relatively uneventful and short, lasting just three days.
Patrol number five, at 100 days the longest, saw the U-boat steam as far as the west African coast. In the Gulf of Guinea, she sank the Manchester Citizen on 9 July 1943. She then sank the Incomati on the 18th, 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) south of Lagos in Nigeria. She returned to Lorient on 14 September.
6th patrol and loss
Having moved from Lorient to St. Nazaire, U-508 departed for her sixth and what turned out to be her final patrol on 9 November. On the 12th, while still on the outward leg, she was sunk by a US Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator of VB-103 in the Bay of Biscay.
Fifty-seven men died; there were no survivors.