Rahul Sharma (Editor)

German submarine U 586

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Name
  
U-586

Yard number
  
562

Commissioned
  
4 September 1941

Launched
  
10 July 1941

Draft
  
4.74 m

Builder
  
Blohm + Voss

Ordered
  
8 January 1940

Laid down
  
1 October 1940

Construction started
  
1 October 1940

Length
  
67 m

Beam
  
6.2 m

Fate
  
Sunk in port near Toulon, France. She was bombed by USAAF B-24 Liberators (15th Air Force) on 5 July 1944 at position .

Part of
  
6th U-boat Flotilla, 11th U-boat Flotilla, 13th U-boat Flotilla, 29th U-boat Flotilla

German submarine U-586 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 1 October 1940 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as yard number 562, launched on 10 July 1941 and commissioned on 4 September 1941 under Kapitänleutnant Dietrich von der Esch.

Contents

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-586 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-586 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 boat's service began on 4 September 1941 with training as part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla. She was transferred to the 11th flotilla on 1 July 1942 and then to the 13th flotilla on 1 June 1943. She returned to the 6th Flotilla a short while later on 1 October 1943, and then to her final assignment with 29th Flotilla in the Mediterranean.

In 13 patrols she sank two merchant ships for a total of 12,716 gross register tons (GRT), plus one merchant ship damaged.

Wolfpacks

She took part in ten wolfpacks, namely,

  • Robbe (15–24 January 1942)
  • Greif (14–29 May 1942)
  • Nebelkönig (27 July – 14 August 1942)
  • Boreas (19–26 November 1942)
  • Taifun (2–4 April 1943)
  • Jahn (31 October – 2 November 1943)
  • Tirpitz 3 (2–8 November 1943)
  • Eisenhart 5 (9–15 November 1943)
  • Schill 2 (17–22 November 1943)
  • Weddigen (22–25 November 1943)

    • Fate

    She was sunk whilst alongside at Missiessy East Quay, Toulon, France, by a USAAF air raid by B-24 Liberator bombers of 15th Air Force.

    References

    German submarine U-586 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA