German submarine U-221 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Ordered on 15 August 1940 from the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, she was laid down on 16 June 1941 as yard number 651, launched on 14 March 1942 and commissioned on 9 May 1942 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Hartwig Trojer.
A member of twelve wolfpacks, she sank a total of Twenty one ships for a total of and 759 tons in five patrols. In addition, she damaged one ship with a total tonnage of 7,197 GRT.
Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-221 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-221 was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
U-221 is also credited with the destruction of ten allied landing craft (nine LCMs and one LCT), which were lost aboard the British merchantman Southern Empress when that ship was sunk by torpedo on 14 October 1942.
First patrol
U-221 left Kristiansand on 3 September 1942 having moved to the Norwegian port a day earlier. Her route took her through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She claimed her first victim, Fagersten, about east of the Belle Isle Strait, in Newfoundland on 13 October. In the same attack, she sank Ashworth and Senta. There were no survivors from either vessel.
The next day she sank two more ships by torpedo. went down in six minutes, northeast of St. Johns.Three hours later, she sank Southern Empress, whose deck cargo included ten landing craft.
U-221 docked in St Nazaire on 22 October.
Second patrol
The boat's second foray was one of anti-climax and failure. She scoured the Atlantic west of Ireland, but failed to find any targets. On 8 December U-221 and collided in heavy fog, resulting in the loss of the latter. U-221 was badly damaged. Unable to dive, Oberleutnant zur See Trojer aborted the patrol and returned to St. Nazaire.
Third patrol
Her third sortie was more fruitful. Jamaica was sunk in just two minutes, on 7 March 1943. As survivors took to the boats, Trojer surfaced and took the ship's Fourth Engineer prisoner, but on March 21, the man, during an exercise period, jumped overboard and was lost. The boat sank Tucurina on the tenth, southeast of Cape Farewell, (Greenland). In the same attack, the U-boat sank Andrea F. Luckenbach and damaged (not sunk probably due to a dud torpedo).
The convoy's escorts from HX 228 caused some damage to U-221. Repairs were carried out at sea, enabling the boat to sink two more ships on 18 March: Canadian Star and Walter Q. Gresham.
Fourth patrol
U-221 sank only one ship on this patrol, Sandanger; the survivors had a remarkable escape. Occupying the only intact lifeboat, they found themselves in an area of low pressure created by the ship's burning fuel cargo. The flames were split in two by strong winds, which also kept them above the men's heads by only a few feet, as they rowed clear of the location.
Fifth patrol and loss
U-221 left St. Nazaire for the last time on 20 September 1943. On the 27th she was attacked southwest of Ireland by a Handley Page Halifax of No. 58 Squadron RAF with eight depth charges. The U-boat was seen to sink by the stern, but the aircraft was also hit, forcing the pilot to ditch about three miles away. Two gunners from the Halifax were lost; the U-boat was sunk with all hands (50 men).
Wolfpacks U-221 took part in twelve wolfpacks, namely: Pfeil (12 – 22 September 1942) Blitz (22 – 26 September 1942) Tiger (26 – 30 September 1942) Wotan (5 – 18 October 1942) Draufgänger (29 November - 9 December 1942) Neuland (8 – 13 March 1943) Dränger (14 – 20 March 1943) Drossel (11 – 15 May 1943) Oder (17 – 19 May 1943) Mosel (19 – 24 May 1943) Trutz (1 – 16 June 1943) Trutz 3 (16 – 29 June 1943)
Summary of raiding history Date Name Nationality TonnageMerchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement. Fate13 October 1942Ashworth5,227Sunk13 October 1942Fagersten2,342Sunk13 October 1942Senta3,785Sunk14 October 1942Southern Empress12,398Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-508Carried by "Southern Empress".52Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-50952Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-51952Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-52252Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-52352Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-53252Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-53752Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-54752Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCM-62052Sunk14 October 1942HMS LCT-2006291Sunk14 October 19425,929Sunk7 March 1943Jamaica3,015Sunk10 March 1943Andrea F. Luckenbach6,565Sunk10 March 19437,197Damaged10 March 1943Tucurinca5,412Sunk18 March 1943Canadian Star8,293Sunk18 March 1943Walter Q. Gresham7,191Sunk18 March 1943Sandanger9,432Sunk
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links