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| Career |
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|---|---|
| Name: | U-116 |
| Ordered: | 31 January 1939 |
| Builder: | Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 615 |
| Laid down: | 1 July 1939 |
| Launched: | 3 May 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 26 July 1941 |
| Fate: | Presumed sunk after 6 October 1942 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Type XB submarine minelayer |
| Displacement: | 1,763 long tons
(1,791 t) surfaced 2,177 long tons (2,212 t) submerged |
| Length: | 89.80 m (294 ft 7 in) o/a 70.90 m (232 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 9.20 m (30 ft 2 in) o/a 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 10.20 m (33 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 4.71 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × diesel
engines, 4,800 hp (3,600 kW) 2 × electric motors, 1,100 hp (820 kW) |
| Speed: | 17 knots
(31 km/h; 20 mph)
surfaced 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 18,450 nmi (34,170 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)
surfaced 93 nmi (172 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | Calculated crush depth: 220 m (720 ft) |
| Complement: | 48-60 men |
| Armament: | • 2 × 53.3 cm (21 in) stern torpedo tubes • 15 × G7e torpedoes • 66 × SMA mines • 1 × 105 mm (4.1 in) L45 deck gun (200 rounds) |
| Service record[2][3] | |
| Part of: | 2nd U-boat Flotilla (26 July 1941–31 January 1942) 1st U-boat Flotilla (1 February 1942–6 October 1942) |
| Commanders: | KrvKpt. Werner von Schmidt (26 July 1941–10 September 1942) Oblt. Wilhelm Grimme (11 September 1942–6 October 1942) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 25 April–5 May 1942 2nd patrol: 16 May–9 June 1942 3rd patrol: 27 June–23 August 1942 4th patrol: 22 September–6 October 1942 |
| Victories: | 1 commercial ship sunk (4,284 GRT) 1 commercial ship damaged (7,093 GRT) |
German submarine U-116 was a Type XB minelayer U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was ordered on 31 January 1939, and was laid down on 1 July 1939 at Germaniawerft, Kiel, as 'werk 615'. She was launched on 3 May 1941 and commissioned under the command of Korvettenkapitän Werner von Schmidt on 26 July of that year.[2]
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After a period of training as part of 2. Unterseebootsflottille U-116 was assigned to the front-line 1. Unterseebootsflottille on 1 February 1942.[2] She sailed from Kiel on 4 April 1942, bound for Bergen, Norway, via Heligoland, and departed Bergen on 25 April 1942, circling the British Isles before arriving at Lorient, France, on 5 May.[4]
U-116 sailed from Lorient on 16 May 1942 on a patrol to the mid-Atlantic lasting 25 days, arriving back at her homeport on 9 June, without any success.[5]
U-116 saw more success in her third patrol which took her south to the coast of West Africa, attacking Convoy OS-33 south of the Azores on 12 July 1942. Soon after midnight she fired one torpedo at the 7,093 ton merchant ship Cortona, causing some damage, though the ship was then sunk by U-201.[6] Nine hours later U-116 fired two torpedoes into the 4,284 ton British merchant ship Shaftesbury, which sank in 15 minutes.[7] The U-boat returned to Lorient on 23 August, after 58 days at sea.[8]
For her fourth patrol U-116 sailed under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm Grimme. Leaving Lorient on 22 September 1942[9] she sent her last radio message on 6 October 1942 whilst in the North Atlantic at position 45°00′N 31°30′W / 45°N 31.5°WCoordinates: 45°00′N 31°30′W / 45°N 31.5°W, and was never heard from again. 56 men were lost with her.[2]
  | U116 at Uboat.net - The Type XB boat U-116 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |
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