Submarine U-56

U-56

國家	德國
艦級	Type II 級潛艇
造船廠	Deutsche Werke Kiel
Yard Number	255
訂購日期	1937年6月17日
安放龍骨日期	1937年9月21日
下水日期	1938年9月3日
服役日期	1938年11月26日
除役日期	1945年4月3日
沉沒日期	1945年5月3日
排水量	291 tons standard; 341 tons submerged
長度	144 feet
寬度	13 feet
吃水	13 feet
動力來源	Two MWM RS 127 S 4-stroke 6cyl diesel engines (690bhp), two Siemens-Schuckert PG VV 322/36 double-acting electric motors (400shp), two shafts, two propellers
速度	12 knots
續航力	3,800nm at 8 knots surfaced, 1,900nm at 12 knots surfaced, 35-42nm at 4 knots submerged
乘員	25
武裝	3x53.3cm bow torpedo tubes, 1x2cm C/30 anti-aircraft gun, 5x torpedoes or 12 TMA mines or 18 TMB mines
Submerged Speed	7 knots

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseU-56, a Type IIC submarine, was commissioned into German Navy service in Nov 1938 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Zahn. She completed two patrols in the North Sea during her training period, the second of which was after the start of the European War, but she did not attack any hostile shipping. During her third patrol, on 30 Oct 1939, she was able to maneuver around a guarding force consisted of HMS Hood and ten destroyers to approach flagship HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson. The attack resulted in two hits on HMS Nelson, which would not sink. The destroyers converged to counterattack, but U-56 was able to escape the area. After the action, however, Zahn was so depressed that he was unable to sink the high-value target that Admiral Karl Dönitz felt it was necessary to replace him with Oberleutnant zur See Otto Harms; valuing Zahn's experience, Dönitz named him an instructor while he recovered from depression. The submarine's fourth war patrol saw her damaging British merchant ship Eskdene in the North Sea and sinking neutral ship Rudolf (Master Bertil Persson). After several patrols, most of which rather uneventful, she relocated to Lorient, France in Jul 1940. In Aug 1940, during her eleventh patrol, she sank British merchant ship Boma and British auxiliary warship HMS Transylvania in two separate attacks northwest of Malin Head, County Donegal, Ireland. In Oct 1940, Kapitänleutnant Werner Pfeifer was made the new commanding officer. Beginning in Nov 1940, she began serving in a training capacity, a role that she would maintain for the remainder of the war. In that role, she would have several commanding officers through the remaining of the war: Wolfgang Römer, Günther-Paul Grave, Hugo Deiring, Werner Sausmikat, Heinrich Miede, Walter Käding (acting), and Joachim Sauerbier. On 3 Apr 1945, she was badly damaged by US aircraft, and she was decommissioned from service as the result. She was scuttled at Kiel, Germany on 3 May 1945 to prevent Allied capture. Soon after the war the wreck was raised and broken up.

ww2dbaseSources:
Wikipedia
uboat.net

Last Major Revision: Dec 2021

Submarine U-56 互動地圖

U-56 Operational Timeline

1937年6月17日	The order for U-56 was issued to Deutsche Werke, Kiel, Germany.
1937年9月21日	The keel of U-56 was laid down at Deutsche Werke, Kiel, Germany.
1938年9月3日	U-56 was launched at Deutsche Werke, Kiel, Germany.
1938年11月26日	U-56 was commissioned into service with Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Zahn in command. She was assigned to the 5th Flotilla for training.
1939年8月25日	U-56 began her first patrol in the North Sea.
1939年9月8日	U-56 ended her first patrol.
1939年9月12日	U-56 began her second patrol in the North Sea.
1939年9月19日	U-56 ended her second patrol.
1939年10月23日	U-56 began her third patrol.
1939年10月30日	U-56 fired three G7e (TII) torpedoes on HMS Rodney near the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom; all three missed the target, but two of them hit HMS Nelson situated directly behind HMS Rodney.
1939年11月13日	U-56 arrived at Kiel, Germany, ended her third patrol.
1939年11月27日	U-56 began her fourth patrol.
1939年12月2日	U-56 damaged British merchant ship Eskdene 130 kilometers northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom.
1939年12月3日	After following the target for about 45 minutes, U-56 sank neutral ship Rudolf (Master Bertil Persson) with one G7e torpedo in the North Sea about 60 kilometers east of May Island at 0013 hours. Six survivors were picked up by British trawler Cardew later in the day; they were landed at Dundee. Eight other survivors remained in lifeboats. 9 were killed.
1939年12月5日	U-56 ended her fourth patrol.
1939年12月27日	U-56 began her fifth patrol in the southern North Sea.
1940年1月1日	U-56 was assigned to the 1st Flotilla.
1940年1月11日	U-56 ended her fifth patrol.
1940年1月21日	Finnish merchant ship Onto (Master Ivar Ström) struck a mine in the North Sea 40 kilometers northeast of Great Yarmouth, England, United Kingdom at 2213 hours. The mine was laid by U-56 on 8 Jan 1940. The ship sank, and all 20 aboard survived in two lifeboats. One lifeboat, with 14 aboard, was rescued by a Greek steam merchant; the other was rescued by HMS Auckland.
1940年1月22日	Oberleutnant zur See Otto Harms was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Wilhelm Zahn.
1940年1月27日	U-56 began her sixth patrol.
1940年2月17日	U-56 ended her sixth patrol.
1940年3月14日	U-56 began her seventh patrol.
1940年3月20日	U-56 ended her seventh patrol.
1940年4月4日	U-56 began her eighth patrol west of Scotland, United Kingdom; off the Norwegian coast; and off the Shetland Islands, Scotland.
1940年4月26日	U-56 ended her eighth patrol.
1940年5月21日	U-56 began her ninth patrol north of the Hebrides west of Scotland, United Kingdom and in the Shetland Islands area further north.
1940年6月14日	U-56 ended her ninth patrol.
1940年6月29日	U-56 departed Wilhelmshaven, Germany and began her tenth patrol.
1940年7月12日	German submarine U-56 attacked British transport ship Dunera with a torpedo in the North Channel between England, United Kingdom and Ireland; the torpedo glanced off the ship without exploding; the commanding officer of U-56 did not realize that Dunera was carrying, among others, Italian and German prisoners of war bound for Australia.
1940年7月21日	U-56 arrived at Lorient, France and ended her tenth patrol.
1940年7月25日	U-56 began her eleventh patrol.
1940年8月5日	German submarine U-56 fired two torpedoes at Allied Convoy OB-193 northwest of Malin Head, County Donegal, Ireland at 2138 hours, scoring one hit on British merchant ship Boma; 3 were killed and 50 survived; Boma would sink on next day
1940年8月10日	U-56 seriously damaged British auxiliary warship HMS Transylvania with one G7e torpedo hit 40 miles northwest of Malin Head, County Donegal, Ireland at about 0100 hours. An attempt was made to tow Transylvania, but she would founder and sink. 36 were killed during the attack, 300 survived.
1940年8月14日	U-56 ended her eleventh patrol.
1940年8月19日	U-56 began her twelfth patrol.
1940年9月6日	British submarine HMS Tribune discovered German submarine U-56 about 28 kilometers northeast of St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, United Kingdom and fired several torpedoes at the German boat. All torpedoes missed. The Germans were unaware that they were under attack.
1940年9月15日	U-56 arrived at Kiel, Germany and ended her twelfth patrol.
1940年10月14日	Kapitänleutnant Werner Pfeifer was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Otto Harms.
1940年11月1日	U-56 was assigned to 24th Flotilla for training.
1940年12月19日	U-56 was assigned to 22nd Flotilla to serve as a school boat.
1941年4月22日	Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Römer was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Werner Pfeifer.
1942年1月20日	Oberleutnant zur See Günther-Paul Grave was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Wolfgang Römer.
1942年11月15日	Oberleutnant zur See Hugo Deiring was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Günther-Paul Grave.
1944年2月28日	Oberleutnant zur See Werner Sausmikat was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Hugo Deiring.
1944年7月1日	Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Miede was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Werner Sausmikat. She was assigned to 19th Flotilla to serve as a school boat.
1945年1月9日	Oberleutnant zur See Walter Käding was made the acting commanding officer of U-56.
1945年2月5日	Oberleutnant zur See Walter Käding stepped down as the acting commanding officer of U-56.
1945年2月23日	Oberleutnant zur See Joachim Sauerbier was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Heinrich Miede.
1945年4月3日	While at Kiel, Germany, U-56 was seriously damaged by US aircraft, leading to her decommissioning from service.
1945年5月3日	U-56 was scuttled at Kiel, Germany to prevent capture.

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U-56