Unterseeboot 176
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-176 was a Type IXC
German Type IX submarine
The Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for...
U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
of the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
built for service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Built at the AG Weser
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...
shipyard in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, U-176 was laid down on 6 February 1941, launched on 12 September 1941, and commissioned on 15 December 1941, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Reiner Dierksen.
U-176 served with 4th U-boat Flotilla (U-boat flotilla) while training, and from 1 August 1942 with 10th U-boat Flotilla, a long-range operations unit. U-176 completed three patrols, sinking 11 ships totalling before she was sunk off Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
on 15 May 1943.
1st patrol
On 21 July 1942 U-176 sailed from KielKiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, around the British Isles, and into the north Atlantic Ocean. She made her first kill on 4 August, sinking the unescorted 7,798 ton British merchantman Richmond Castle with two torpedoes.
On 7 August she joined five other U-boats in reinforcing the eight boats of wolfpack Steinbrinck in a series of attacks on Convoy SC 94. On 8 August U-176 fired two salvo
Salvo
A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute.Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time in which to refill their arms with gun powder and shot...
es of two torpedoes each at the convoy, sinking two British cargo ships, the 4,817 ton Trehata and the 3,956 ton Kelso, and the 7,914 ton Greek cargo ship Mount Kassion. The next day she also sank another British ship, the 3,701 ton Radchurch, which had been abandoned. The convoy escort was then reinforced by the Polish destroyer and the British destroyer leader , both equipped with HF/DF, which managed to keep the U-boats at bay until morning.
U-176 sank the 7,457 ton British cargo ship , part of Convoy ON 122, on 25 August, with two torpedoes and ended the patrol after 74 days at sea, at Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
on 2 October 1942. The day after her return her captain was awarded the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
1st Class.
2nd patrol
U-176 departed Lorient on 9 November 1942 and headed into the south Atlantic. On 27 November 1942 she sank the 5,922 ton DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
merchant ship Polydorus after a 50-hour pursuit, the longest recorded by any U-boat in the Second World War.
Off Cape San Roque, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, on 13 December 1942 the crew of U-176 boarded the 1,629 ton Swedish cargo ship Scania, and sank her with scuttling charges after the crew had abandoned ship. On 16 December she sank the unescorted 5,881 ton British cargo ship Observer with two torpedoes.
U-176 arrived back at Lorient on 18 February 1943 after a patrol lasting 102 days.
Prior to the sinking of the Scania a young seaman, Gottfrid Sundberg, furtively photographed U-176 from the Scania.
3rd patrol
U-176 sailed for her third and final patrol on 6 April 1943 from Lorient, and sailed across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean SeaCaribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
. On 1 May 1943 her commander was notified of his promotion to Korvettenkapitän.
On 13 May 1943 U-176 attacked Convoy NC 18 only five miles off the northern coast of Cuba, and sank the 2,249 ton American tanker Nickeliner, loaded with 3,400 tons of ammonia water, and the 1,983 ton Cuban molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
tanker Mambí.
Sinking of U-176
On 15 May, the CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n merchant ship Camagüey, and the Honduran
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
Hanks, both loaded with sugar, sailed from Sagua La Grande
Sagua La Grande
Sagua La Grande is a municipality and city located on the north coast of the province of Villa Clara in central Cuba, on the Sagua la Grande River. The city is close to Mogotes de Jumagua, limestone cliffs...
, bound for Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, escorted by the Cuban submarine chaser
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...
s CS-11, CS-12, and CS-13. At 17:15 hours, a U.S. Navy Kingfisher
OS2U Kingfisher
The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine...
from squadron VS-62 operating from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
spotted U-176 at 23°21′N 80°18′W and dropped a smoke float to mark her position about one and a half miles astern the convoy. CS-13 located the U-boat with her sonar, attacked with depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s, and sank U-176.
On 7 January 1944 KrvKpt. Reiner Dierksen was posthumously awarded the Deutsches Kreuz
German Cross
The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold.
CS-13 was commanded by the Cuban Navy Alférez de Fragata Mario Ramirez Delgado, the only Cuban national to sink a U-boat during World War II. In 1946, Delgado, promoted to Lieutenant, was awarded the Orden del Mérito Naval con Distintivo Rojo (Meritorious Naval Service Order with Red Badge). Rear Admiral Samuel E. Morison, official historian of the US Navy, recognized his success in his work History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
The History of United States Naval Operations in World War II is a 15-volume account of the United States Navy in World War II, written by eminent historian Samuel Eliot Morison and published by Little, Brown and Company between 1947 and 1962....
, where he also praised the ability and efficiency of the Cuban seamen.
Ships sunk
| Date | Name | Tons | Nat. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 August 1942 | Richmond Castle | 7,798 | |
| 8 August 1942 | Kelso | 3,956 | |
| Mount Kassion | 7,914 |  |
|
| Trehata | 4,817 | ||
| 9 August 1942 | Radchurch | 3,701 | |
| 25 August 1942 | 7,457 | ||
| 27 November 1942 | Polydorus | 5,922 |  |
| 13 December 1942 | Scania | 1,629 |  |
| 16 December 1942 | Observer | 5,881 | |
| 13 May 1943 | Mambí | 1,983 |  |
| Nickeliner | 2,249 |  |
|