German submarine U-194 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built during World War II for service in the Atlantic Ocean. Notable for having been fitted with the new Balkon sonar, she was a short-lived vessel, being sunk on her first and only operational war patrol.
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-194 had a displacement of 1144t when at the surface and 1257t while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of 76.76m (251.84feet), a pressure hull length of 58.75m (192.75feet), a beam of 6.86m (22.51feet), a height of 9.6m (31.5feet), and a draught of 4.67m (15.32feet). The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4400PS for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1000shp for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92abbr=onNaNabbr=on 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-194 was fitted with six 53.30NaN0 torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one 10.52NaN2 SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a 3.7sp=usNaNsp=us SK C/30 as well as a 2sp=usNaNsp=us C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.
U-194 was laid down in Bremen on 17 January 1942 and launched on 22 September. Kapitänleutnant Hermann Hesse took command upon commissioning on 8 January 1943.
The passive sonar, known as Gruppenhorchgerät (group listening apparatus) or GHG, fitted to early U-boats could not be used at periscope depth. To solve this, a new listening device, known as Balkon (balcony) fitted to a second, lower hull, was successfully tested on U-194 in January 1943.[1]
Twelve days into her first and only patrol, U-194 was attacked and sunk by a homing torpedo from an American Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft of VP-84 in position 59°N -44°W. All 54 men aboard were lost. An initial post-war assessment gave credit for sinking U-194 to a British Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft of No. 120 Squadron RAF squadron, however this attack actually resulted in the sinking of .