German submarine U-608 explained

German submarine U-608 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. During the Battle of the Atlantic, she was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Rolf Struckmeier as a unit of Wolfpack Vorwärts.

She was scuttled in the Bay of Biscay on 10 August 1944 after being attacked by a RAF Liberator aircraft with depth charges.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-608 had a displacement of 769t when at the surface and 871t while submerged. She had a total length of 67.1m (220.1feet), a pressure hull length of 50.5m (165.7feet), a beam of 6.2m (20.3feet), a height of 9.6m (31.5feet), and a draught of 4.74m (15.55feet). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of NaNPS for use while surfaced, two BBC GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750PS for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23abbr=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-608 was fitted with five 53.30NaN0 torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.82NaN2 SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2sp=usNaNsp=us C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Fate

She was scuttled in the Bay of Biscay on 10 August 1944 after being attacked by a RAF Liberator aircraft with depth charges. The damaged boat surfaced unnoticed and was scuttled by her crew, which was rescued by six hours later suffering no losses.

Wolfpacks

U-608 took part in 19 wolfpacks, namely:

• Stier (29 August – 2 September 1942)
• Vorwärts (2 – 15 September 1942)
• Pfeil (1 – 9 February 1943)
• Neptun (18 February – 3 March 1943)
• Neuland (8 – 13 March 1943)
• Dränger (14 – 20 March 1943)
• Trutz (1 – 16 June 1943)
• Trutz 1 (16 – 29 June 1943)
• Geier 1 (30 June – 15 July 1943)
• Schlieffen (14 – 22 October 1943)
• Siegfried (22 – 27 October 1943)
• Siegfried 1 (27 – 30 October 1943)
• Jahn (31 October – 2 November 1943)
• Tirpitz 2 (2 – 8 November 1943)
• Eisenhart 7 (9 – 11 November 1943)
• Schill 2 (17 – 22 November 1943)
• Igel 2 (9 – 17 February 1944)
• Hai 1 (17 – 22 February 1944)
• Preussen (22 February – 14 March 1944)

Summary of raiding history

-	Date	Ship Name	Nationality	Tonnage^[1]	Fate^[2]
12 September 1942		United Kingdom	13,797	Sunk
12 September 1942	Empire Moonbeam	United Kingdom	6,849	Sunk
16 November 1942		Ireland	5,621	Sunk
8 February 1943	Daghild	Norway	9,272	Sunk
8 February 1943	HMS LCT-2335^[3]		291	Sunk

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Book: Bishop , Chris . Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939-45. 2006. Amber Books. London. 1904687962.
• Book: Busch . Rainer . Röll . Hans-Joachim . Brooks . Geoffrey . German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary . Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press . London, Annapolis, Md . 1999a . 1-55750-186-6 .
• Book: Busch . Rainer . Röll . Hans-Joachim . Der U-Boot-Krieg, 1939-1945: Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945. German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945 . 1999b. IV . Mittler. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn . 3-8132-0514-2 . de.
• Book: Edwards , Bernard . Dönitz and the Wolf Packs - The U-boats at War. 1996. 0-304-35203-9. 105, 107, 108, 148. Cassell Military Classics. .
• Book: Gröner . Eric . Jung . Dieter . Maass . Martin . Thomas. Keith. Magowan. Rachel . German Warships 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels . 1991 . Conway Maritime Press . London . 2 . 0-85177-593-4 . CITEREFGröner1991.

External links

• Web site: The Type VIIC boat U-608 . Helgason . Guðmundur . German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net . 29 December 2014.
• U-608 at wrecksite.eu

46.5°N -11°W

Notes and References

1. Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
2. Web site: Ships hit by U-608 . Helgason . Guðmundur . German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net . 7 August 2014.
3. Being carried by Daghild.