 U-505, a typical Type IXC boat | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | U-154 |
| Ordered | 25 September 1939 |
| Builder | DeSchiMAGAG Weser,Bremen |
| Yard number | 996 |
| Laid down | 21 September 1940 |
| Launched | 21 April 1941 |
| Commissioned | 2 August 1941 |
| Fate | Sunk on 3 July 1944[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type IXCsubmarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
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| Beam |
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| Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draught | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range |
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| Test depth | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement | 4 officers, 44 enlisted |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Part of: |
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| Identification codes: | M 45 897 |
| Commanders: | |
| Operations: |
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| Victories: | |
German submarineU-154 was aType IXCU-boat ofNazi Germany'sKriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat waslaid down on 21 September 1940 at theDeSchiMAGAG Weser yard inBremen, Germany as yard number 996. She waslaunched on 21 April 1941 andcommissioned on 2 August under the command ofKorvettenkapitän Walther Kölle.
The submarine began her service life with training as part of the4th U-boat Flotilla; moving on to the2nd flotilla for operations. She conducted eight patrols, sinking ten ships.
Although it was believed to be sunk by the Colombian Destroyer ARCCaldas during a short encounter near San Andrés Island in 1944,[2] theU-154 escaped without damage. Using spare oil and some damaged torpedo tubes, the Germans were able to fake theoil slick and wreckage.
U-154 was sunk by the US destroyer escortsUSS Inch andFrost northwest ofMadeira on 3 July 1944.
German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the originalType IXBs.U-154 had a displacement of 1,120 tonnes (1,100 long tons) when at the surface and 1,232 tonnes (1,213 long tons) while submerged.[3] The U-boat had a total length of 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in), apressure hull length of 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in), abeam of 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and adraught of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in). The submarine was powered by twoMAN M 9 V 40/46supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinderdiesel engines producing a total of 4,400 metric horsepower (3,240 kW; 4,340 shp) for use while surfaced, twoSiemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1,000 metric horsepower (740 kW; 990 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m (6 ft)propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).[3]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).[3] When submerged, the boat could operate for 63 nautical miles (117 km; 72 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 13,450 nautical miles (24,910 km; 15,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).U-154 was fitted with six 53.3 cm (21 in)torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22torpedoes, one10.5 cm (4.13 in) SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 as well as a2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had acomplement of forty-eight.[3]
The boat's first patrol began with her departure fromKiel on 7 February 1942. She headed for the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland via thegap between theFaroe andShetland Islands. She docked atLorient in occupied France, on 1 March.
For her second sortie, she sailed to theCaribbean, sinkingComo Rico on 4 April 1942, about 225 nmi (417 km; 259 mi) north of St. Juan, inPuerto Rico. Her success continued with the sinking ofCatahoula,Delvalle,Empire Amethyst andVineland, all nearHaiti and theDominican Republic.
Her third patrol saw her cross the Atlantic once more. She sankTillie Lykes on 28 June 1942, about 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi) south of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic andLalita, using thedeck gun, in theYucatán Channel on 6 July.
One of the boat's victims on this, her fourth patrol, wasNurmahal. She was sunk on 9 November 1942 300 nmi (560 km; 350 mi) east ofMartinique "in less than thirty seconds."[4] Another wasTower Grange, sunk 250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) offCayenne inFrench Guiana.
Having made the short trip from Lorient toBrest, the submarine's fifth foray was her longest (109 days) and second most successful. Amongst many others, she attackedFlorida. Although the ship had her back broken on 28 May 1943, she was eventually repaired.
She departed on patrol number six on 2 October 1943.U-154 was attacked by an unidentifiedPBY Catalina flying boat on 3 November; she was also twice attacked on the 22nd. None caused any damage. The boat returned to Lorient on 20 December.
She was then attacked on 13 March 1944, possibly by the US Navy patrol boatUSS PC-469 north of thePanama Canal; only minor damage was sustained.U-154 was also engaged on 29 March by theColombian Navy destroyerARCCaldas. She returned to France, again to Lorient, on 28 April 1944.
U-154 was sunk by the US destroyer escortsUSS Inch andFrost northwest ofMadeira on 3 July 1944.
U-154 took part in onewolfpack, namely:
Oblt.z.S.Oskar Kusch, who had commanded the boat in 1943 and the first month of 1944 and successfully attacked three ships, was court-martialled and shot in May 1944, having been reported by his first officer,Ulrich Abel and his chief engineer, Kurt Druschel forWehrkraftzersetzung (sedition and defeatism).[5] Kusch had removed Hitler's portrait from the boat and had repeatedly called him an idiot and described the Nazis as tapeworms.[6] Ironically Ulrich Abel, who subsequently gained his own command onU-193 was killed before Kusch's murder, whenU-193 was sunk in April 1944 on its first patrol under his command. Druschel was killed whenU-154 was sunk on 3 July 1944. It was not until the 1990s that Kusch's legal record was wiped clean and a memorial to his memory was erected, Oskar-Kusch-Strasse, a street in Kiel, Germany is named after him.
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) | Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 April 1942 | Comol Rico |  United States | 5,034 | Sunk |
| 5 April 1942 | Catahoula | United States | 5,030 | Sunk |
| 12 April 1942 | Delvalle | United States | 5,032 | Sunk |
| 13 April 1942 | Empire Amethyst |  United Kingdom | 8,032 | Sunk |
| 20 April 1942 | Vineland |  Canada | 5,587 | Sunk |
| 28 June 1942 | Tillie Lykes | United States | 2,572 | Sunk |
| 6 July 1942 | Lalita |  Panama | 65 | Sunk |
| 8 November 1942 | D'Entrecasteaux | United Kingdom | 7,291 | Sunk |
| 9 November 1942 | Nurmahal | United Kingdom | 5,419 | Sunk |
| 18 November 1942 | Tower Grange | United Kingdom | 5,226 | Sunk |
| 28 May 1943 | Cardinal Gibbons | United States | 7,191 | Damaged |
| 28 May 1943 | Florida | United States | 8,580 | Damaged |
| 28 May 1943 | John Worthington | United States | 8,166 | Total loss |
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1944 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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