 U-455 arriving inSt. Nazaire after her third patrol on 16 June 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | U-455 |
| Ordered | 16 January 1940 |
| Builder | Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel |
| Yard number | 286 |
| Laid down | 3 September 1940 |
| Launched | 21 June 1941 |
| Commissioned | 21 August 1941 |
| Fate | Sunk on 5 April 1944 in southeast of Genoa |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type VIICsubmarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
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| Beam |
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| Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draught | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | |
| Test depth |
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| Complement | 4 officers, 40–56 enlisted |
| Armament |
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| Service record[1] | |
| Part of: |
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| Commanders: |
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| Operations: |
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| Victories: | 3 merchant ships sunk (17,685 GRT) |
German submarineU-455 was aType VIICU-boat built forNazi Germany'sKriegsmarine for service duringWorld War II.She waslaid down on 3 September 1940,launched on 21 June 1941 andcommissioned on 21 August withKapitänleutnant Hans-Heinrich Giessler in command of a crew of 51.
Her service began with the5th U-boat Flotilla, a training outfit. She was transferred to the7th flotilla for operations at the beginning of 1942 and again to the29th flotilla in March 1944.
She carried out ten patrols and was a member of sixwolfpacks; she sank three ships for a total of 17,685 gross register tons (GRT).
She was lost in theLigurian Sea (north ofCorsica) on 5 April 1944. Her wreck was discovered in 2005 offGenoa. She had previously been thought to be nearLa Spezia.
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorterType VIIB submarines.U-455 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.[2] She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), apressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), abeam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and adraught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by twoGermaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylindersuperchargeddiesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, twoSiemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft)propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).[2]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).[2] When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).U-455 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in)torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteentorpedoes, one8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, (220 rounds), one3.7 cm (1.5 in) Flak M42 and two2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had acomplement of between forty-four and sixty.[2]
U-455 was one of four Type VIIC submarines ordered fromDeutsche Werke on 16 January 1940.[3] The submarine waslaid down atDeutsche Werke'sKiel shipyard on 3 September 1939 asyard number 286.[4][3] She waslaunched on 21 June 1941 and commissioned on 21 August that year.[4]
On commissioning,U-455 joined the5th U-boat Flotilla at Kiel for crew training. In January 1942, she was assigned to the operational7th U-boat Flotilla.[4]
U-455's operational career began when she leftKiel on 15 January 1942. It was initially planned that the submarine take part in operations in the Atlantic, but she was one of five U-boats that were ordered to patrol between Scotland andIceland, and from 25 January,U-455, along withU-352 andU-435, made a reconnaissance ofSeyðisfjörður fjord to search for an assembly area for allied convoys. The submarines found nothing, andU-455 returned toBergen, empty-handed, on 28 February 1942.[4]
The boat's second patrol saw the submarine transit to France, leaving Bergen on 21 March 1942 and arriving inSt. Nazaire on 30 March.[4] She would continue to use this port for most of the rest of her career.
On 16 April 1942,U-455 left on her 3rd patrol, bound for the east coast of America.[4] She was ordered to Canadian waters to intercept a troopship convoy, but this operation proved unsuccessful. On 3 May 1942,U-455 torpedoed the lone BritishtankerBritish Workman south ofCape Race,Newfoundland.[5] On 18 May,U-455 unsuccessfully attacked a passenger liner south of New York, and on 21 May joined thePfadfinder group of submarines, operating 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) east of New York in an attempt to locate shipping traffic which U-Boat command had been diverted away from the coast. The search found nothing, andU-455 set course back to France in early June.[6] On 11 June 1942, the submarine sank a second British tanker, theGeorge H Jones, NNE of theAzores.[5][7] She returned to St. Nazaire on 16 June 1942, having spent 62 days at sea.[7]
On 22 August 1942,U-455 left on her fourth patrol, again bound for American waters.[7] The submarine carried a mixed load of magneticmines and torpedoes, and was tasked with miningCharleston, South Carolina.[8]U-455 laid its minefield on 18 September,[7] but the minefield was discovered and swept by the US Navy, and did not produce any sinkings.[9] She was then ordered to patrol offSt. John's, Newfoundland, arriving there at the start of October.U-455 patrolled off St. John's for two weeks, before a failure of herGyrocompass caused the operation to be aborted. Only two ships were seen, both too far away to attack.[10]U-455 returned to St. Nazaire on 28 October 1942, after a patrol of 68 days.[7] Given the relative lack of success (with only two ships sunk after four patrols),U-455's commander,KapitänleutnantHans-Hienrich Giessler, left the submarine for other duties.[11]
U-455's fifth patrol started on 24 November 1942 under the command ofKapitänleutnant Hans-Martin Scheibe.[6] She was ordered to join groupDraufgänger patrolling west of Ireland in wait for an expected westboundONS convoy.[7] With no sign of this convoy appearing, on 7 DecemberDraufgänger was ordered to attack eastboundConvoy HX 21. In total 22 U-Boats were sent against the convoy, but a well handled escort together with air support from Iceland-basedLiberator aircraft, meant that few of the submarines were able get into position to attack the convoy. Only two merchant ships were sunk, at the cost of two U-Boats lost.[12]U-455 made no attacks.[7] On 13 December, the submarine joinedgroupUngestüm. The group was unsuccessfully directed against several convoys before on 26 December it was ordered againstConvoy ONS 154.[7][13]U-455 attacked on the night of 28/29 December, her torpedoes missing their targets, but in total 14 ships from the convoy were lost.[14]U-455 refuelled from thetanker submarineU-463 west of the Azores during her return to base, arriving at St. Nazaire on 24 January 1943.[7]
On 23 March 1943,U-455 left St. Nazaire on her sixth patrol.[7] On 24 March, a crewman was injured in an accident with one of the boat's own AA guns.[15] On 10 April,U-455 laid 12 mines offCasablanca. One of these sank the French freighterRouennais on 25 April.[7][16] On the night of 13/14 April,U-455 picked up the crew of the submarineU-167, which had been scuttled earlier that month, offLas Palmas.U-455 then rendezvoused withU159 andU518 and redistributed the 50 survivors from U-167 between the three boats before returning to France.[17]U-455 reached St. Nazaire on 23 April 1943.[7]U-455 left on her seventh patrol on 30 May 1943 for independent operations in the Atlantic. On 2 June,U-455 was attacked twice by British aircraft but received no damage.[7] The submarine operated west of the Azores, and in late June, moved to west of Lisbon. She attacked a steamship on 20 July, but all five torpedoes missed. The submarine returned to St Nazaire on 31 July.[7]
On 20 September 1943,U-455 left port on her eighth patrol, with orders to pass through theStrait of Gibraltar to reinforce German forces in theMediterranean Sea following theAllied invasion of Italy earlier that month. Strong anti-submarine forces at Gibraltar preventedU-455 passing through the Strait, andU-455, along withU-264 (which had also failed to pass through the Strait), were ordered to joingroupRossbach operating south west of Iceland.[7][18] On 4 October 1943,U-455, together withU-264 andU-422, rendezvoused with the tanker submarineU-460 north of the Azores.U-264 had just finished refuelling when aGrumman TBF Avenger from the carrierUSS Card spotted the submarines and attacked. The attack was unsuccessful, but the Avenger called up more aircraft fromCard.U-455 dived before these reinforcement, but the other three boats remained on the surface.U-460 was sunk with the loss of all aboard.[19][20][a]U-455 collided withU-631 in mid-October, causing sufficient damage forU-455 to abort her patrol.[22][7]U-455 arrived atLorient on 11 November 1943.[7]
On 6 January 1944,U-455 left Lorient in another attempt to enter the Mediterranean. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on the night of 21/22January, and arrived atToulon on 3 February 1944.[7]
On 22 February 1944,U-455 left Toulon on a minelaying operation.[7] On 5 April 1944,U-455 was lost with all hands, sunk by a mine in the German minefieldFuß-Ball-Klub south-west ofGenoa. Her last transmission was on 2 April 1944, when she radioed-in while returning from her patrol offAlgiers.[1][23] The wreck ofU-455 was discovered in 2005.[1] It had been previously believed that she had been sunk offLa Spezia on 6 June, possibly to a German mine.[1][24]
U-455 took part in sixwolfpacks,[1] namely:
| Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) | Fate[25] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 1942 | British Workman |  United Kingdom | 6,994 | Sunk |
| 11 June 1942 | Geo H. Jones | United Kingdom | 6,914 | Sunk |
| 25 July 1943 | Rouenais |  Free France | 3,777 | Sunk (mine) |
44°18.6′N9°02.9′E / 44.3100°N 9.0483°E /44.3100; 9.0483
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1944 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Media from Commons
