| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | U-754 |
| Ordered | 9 October 1939 |
| Builder | Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven |
| Yard number | 137 |
| Laid down | 8 January 1940 |
| Launched | 5 July 1941 |
| Commissioned | 28 August 1941 |
| Fate | Sunk on 31 July 1942 |
| 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 | |
| Part of: |
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| Identification codes: | M 46 656 |
| Commanders: |
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| Operations: |
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| Victories: | |
German submarineU-754 was aType VIICU-boat deployed byNazi Germany'sKriegsmarine during the Second World War against allied shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. She was a successful but short-lived boat, sinking 13 ships during her career. She was most notorious for her final attack, in which she shelled and sank the small fishing vesselEbb, and killed a number of its crew with machine-gun fire as they attempted to launch a life raft. She was sunk with all hands by aRoyal Canadian Air Force bomber three days later on 31 July 1942.
U-754 was built in theKriegsmarinewerft at the main fleet base ofWilhelmshaven in Northern Germany on theNorth Sea. She was completed on 28 August 1941, and given to the experiencedKapitänleutnant Hans Oestermann to command. Following her work-up period in which the boat was tested and the crew trained, she was despatched on her first patrol.
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorterType VIIB submarines.U-754 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.[1] 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, twoGarbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/cdouble-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).[1]
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).[1] 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-754 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, and a2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had acomplement of between forty-four and sixty.[1]
U-754 departedKiel on her first patrol on 30 December 1941, and her operating area was primarily in the mouth of theSt Lawrence River, operating against convoys entering or leaving the waterway, or destined for the many ports at the river's mouth, such asHalifax, Nova Scotia orSt. John's,Newfoundland. During this patrol, she sank four freighters. The submarine narrowly escaped a bombing attack by aRoyal Canadian Air ForceBolingbroke bomber on 23 March which inflicted minor damage.[2] The submarine returned toBrest in France on 2 February to resupply and rearm.
The second patrol left from Brest on 9 March 1942, and after a brief sweep in her previous area of operations, she swung south to take advantage of theSecond happy time then occurring off the United States's Eastern Seaboard. During this patrol she sank seven more ships; three of them in one attack on a small coastal convoy, in which she hit several small barges and coastal cargo ships. She sank the tankerBritish Prudence by torpedo on 23 March.U-754 returned to Brest on 25 April 1942.
Her final patrol was her least successful, in terms of ships sunk, although the tonnage was higher, as she sunk the 12,435 GRTWaiwera in the mid-Atlantic on 29 June, ten days after leaving Brest.
It was nearly a month later, on 28 July, thatU-754 scored her final victim, when she controversially shelled the fishing vesselEbb nearCape Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
Ebb was a motor fishing trawler operating out ofBoston for the General Sea Foods Company. The crew of the small 260 GRT vessel felt it was unlikely that they would be troubled by the war, as she was far too small for an effectivetorpedo shot, and too insignificant to justify the risk of a surface attack by gunfire. On 28 July 1942, however, while fishing off Cape Sable her crew were shocked to seeU-754 emerge from the water.
The submarine immediately opened fire without warning onEbb with her anti-aircraft guns. The ship stopped and made signals that they had surrendered, but the gunfire continued, one gun sweeping through the crowd of crew members attempting to launch the ship's life raft. Five of the seventeen crew were killed and seven more seriously wounded, beforeEbb sank after taking over fifty hits. The survivors were discovered and rescued by theW-class destroyerHMS Witherington fourteen hours later.[3]
HadU-754's crew survived the war, it is possible that they would have been charged withwar crimes as were the officers ofU-852 who also fired on sailors who had abandoned their ship. Similar incidents of gun attacks aimed at crews occurred on theU-247 andU-552.[4]
Radio transmissions fromU-754 betrayed a pattern toRoyal Canadian Navy intelligence, information which was used by Norville Everett Small the commander ofRCAF113 Squadron to deploy patrols fromRCAF Station Yarmouth targeting the suspected position ofU-754.[citation needed]
On 31 July, aHudson bomber piloted by Squadron Leader Small himself caughtU-754 on the surface south of Yarmouth not far from the scene of theEbb sinking. The submarine was precisely straddled by a cluster ofdepth charges as it began to dive. The conning tower of the wounded submarine briefly surfaced to be strafed by the Hudson's machine guns before submerging for the last time.
A trail of large air bubbles was followed by a massive underwater explosion asU-754 went to the bottom with all 43 hands. It marked the first submarine kill of the RCAF's Eastern Air Command.[5]
U-754 took part in onewolfpack, namely:
| Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) | Fate[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 January 1942 | Belize |  Norway | 2,153 | Sunk |
| 21 January 1942 | William Hansen | Norway | 1,344 | Sunk |
| 25 January 1942 | Mount Kitheron |  Greece | 3,876 | Sunk |
| 26 January 1942 | Icarion | Greece | 4,013 | Sunk |
| 23 March 1942 | British Prudence |  United Kingdom | 8,620 | Sunk |
| 31 March 1942 | Menominee |  United States | 441 | Sunk |
| 31 March 1942 | Ontario | United States | 490 | Damaged |
| 31 March 1942 | Barnegat | United States | 914 | Sunk |
| 31 March 1942 | Alleghany | United States | 914 | Sunk |
| 1 April 1942 | Tiger | United States | 5,992 | Sunk |
| 3 April 1942 | Otho | United States | 4,839 | Sunk |
| 6 April 1942 | Kollskeg | Norway | 9,858 | Sunk |
| 29 June 1942 | Waiwera | United Kingdom | 12,435 | Sunk |
| 28 July 1942 | Ebb | United States | 260 | Sunk |
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1942 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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