Unterseeboot 656
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| U-656 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | VIIC | ||
| Yard Number | 805 | ||
| Ordered | 9 October 1939 | ||
| Launch Date | 8 July 1941 | ||
| Commission Date | 17 September 1941 | ||
| Construction yard | Howaldtswerke, Hamburg | ||
| Patrols | |||
| Start Date | End Date | Assigned Unit | |
| No Patrols | Training boat | 5. Unterseebootflottille | |
| 15 January 1942 | 28 January 1942 | 1. Unterseebootflottille | |
| 4 February 1942 | 1 March 1942 | 1. Unterseebootflottille | |
| Commanders | |||
| August, 1941 | 1 March 1942 | Kptlt. Ernst Kröning | |
| Successes | |||
| Type of Ship Sunk | Number of Ships Sunk | Gross Registered Tonnage | |
| Commercial Vessels | - | - | |
| Military Vessels | - | - | |
Unterseeboot 656, also U-656, was a German World War II Type VIIC submarine. Her creation was ordered on 9 October 1939, and the keel was laid on 4 September 1940. Construction on U-656 was carried out by Hamburg company Howaldtswerke in Yard 805. She was launched on 8 July 1941 and commissioned on 17 September 1941.
U-656 went into service initially with 5. Unterseebootflottille (U-Boat Flotilla) for training from September 1941 until December 1941. She moved into operational service with 1. Unterseebootflottille on 1 January 1942, and was commanded by Ernst Kröning.
U-656 made two patrols, but did not sink any ships. Her first patrol lasted almost two weeks: after departing Kiel on 15 January 1942, she put in at Brest, France on 28 January. The submarine departed Brest on 4 February 1942, but never completed her second patrol. On 1 March 1942, while in the North Atlantic Ocean south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada, she was sunk with all hands by depth charges dropped by a United States Navy Lockheed Hudson of patrol squadron VP-82, making U-656 the first U-boat to be sunk by the U.S. Navy in World War II.
[edit] References
- Bishop, C. Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939-45 Amber Books, 2006
- U 656 at Uboat.net
- ubootwaffe.net: Kriegsmarine and U-Boat history. ubootwaffe.net. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
