German submarine ''U-158'' was a Type IXC

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

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's ''

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'' built for service during

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. Her keel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 1 November 1940 by

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AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft "Weser" (abbreviated A.G. "Weser") was one of the major Germany, German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,4 ...

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as yard number 1000. She was commissioned on 25 September 1941, with ''

Kapitänleutnant , short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( or ''lieutenant captain'') is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the modern German . The rank is rated Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers, OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to i ...

'' Erwin Rostin (Knights Cross) in command.

Design

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. ''U-158'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a

pressure hull A submarine hull has two major components, the ''superstructure'' and the ''pressure hull''. The external portion of a submarine’s hull—that part that does not resist sea pressure and is free-flooding—is known as the “superstructure” i ...

length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

M 9 V 40/46

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...

four-stroke, nine-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s producing a total of for use while surfaced, two

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2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s. 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-158'' was fitted with six

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

of forty-eight.

Service history

''U-158'' conducted only two combat patrols, sinking 17 ships totalling and damaging two others totalling 15,264 GRT.

First patrol

''U-158'' departed the German administered island of

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, (sometimes spelt 'Heligoland'), for her first patrol on 7 February 1942. Her route took her north of the

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, through the gap between

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and the

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and into the Atlantic Ocean. Her first victim was ''Empire Celt'', sunk about south southeast of St Johns on 24 February. The ship broke in two after being hit and the stern section was last seen on 4 March. In the same attack, the U-boat also damaged ''Diloma''. This tanker was able to proceed under her own power at reduced speed. She was repaired in

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and returned to service in June 1942. The submarine then moved further down the US east coast. She sank another four ships and damaged one more. They were: ''Finnanger'' (1 March), ''Caribsea'' (11 March), ''John D. Gill'' (13 March), ''Olean'' (damaged on 15 March) and ''Ario'' (also on 15 March). ''John D. Gill'' was another tanker; her cargo did not ignite on being hit by a

. Instead, the surrounding water was turned into a blazing inferno after a seaman threw a life ring overboard and its built-in carbide lamp malfunctioned. Almost half the crew died. ''Olean'' was towed to

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

, rebuilt and renamed ''Sweep'' and then returned to service. Having caused so much mayhem, the boat sailed for France, arriving at

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 31 March 1942.

Second patrol

For her second foray, ''U-158'' moved into the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and the

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in May 1942. On the way she sank ''Darina'' about east southeast of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

on 4 May and ''Frank B. Baird'' on the 22nd. Following the sinking of ''Knoxville City'' on 2 June, the survivors in their lifeboats declined an offer of help from ''Jamaica'' as they thought the German submarine was still nearby. The ''Hermis'', despite being hit by two torpedoes on the seventh, maintained a speed of eight knots due to the engines still running. The U-boat surfaced and shelled the ship. She was observed some twelve hours later with her stern out of the water; she eventually sank shortly afterward.

Fate

''U-158'' was sunk on 30 June 1942, west of the Bermudas, in position , by

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s from a

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aircraft commanded by

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of United States Navy Squadron VP-74. None of her 54 crewmen on board survived the sinking.

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0158 German Type IX submarines U-boats commissioned in 1941 World War II submarines of Germany 1941 ships U-boats sunk in 1942 U-boats sunk by depth charges U-boats sunk by US aircraft Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Bremen (state) Submarines lost with all hands Maritime incidents in June 1942