The German submarine ''U-41'' was a Type IXA

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 ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' that operated during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She conducted three war patrols during her short career, two as part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla and one as part of the 2nd flotilla. ''U-41'' also sank five enemy vessels for a total of ; captured two more for a total of and damaged one other of . On 5 February 1940, ''U-41'' was hit 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 the British A class destroyer after sinking two enemy merchant vessels and was sunk off the south coast of Ireland. All 49 of her crew members were lost with the boat.

Construction

''U-41'' was ordered by the ''Kriegsmarine'' on 21 November 1936 (as part of

Plan Z Plan Z was the re-equipment and expansion of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) ordered by Adolf Hitler in early 1939. The fleet was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom, and was to be completed by 1948. Development of the plan ...

and in violation of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

). She 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 27 November 1937 by

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 ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

as yard number 946. She was launched on 28 January 1939 and commissioned on 22 April of that same year under the command of ''

Oberleutnant zur See (''OLt zS'' or ''OLZS'' in the German Navy, ''Oblt.z.S.'' in the ''Kriegsmarine'') is traditionally the highest rank of Lieutenant in the German Navy. It is grouped as Ranks and insignia of officers of NATO Navies, OF-1 in NATO. The rank was ...

'' Gustav-Adolf Mugler.

Design

As one of the eight original Type IX submarines, later designated IXA, ''U-41'' 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

Siemens-Schuckert Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & H ...

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-41'' 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

During her service in the ''Kriegsmarine'', ''U-41'' sank five commercial ships for ; damaged one commercial vessel of and captured two ships totalling .

First patrol

''U-41'' left Wilhelmshaven on 19 August 1939, before World War II began, with then Oblt. Gustav Adolf-Mugler in command. Her first patrol involved traveling as far south as Portugal after entering the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and circumnavigating the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. During this patrol, two ships were captured: the Finnish ''Vega'', of 974 GRT, and the 1,099 GRT ''Suomen Poika''. ''U-41'' then returned to Wilhelmshaven, arriving on 17 September 1939.

Second patrol

''U-41'' left Wilhelmshaven with Mugler in command once again on 7 November 1939. On 12 November, both the 275 GRT British vessel ''Cresswell'' and the 11,019 GRT Norwegian ship ''Arne Kjøde'' were sunk by torpedoes. The 1,351 GRT British merchant vessel ''Darino'' went to the bottom on the 19th. The last enemy vessel to be sunk by ''U-41'' was the French vessel ''Les Barges II''. She displaced a total of 296 GRT and was sunk by a single torpedo on 21 November. The U-boat then returned to port on 7 December 1939.

Third patrol

''U-41'' left the port of

Helgoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

on 27 January 1940 with Mugler still in command. During her final patrol, one enemy ship was sunk and one was damaged; both of these attacks took place on 5 February. The first ship that was hit was the 8,096 GRT Dutch vessel ''Ceronia''. The ''Ceronia'' was damaged and the 9,874 GRT British ship ''Beaverburn'' was sunk. Nevertheless, ''U-41'' did not return to her home port, she was sunk on the same day.

Fate

Following the attacks on the Dutch ''Ceronia'' and the British ''Beaverburn'' on 5 February 1940, ''U-41'' was attacked by the British A class destroyer with

s. She was hit and sunk off the south coast of Ireland. All 49 of her crew members were lost with the boat during the attack.

Summary of raiding history

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0041 German Type IX submarines U-boats commissioned in 1939 U-boats sunk in 1940 World War II submarines of Germany U-boats sunk by British warships U-boats sunk by depth charges World War II shipwrecks in the Celtic Sea 1939 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) U-boats lost with all hands Maritime incidents in February 1940