German submarine ''U-456'' was a

Type VIIC Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

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 ...

built for

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

'' for service 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 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 3 September 1940 by

Deutsche Werke Deutsche Werke Kiel AG was a German shipbuilding company that was founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defense indust ...

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

as yard number 287, launched on 21 June 1941 and commissioned on 18 September 1941 under ''

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 ...

'' Max-Martin Teichert (

Knight's Cross Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield. Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cro ...

Design

Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-456'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She 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

Germaniawerft Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (often just called Germaniawerft, "Germania (personification), Germania shipyard") was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for ...

F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder

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 ...

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 ...

GU 343/38–8 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-456'' was fitted with five

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 one at the stern), fourteen

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/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and 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 between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

The boat's service began on 28 September 1941 with training as part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla. She was transferred to the 11th flotilla on 1 July 1942 and then to the 1st flotilla on 1 December 1942. In 11 patrols she sank six ships for a total of , plus two ships damaged.

HMS Edinburgh

In the late afternoon of 30 April 1942, during the attack on the Arctic Convoy QP 11, two of her torpedoes struck and crippled the Royal Navy light cruiser . At the time ''Edinburgh'' was carrying many tons of

gold bullion A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refining, refined metallic gold that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping. Larger varietie ...

from the USSR destined for the UK.

Wolfpacks

She took part in ten wolfpacks, namely: * Umbau (4–15 February 1942) * Umhang (10–16 March 1942) * Eiswolf (29–31 March 1942) * Robbenschlag (7–14 April 1942) * Blutrausch (15–19 April 1942) * Strauchritter (29 April – 3 May 1942) * Eisteufel (27 June – 5 July 1942) * Boreas (27–30 November 1942) * Landsknecht (19–28 January 1943) * Drossel (29 April – 12 May 1943)

Fate

In the early morning light ''U-456'' was caught on the surface by an

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

Liberator bomber of 86 Squadron operating out of Northern Ireland, as she circled ahead of

convoy HX 237 HX 237 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX convoys, HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of several convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of May 1943. Background HX 237 was an east bo ...

. ''U-456'' dived at once, but not before the aircraft had launched the new American ''Fido'' acoustic homing torpedo at the submerged submarine. The aircraft, low on fuel, was unable to press home the attack. ''U-456'' was badly damaged and forced to re-surface. On the following day she was depth charged and sunk on 12 May 1943 at position 46° 39' N 26° 54' W by .

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U0456 Submarines lost with all hands German Type VIIC submarines 1941 ships U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk in 1943 U-boats sunk by British warships World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Kiel Maritime incidents in May 1943