German submarine U-362 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.
Built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft at Flensburg, the U-boat was laid down 9 November 1941, launched on 21 October 1942, and commissioned on 4 February 1943 with Oberleutnant zur See Ludwig Franz in command.
Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-362 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel 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, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-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).
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). 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-362 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and four twin 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
Sailing from Kiel on 6 February 1944, U-362 first sailed for northern Norway from where she sortied out into the Norwegian Sea on several patrols, without sinking any ships.
The U-boat sailed from Hammerfest on 2 August 1944, on her fifth and final patrol and headed east across the Barents Sea, north of Russia. On 5 September 1944 in the Kara Sea, she was sunk by depth charges from the T-116 at 75°51′N 89°27′E. All 51 of the crew were lost.
Wolfpacks
U-362 took part in five wolfpacks, namely:
- Werwolf (23 – 27 February 1944)
- Donner (11 – 12 April 1944)
- Trutz (16 – 31 May 1944)
- Grimm (31 May – 6 June 1944)
- Greif (3 August – 5 September 1944)
References
Bibliography
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-362". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 362". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
