German World War II submarine
German submarine "U-758" was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" for service during World War II. Commissioned on 5 May 1942, she served with the 6th U-boat Flotilla until 1 November as a training boat, and as a front boat until 14 October 1944 mostly under the command of "Kapitänleutnant" Helmut Manseck before joining the 33rd U-boat Flotilla as a training boat for the remainder of her service in the war.
Design.
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-758" had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer &amp; Co. RP 137/c double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. 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-758" was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history.
Built at the Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, "U-758" served on seven patrols with the 6th U-boat Flotilla.
First patrol.
The submarine's first patrol of 41 days between 14 November until 24 December 1942 from Kiel to St. Nazaire was uneventful.
Second patrol.
Her second patrol from 14 February until 30 March 1943 was not. Midway across the Atlantic Ocean on 17 March, "U-758" joined Wolfpack Raubgraf and attacked convoy HX 229 which was eastbound, delivering goods from the United States to the United Kingdom. "U-758" destroyed two ships from the 37-ship convoy: The Dutch ship "Zaanland" ( GRT) and the US Liberty Ship "James Oglethorpe" ( GRT). Torpedoes fired at the Dutch motor tanker "Magdala" missed their mark.
Subsequent patrols.
"U-758" undertook five more combat patrols but did not sink or damage any further ships.
Wolfpacks.
"U-758" took part in nine wolfpacks, namely:
Fate.
The veteran submarine was caught in the open during a British raid on the port of Kiel. Badly damaged on 11 March 1945, she was stricken from the navy list on 16 March 1945. At the cessation of hostilities, she was surrendered to the Allies in May 1945. Deemed too badly damaged to be sunk as part of Operation Deadlight, she was instead broken up for scrap beginning in 1946 or 1947.
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