German World War II submarine
German submarine "U-662" was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" for service during World War II.
She was laid down on 7 May 1941 by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg as yard number 811, launched on 22 January 1942 and commissioned on 9 April 1942 under "Kapitänleutnant" Wolfgang Hermann.
Design.
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-662" 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 Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 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-662" 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.
The boat's career began with training at 5th U-boat Flotilla on 9 April 1942, followed by active service on 1 October 1942 as part of the 7th Flotilla for the remainder of her service.
In 4 patrols she sank 3 merchant ships, for a total of  gross register tons (GRT) and damaged one merchant ship.
Wolfpacks.
U-662 took part in eleven wolfpacks, namely:
Convoy ONS 154.
On the night on 26 December 1942 "U-662" reported sighting Convoy ONS 154.
"U-662" sunk the crippled and straggling "Ville de Rouen" which had been attacked earlier by .
July 1943.
On 19 July a US Liberator bomber dropped four depth charges, but broke off the attack after sustaining flak damage. "U-662" escaped undamaged.
The next day, "U-662" was again attacked by US aircraft, this time a Douglas B-18 Bolo aircraft, but again she escaped undamaged. She was sunk the following day.
Fate.
"U-662" was sunk on 21 July 1943 in the North Atlantic in position , by depth charges from US Catalina from Patrol Squadron VP-94. Apart from the commander and two other crew members, all hands were lost.
"Oberleutnant zur See" Heinz-Eberhard Müller was so severely injured that he was repatriated to Germany in March 1944 as he was no longer fit for combat.
"On 21 July 1943 he was attacked for an hour by Lt. Stan Auslander, USN, in a PBY and then was sent to the bottom by another Catalina piloted by Ltjg. R. H. Howland USNR. MUELLER HAD BOTH ARMES AND ONE LEG BROKEN AND INTERNAL INJURIES. He was kept afloat and alive by his chief mate, one Horst Gaertner. Gaertner swam around with Mueller in his arms for seven days, until they were picked up by a patrol craft."
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