German World War II submarine
German submarine "U-844" was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine", built for service during the Second World War. An extremely short-lived boat, "U-844" served just ten days on her only patrol and was sunk with two other boats whilst preparing for a failed attack on a well-defended convoy within range of allied air support.
Design.
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. "U-844" had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat 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 MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 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-844" was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, 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 of forty-eight.
Service history.
Built by the large DeSchiMAG AG Weser shipyards in Bremen, "U-844" was rapidly completed and readied for service, her entire building program taking just under a year. Given to "Oberleutnant zur See" Günther Möller, she passed her initial working-up and training schedule well, and was dispatched to her first patrol in the Atlantic Ocean in the first week of October 1943 to try to stem the terrible losses being incurred by U-boats at this time.
War Patrol.
Ten days after her departure whilst she sailed south of Iceland she received orders to attach herself to and and to proceed southwards to attack Convoy ON 206 in the North Atlantic. The boats had to travel on the surface to have any hope of reaching their target, and it was this which caused disaster, as the three submarines were spotted in broad daylight by a RAF B-24 Liberator aircraft, which rapidly called allies in the form of more Liberators from 59 Squadron and 86 Squadron Royal Air Force amongst other forces.
Fate.
On 16 October 1943, during the day-long battle which followed, the anti-aircraft weapons of the boats were brought into use, downing two Liberators and killing a number of crewmen. It was not however enough to stave off the inevitable, and one by one the boats were separated and sunk, having been prevented from diving by constant attention from Allied aircraft. "U-844" was eventually lost to a direct hit from a bomb dropped by a Liberator, the boat blowing to pieces and killing all 53 of her crew.
Wolfpacks.
"U-844" took part in one wolfpack, namely:
References.
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