German submarine U-8 (1935)

The German submarine U-8 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, based at Kiel during World War II. It was one of the smaller versions, and was first launched on 16 July 1935. Its first commander was Harald Grosse. U-8 would have 18 commanders over the course of its service, the last being Jürgen Kriegshammer.

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-8.
U-9, a typical Type IIB boat
History
Nazi Germany
Name: U-8
Ordered: 20 July 1934
Builder: Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number: 542
Laid down: 25 March 1935
Launched: 16 July 1935
Commissioned: 5 August 1935
Fate: Scuttled on 2 May 1945, in the Raeder Lock at Wilhelmshaven.
General characteristics
Class and type: IIB coastal submarine
Displacement:
  • 279 t (275 long tons) surfaced
  • 328 t (323 long tons) submerged
Length:
  • 42.70 m (140 ft 1 in) o/a
  • 27.80 m (91 ft 2 in) pressure hull
Beam:
  • 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in) (o/a)
  • 4.00 m (13 ft 1 in) (pressure hull)
Height: 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draught: 3.90 m (12 ft 10 in)
Installed power:
  • 700 PS (510 kW; 690 bhp) (diesels)
  • 410 PS (300 kW; 400 shp) (electric)
Propulsion:
Range:
  • 1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
  • 35–43 nmi (65–80 km; 40–49 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth: 80 m (260 ft)
Complement: 3 officers, 22 men
Armament:
Service record
Part of:
Identification codes: M 06 994
Commanders:
  • Harald Grosse
  • Georg Peters
  • Otto Schuhart
  • Wolf-Harro Stiebler
  • Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
  • Georg-Heinz Michel
  • Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat
  • Heinz Stein
  • Walter Kell
  • Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche
  • Heinrich Heinsohn
  • Ulrich Borcherdt
  • Rolf Steinhaus
  • Horst Deckert
  • Rudolf Hoffmann
  • Alfred Werner
  • Jürgen Iversen
  • Jürgen Kriegshammer
Victories: No ships sunk or damaged

Design

German Type IIB submarines were enlarged versions of the original Type IIs. U-8 had a displacement of 279 tonnes (275 long tons) when at the surface and 328 tonnes (323 long tons) while submerged. Officially, the standard tonnage was 250 long tons (250 t), however.[1] The U-boat had a total length of 42.70 m (140 ft 1 in), a pressure hull length of 28.20 m (92 ft 6 in), a beam of 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in), a height of 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in), and a draught of 3.90 m (12 ft 10 in). The submarine was powered by two MWM RS 127 S four-stroke, six-cylinder diesel engines of 700 metric horsepower (510 kW; 690 shp) for cruising, two Siemens-Schuckert PG VV 322/36 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 460 metric horsepower (340 kW; 450 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 0.85 m (3 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 80–150 metres (260–490 ft).[1]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph).[1] When submerged, the boat could operate for 35–42 nautical miles (65–78 km; 40–48 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 3,800 nautical miles (7,000 km; 4,400 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). U-8 was fitted with three 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes at the bow, five torpedoes or up to twelve Type A torpedo mines, and a 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of twenty.[1]

Service history

U-8 was ordered on 20 July 1934, i.e. in violation of the Versailles Treaty, which denied Germany possession of submarines. The U-boat was not laid down until 25 March 1935, and launched on 16 July 1935, within weeks of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which granted Germany parity with the British Empire in submarines.

Commissioned on 5 August 1935 with Kapitänleutnant Harald Grosse in command, U-8 was used as a training boat until 31 March 1945, when the U-boat was decommissioned.

Fate

U-8 was scuttled in the Raeder Lock at Wilhelmshaven on 5 May 1945.[2]

gollark: Oh, correction, every *five* seconds.
gollark: ```03-01 21:54:43.706 492 492 F libc : Fatal signal 11 (SIGSEGV), code 1 (SEGV_MAPERR), fault addr 0x0 in tid 492 (recovery), pid 492 (recovery)03-01 21:54:43.707 494 494 F libc : failed to exec crash_dump helper: No such file or directory03-01 21:54:43.708 492 492 F libc : crash_dump helper failed to exec03-01 21:54:48.709 496 496 W libc : Unable to set property "ro.twrp.boot" to "1": error code: 0xb03-01 21:54:48.710 496 496 W libc : Unable to set property "ro.twrp.version" to "3.4.0-TEST_MRMAZAK_10": error code: 0xb03-01 21:54:48.711 496 496 F libc : Fatal signal 11 (SIGSEGV), code 1 (SEGV_MAPERR), fault addr 0x0 in tid 496 (recovery), pid 496 (recovery)03-01 21:54:48.714 498 498 F libc : failed to exec crash_dump helper: No such file or directory03-01 21:54:48.715 496 496 F libc : crash_dump helper failed to exec03-01 21:54:53.721 499 499 W libc : Unable to set property "ro.twrp.boot" to "1": error code: 0xb03-01 21:54:53.721 499 499 W libc : Unable to set property "ro.twrp.version" to "3.4.0-TEST_MRMAZAK_10": error code: 0xb03-01 21:54:53.722 499 499 F libc : Fatal signal 11 (SIGSEGV), code 1 (SEGV_MAPERR), fault addr 0x0 in tid 499 (recovery), pid 499 (recovery)03-01 21:54:53.724 501 501 F libc : failed to exec crash_dump helper: No such file or directory03-01 21:54:53.725 499 499 F libc : crash_dump helper failed to exec```It seems to log this every few times a second, how amazing!
gollark: If it comes to it I *think* I can reflash it from the "MTK scatter tool" but this would require me to find a windows computer somewhere and such.
gollark: Or fastboot.
gollark: I can get *recovery mode*, but only a somewhat broken recovery mode which lets me run shell commands somehow but which does not seem to want to actually boot into system mode, *somehow*.

References
  1. Gröner 1991, pp. 39–40.
  2. Neistlé 2014, p. 22.

Bibliography
  • Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
  • Neistlé, Axel (2014). German U-Boat Losses during World War II: Details of Destruction (2 ed.). Havertown: Frontline Books (published 30 June 2014).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIB boat U-8". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  • Hofmann, Markus. "U 8". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 December 2014.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.