1. Design

2. Service history
    1st patrol  2nd patrol  3rd patrol  Sinking  Wolfpacks 

3. Summary of raiding history

4. References

5. Bibliography

6. External links

German submarine U-176 was a Type IXC U-boat in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Built at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, she was laid down on 6 February 1941, launched on 12 September and commissioned on 15 December, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Reiner Dierksen.

U-176 served with the 4. Unterseebootsflotille (U-boat flotilla) while training, and from 1 August 1942 with the 10th U-boat Flotilla, a long-range operations unit. U-176 completed three patrols, sinking 11 ships totalling {{GRT|53,307|disp=long}} before she was sunk off Cayo Blanquizal by the Cuban Navy on 15 May 1943.

Design

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-176 had a displacement of {{convert|1120|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|1232|t|LT}} while submerged.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}} The U-boat had a total length of {{convert|76.76|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a pressure hull length of {{convert|58.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|6.76|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a height of {{convert|9.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|4.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of {{convert|4400|PS|kW shp|-1}} for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of {{convert|1000|shp|PS kW|-1}} for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two {{convert|1.92|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to {{convert|230|m}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}}

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|18.3|kn}} and a maximum submerged speed of {{convert|7.3|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}} When submerged, the boat could operate for {{convert|63|nmi}} at {{convert|4|kn}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|13450|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}. U-176 was fitted with six {{convert|53.3|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one {{convert|10.5|cm|in|2|abbr=on}} SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a {{convert|3.7|cm|in|sp=us|abbr=on}} SK C/30 as well as a {{convert|2|cm|in|sp=us|abbr=on}} C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|p=68}}

Service history

1st patrol

On 21 July 1942 U-176 sailed from Kiel, around the British Isles, and into the north Atlantic Ocean. She made her first kill on 4 August, sinking the unescorted 7,798 ton British merchantman Richmond Castle with two torpedoes.^[3]

On 7 August she joined five other U-boats in reinforcing the eight boats of wolfpack Steinbrinck in a series of attacks on Convoy SC 94.^[4] On 8 August U-176 fired two salvoes of two torpedoes each at the convoy, sinking two British cargo ships, the 4,817 ton Trehata and the 3,956 ton Kelso, and the 7,914 ton Greek cargo ship Mount Kassion. The next day she also sank another British ship, the 3,701 ton Radchurch, which had been abandoned.^[4] The convoy escort was then reinforced by the Polish destroyer {{ship|ORP|Błyskawica||2}} and the British destroyer leader {{HMS|Broke|D83|2}}. Both ships were equipped with HF/DF (radio direction-finding equipment), which helped to keep the U-boats at bay until morning.^[4]

2nd patrol

Off Cape São Roque, Brazil, on 13 December 1942 the crew of U-176 boarded the 1,629 ton Swedish cargo ship Scania, and sank her with scuttling charges after the crew had abandoned ship.^[9] On 16 December she sank the unescorted 5,881 ton British cargo ship Observer with two torpedoes.^[10]

Prior to the sinking of Scania, a young seaman, Gottfrid Sundberg, surreptitiously photographed U-176 from Scania.^[11][12][13]

3rd patrol

On 13 May 1943, U-176 attacked Convoy NC 18 only five miles off the northern coast of Cuba, sinking the 2,249 ton American tanker Nickeliner, which was loaded with 3,400 tons of ammonia water,^[15] and the 1,983 ton Cuban molasses tanker Mambí.^[16]

Sinking

On 15 May, the Cuban merchant ship Camagüey, and the Honduran Hanks, both loaded with sugar, sailed from Sagua La Grande, bound for Havana, escorted by the Cuban submarine chasers CS-11, CS-12, and CS-13. At 17:15 hours, a U.S. Navy Kingfisher aircraft from squadron VS-62 operating from Cuba spotted U-176 at {{coord|23|21|N|80|18|W|display=inline, title}} and dropped a smoke float to mark her position about one and a half miles astern of the convoy. CS-13 located the U-boat with her sonar, attacked with depth charges and sank U-176.^[17]

On 7 January 1944 K.Kapt.. Reiner Dierksen was posthumously awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold.^[7]

Also present was Norberto Collado Abreu, who later found fame as the pilot of Granma, the yacht which brought Fidel Castro back to Cuba to restart the Cuban Revolution.

Wolfpacks

U-176 took part in two wolfpacks, namely.

• Steinbrinck (5–11 August 1942)
• Lohs (11 August - 1 September 1942)

Summary of raiding history

References

Bibliography

• {{Cite book

• {{cite book | last1 = Busch | first1 = Rainer | last2 = Röll | first2 = Hans-Joachim | translator-last = Brooks | translator-first = Geoffrey | title = German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary | publisher = Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press | location = London, Annapolis, Md | year = 1999 | isbn = 1-55750-186-6 | ref = harv}}
• {{cite book

• {{cite book

External links

• {{Cite web

• {{cite web

• {{cite web

• {{Cite web

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