![]() ![]() All of the crew took to the lifeboats except the Radio Officer who remained transmitting " SOS". U-48 attacked the merchant ship with her deck gun on 5 September 1939. It was here that she spotted her first target, the 4,853 GRT SS Royal Sceptre. She then proceeded to cruise to the west of the Western Approaches, two days after Britain and France declared war on Germany. The submarine travelled north of the British Isles, into the North Atlantic and eventually into the Bay of Biscay. U-48 left her home port of Kiel on 19 August 1939, before World War II began, for a period of 30 days. U-48 survived most of the war and was scuttled by her own crew on off Neustadt in order to keep the submarine out of the hands of the advancing allies.įirst patrol (19 August – 17 September 1939) Seven former members of the boat's crew earned the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during their military career: these were the commanders Herbert Schultze, Hans-Rudolf Rösing and Heinrich Bleichrodt, the first watch officer Reinhard Suhren, the second watch Otto Ites, the chief engineer Erich Zürn and the coxswain Horst Hofmann. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty. U-48 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. When submerged, the boat could operate for 90 nautical miles (170 km 100 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h 4.6 mph) when surfaced, she could travel 8,700 nautical miles (16,100 km 10,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h 12 mph). The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.9 knots (33.2 km/h 20.6 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots (15 km/h 9.2 mph). The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft). She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8-276 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW 740 shp) for use while submerged. U-48 had a displacement of 753 tonnes (741 long tons) when at the surface and 857 tonnes (843 long tons) while submerged. German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. ![]() When war was declared, she was already in position in the North Atlantic, and received the news via radio, allowing her to operate immediately against Allied shipping. U-48 was built at the Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 583 during 19, being completed a few months before the outbreak of war in September 1939 and given to Kapitänleutnant (Kptlt.) Herbert Schultze. During her two years of active service, U-48 sank 51 ships for a total of 299,477 GRT and 1,060 tons she also damaged four more for a total of 27,877 GRT over twelve war patrols conducted during the opening stages of the Battle of the Atlantic. ![]() German submarine U-48 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II, and the most successful that was commissioned. 1 × 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds.5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern). ![]()
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