German submarine U-426

German submarine U-426 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She carried out two patrols. She was a member of seven wolfpacks. She sank one ship. She was sunk by an Australian Sunderland flying boat on 8 January 1944.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-426 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-426 was fitted with five torpedo tubes, fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and two twin C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

The submarine was laid down on 20 June 1942 at the Danziger Werft at Danzig, as yard number 127, launched on 6 February 1943 and commissioned on 12 May under the command of Kapitänleutnant Christian Reich.
She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 12 May 1943 and the 11th flotilla from 1 October of that year.

The boat's first patrol was preceded by a trip from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway. U-426 then left Bergen on 5 October 1943 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She sank the British ship Essex Lance on 15 October east of Cape Farewell. The submarine arrived in Brest in occupied France on 29 November.
Her second sortie began on 3 January 1944. On the eighth, she was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped by an Australian Sunderland flying boat of No. 10 Squadron RAAF.
Fifty-one men went down with the U-boat; there were no survivors.

U-426 took part in seven wolfpacks, namely: