German submarine U-441
German submarine U-441 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II, which served for a short time as an anti-aircraft submarine under the designation U-flak 1.
The submarine was laid down on 15 October 1940 at the Schichau-Werke in Danzig as yard number 1492, launched on 13 December 1941 and commissioned on 21 February 1942, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Klaus Hartmann.
U-441 first served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla, a training unit, and then operationally with the 1st flotilla from 1 October 1942. She was lost on 30 June 1944.
Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-441 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 AEG GU 460/8–27 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-441 was fitted with five torpedo tubes, fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and an anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
First and second patrols
Her first patrol took her from Kiel, Germany to Brest in occupied France, via Trondheim in Norway and the mid-Atlantic, between 17 September and 7 November 1942, spending 38 days at sea.Her second patrol, sailing from Brest, on 7 December 1942, again took her out into the mid-Atlantic where on 27 December she sank the Dutch 7,051 GRT cargo ship Soekaboemi, part of Convoy ON 154. The ship had been wrecked and abandoned after being struck by a torpedo from hours before. The U-boat returned to Brest on 22 January 1943.
Third patrol, conversion and fourth patrol
U-441 departed on 27 February 1943 for another Atlantic patrol, but had no success. On 20 March the boat was attacked by a Sunderland aircraft west of Ireland and slightly damaged. She returned to Brest on 11 April after 44 days at sea.In April–May 1943, in recognition of the air threat, U-441 was converted into the first of four U-flak boats, which were designed to be surface escorts for attack U-boats operating from the French Atlantic bases and intended to lure unsuspecting aircraft into a deadly trap. The U-flak boats had greatly increased anti-aircraft firepower, U-441 was fitted with additional gun platforms forward and aft of the conning tower, which served as a base for two four-barrelled Flakvierling 20 mm flak guns and one Flak M42 weapon, as well as a number of MG 42 machine guns. U-441 was re-designated U-flak 1. The increased anti-aircraft capability required additional personnel, so crew numbers were increased from 44 to 48 men to 67.
As Kptlt. Klaus Hartmann was seriously ill, U-flak 1 sailed from Brest on 22 May 1943 under the command of Kptlt. Götz von Hartmann, formerly of. It was not long before the new configuration was put to the test. At 20:50 on the 24th, the flak boat was attacked by a Sunderland of 228 squadron RAF in the Bay of Biscay. Despite being hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire, the aircraft managed to drop five depth charges before it crashed into the sea; the attack wounded one crewman and extensively damaged U-Flak 1 which returned to base the next day.