German submarine U-450
German submarine U-450 was a Type VIIC U-boat in the service of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-450 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-450 was fitted with five torpedo tubes, fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 22 July 1941 in Danzig, Germany. She was launched on 4 July 1942 and commissioned on 12 September that year. During her career with the Kriegsmarine, U-450 never sank any ships.Patrols
On 27 May 1943, three days after she was redesignated from a training vessel to a front-line service boat, U-450 set out for her first patrol from Kiel, the home base of the 9th U-boat Flotilla under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Kurt Böhme. As the boat surfaced off the coast of Iceland on 6 June, she came under attack from a British B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, which wounded seven men. 16 days later,, she arrived at Brest in France. The patrol lasted 27 days, the longest of her career.On 17 October 1943, U-450 left Brest for Toulon. She arrived at the port city 23 days later.
On 10 February 1944, ten days after a fire in her engine room had swept one man overboard and forced her to return to base, U-450 left Toulon for the Italian coast, presumably to attack support ships coming to reinforce Allied troops which had just landed at Anzio.