German submarine U-461
German submarine U-461 was a Type XIV supply and replenishment U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Her keel was laid down on 9 December 1940, by Deutsche Werke in Kiel as yard number 292. She was launched on 8 November 1941 and commissioned on 30 January 1942 with Oberleutnant zur See Hinrich-Oscar Bernbeck in command. Bernbeck was promoted to Kapitänleutnant by 21 April 1942, when he was relieved by Korvettenkapitän Wolf-Harro Stiebler.
Design
German Type XIV submarines were shortened versions of the Type IXDs they were based on. U-461 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat 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 supercharged four-stroke, six-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/38-8 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-461 was not fitted with torpedo tubes or deck guns, but had two SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns with 2500 rounds as well as a C/30 guns with 3000 rounds. The boat had a complement of fifty-three.
Operational career
U-461 conducted six patrols. As a supply boat, she avoided combat.First and second patrols
U-461s first patrol took her from Kiel to St. Nazaire in occupied France, via the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands and out into the mid-Atlantic.Her second patrol was much like her first; the most westerly point in the Atlantic was reached on 30 September 1942.
Third and fourth patrols
U-461s third sortie commenced with her departure from St. Nazaire on 19 November 1942. Travelling south, she reached the furthest spot in the patrol which was roughly between South America and Africa. There, she spent two days, before moving a short distance west on 11 December 1942. She returned to her French base on 3 January 1943.She steamed to a point west of the Canary Islands, which she reached on 2 March 1943. Having departed St. Nazaire on 13 February, she returned there for the last time on 22 March.