German submarine U-758
German submarine U-758 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. Commissioned on 5 May 1942, she served with the 6th U-boat Flotilla until 1 November as a training boat, and as a front boat until 14 October 1944 mostly under the command of Kapitänleutnant Helmut Manseck before joining the 33rd U-boat Flotilla as a training boat for the remainder of her service in the war.
Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-758 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 Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c 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-758 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
U-758 was one of 12 Type VIIC submarines ordered from Kriegsmarinewerft on 9 October 1939. She was laid down on 18 May 1940 at Kriegsmarinewerft's shipyard in Wilhelmshaven as yard number 141, was launched on 1 March 1942 and was commissioned on 5 May 1942. U-758 served on seven patrols with the 6th U-boat Flotilla.
First patrol
On 14 November 1942, U-758 left Kiel on her first patrol. She joined patrol group Panzer, which by early December was operating east of Newfoundland. On 7 December 1942, the group was sent against Convoy HX 217. On 8 December, U-758 claimed to have hit a steamer with a torpedo, and early on 10 December, she claimed to have hit three more ships, but none of these claims were confirmed. She arrived at her new base of St. Nazaire in occupied France on 24 December 1942.
Second patrol
Her second patrol from 14 February until 30 March 1943 was not uneventful. Midway across the Atlantic Ocean on 17 March, U-758 joined Wolfpack Raubgraf and attacked convoy HX 229 which was eastbound, delivering goods from the United States to the United Kingdom. U-758 destroyed two ships from the 37-ship convoy: The Dutch ship Zaanland and the US Liberty Ship James Oglethorpe. Torpedoes fired at the Dutch motor tanker Magdala missed their mark.
Subsequent patrols
U-758 undertook five more combat patrols but did not sink or damage any further ships.
Wolfpacks
U-758 took part in nine wolfpacks, namely:
Fate
The veteran submarine was caught in the open during a British raid on the port of Kiel. Badly damaged on 11 March 1945, she was stricken from the navy list on 16 March 1945. At the cessation of hostilities, she was surrendered to the Allies in May 1945. Deemed too badly damaged to be sunk as part of Operation Deadlight, she was instead broken up for scrap beginning in 1946 or 1947.