Unterseeboot 553
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| U-553 | |
|---|---|
| Country | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Kriegsmarine |
| Type | VIIC |
| Fieldpost number | M 23 789 |
| Shipyard | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Yard number | 529 |
| Ordered | 25 September 1939 |
| Laid down | 21 November 1939 |
| Launched | 7 November 1940 |
| Commissioned | 23 December 1940 |
| Career | |
| Patrols | 10 |
| Flotillas | 7. Unterseebootsflottille (Training) 1940-12-23 7. Unterseebootsflottille (Front Boat) |
| Commanders | Kptlt. Karl Thurmann 1940-12-23 — 1943-01-20 |
| Successes | |
| 13 ships sunk for a total of 64.612 GRT 2 ships damaged for a total of 15.273 GRT |
|
| Fate | |
| Missing, presumed sunk, in the mid North Atlantic on 20 January 1943. All hands lost. | |
Unterseeboot 553 (U-553) was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down 21 November 1939, by Blohm + Voss of Hamburg. She was commissioned 23 December 1940, with Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann in command. Thurmann commanded her for her entire career.
U-553 conducted ten patrols, sinking 13 ships totalling 64,612 tons and damaging two others totalling 15,273 tons.
On 25 April 1941 major engine trouble forced U-553 to return to base.
On 20 January 1943, U-553 sent a radio message: "sehrohr unklar" (periscope not clear), and was never heard from again. She had suffered no casualties to her crew until lost with all hands.
Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon includes a fictitious U-553 which runs aground in a fictional location near the northern British Isles.
