U-52
Country | Germany |
Ship Class | Type VII-class Submarine |
Builder | Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft |
Yard Number | 584 |
Slip/Drydock Number | II |
Ordered | 15 May 1937 |
Laid Down | 9 Mar 1937 |
Launched | 21 Dec 1938 |
Commissioned | 4 Feb 1939 |
Decommissioned | 1 Oct 1943 |
Displacement | 753 tons standard; 857 tons submerged |
Machinery | Two 1400PS diesel engines and two 375PS electric motors |
Speed | 18 knots |
Range | 8,700nm at 10 knots |
Crew | 44 |
Armament | 4x bow torpedo tubes, 1x stern torpedo tube, 14 torpedoes, 1x88mm gun, |
Submerged Speed | 8 knots |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseSubmarine U-52 was commissioned to Lieutenant Captain Wolfgang Barten in Feb 1939. She made a total of 13 war patrols during the war; one of them was under the command of Barten, while the latter 12 were under the command of Lieutenant Captain Otto Salman. On 4 Aug 1940, she was attacked by British warships; the depth charges caused heavy damage, which kept her in shipyards for repairs for four months. During her combat career, she sank 13 Allied transports totaling 56,000 tons. Between Jun 1941 and Oct 1943, she served as a training submarine. She was decommissioned at Danzig, Germany in Oct 1943. She was transferred to Kiel, Germany some time between late 1943 and early 1945. On 3 May 1945, she was scuttled at Kiel. She was broken up for scrap starting in 1946.
ww2dbaseSource: Uboat.net.
Last Major Revision: May 2008
Submarine U-52 Interactive Map
Photographs
U-52 Operational Timeline
4 Feb 1939 | U-52 was commissioned into service. |
21 Jun 1940 | At 0411 hours the 1,144-ton unescorted Finnish freighter Hilda was hit by one torpedo from German submarine U-52 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Salman and sank in a few minutes in the Bay of Biscay, killing 5. The master and ten crew members survived aboard a lifeboat. |
4 Aug 1940 | German submarine U-52 sank three transports in convoy HX-60 in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles northwest of Ireland, Geraldine Mary (3 killed, 48 survived), Gogovale (all 37 survived), and King Alfred (7 killed, 34 survived); U-52 was depth charged by Royal Navy escort vessels, causing significant damage, but she was able to escape and sail to Kiel, Germany for repairs; she would be out of action until 17 Nov 1940. |
1 Oct 1943 | U-52 was decommissioned from service. |
Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
- » Wreck of USS Stewart/DD-224 Found (2 Oct 2024)
- » WW2DB's 19th Anniversary (29 Dec 2023)
- » Looted Painting "Madonna with Child" Returned to Poland (2 Jun 2023)
- » See all news
- » 1,150 biographies
- » 337 events
- » 43,889 timeline entries
- » 1,241 ships
- » 349 aircraft models
- » 207 vehicle models
- » 372 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 259 facilities
- » 470 book reviews
- » 28,512 photos
- » 432 maps
Chiang Kaishek, 31 Jul 1937
Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!
Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!