U-504

U-504. It was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Commissioned in the summer of 1941, the submarine conducted seven war patrols, operating primarily in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Commanded for most of its career by Korvettenkapitän Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske, it was responsible for sinking over 100,000 gross register tons of Allied shipping before being destroyed by Royal Navy forces in the summer of 1943.

Service history

Following its commissioning at the Deutsche Werft shipyard in Hamburg, U-504 was assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla for training. Upon completing its work-up exercises in the Baltic Sea, it transferred to the 2nd U-boat Flotilla based in Lorient in occupied France for front-line operations. The boat's service spanned a critical period of the Battle of the Atlantic, participating in attacks on Convoy SC 48 and later operating in distant waters as part of the U-boat offensive against American shipping. Its operational history ended in the mid-Atlantic after a confrontation with a powerful Royal Navy hunter-killer group.

Construction and specifications

U-504 was constructed as part of Kriegsmarine's building program at the Deutsche Werft facility in Hamburg. Its keel was laid in April 1940, and it was launched exactly one year later. As a Type IXC boat, it was larger and had a greater range than the more common Type VII U-boats. It displaced over 1,100 tons when submerged and was powered by MAN diesel engines and Siemens electric motors. Its armament included six torpedo tubes and a 10.5 cm deck gun, and it carried a complement of 48 officers and men.

Patrols and engagements

U-504 embarked on seven combat patrols, beginning in December 1941. Its first patrol, departing from Kiel and arriving in Lorient, yielded no successes. Its second patrol in early 1942 was highly successful, with the boat sinking five ships from Convoy SC 48 southwest of Iceland. Subsequent patrols took it to the lucrative hunting grounds off the East Coast of the United States and into the Caribbean Sea, attacking shipping near Trinidad and Curaçao. Notable victims included the British tanker British Consul and the American freighter Alcoa Partner. On its final patrol, it was deployed to the Bay of Biscay before heading into the central Atlantic Ocean.

Fate

On 30 July 1943, U-504 was located and attacked in the North Atlantic west of Porto by the Royal Navy's 2nd Support Group. This group, led by the sloop HMS ''Woodpecker'', also included the sloops HMS ''Kite'', HMS ''Wren'', and HMS ''Wild Goose''. After a sustained depth charge attack, the U-boat was destroyed with all 53 hands lost. The wreck site lies at a depth of approximately 2,300 meters. The action was part of a broader Allied counter-offensive that turned the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Commanding officers

* 30 July 1941 – 31 December 1942: Korvettenkapitän Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske * 1 January 1943 – 30 July 1943: Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Luis

Category:Type IXC submarines Category:U-boats commissioned in 1941 Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean