Немецкая подводная лодка U-559 времён Второй мировой войны

German World War II submarine

German submarine U 559 was a Type VIIC U boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. Laid down on 1 February 1940 at the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg as "Baunummer 535" ("Yard number 535"), she was launched on 8 January 1941 and commissioned on 27 February under Kapitänleutnant Hans Heidtmann. She began her service career with the 1st U boat Flotilla, undergoing training before being declared operational on 1 June 1941. She moved to the 29th U boat Flotilla on 15 April 1942. She sank five ships but is perhaps best remembered for an incident during her sinking in the Mediterranean Sea in 1942, in which British sailors seized cryptographic material from her. This material was extremely valuable in breaking the U boat Enigma machine cipher.

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U 559 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 Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 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 559 was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), 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.

U 559 was originally intended to serve as an Atlantic U boat during the Battle of the Atlantic against Allied convoys in the Western Approaches.

Her first patrol took her from Kiel on 4 June 1941, across the North Sea and through the gap between Greenland and Iceland. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France on 5 July. Her second sortie met with success when she torpedoed and sank the Alva about west of Ushant. She returned to her French base on 22 August 1941.

For her third patrol, beginning on 20 September, she was assigned to the 'Goeben' group, which were the first U boats to enter the Mediterranean in World War II through the heavily defended Strait of Gibraltar. She reached Salamis in Greece, after having first investigated the Libyan/Egyptian border.

On her fourth patrol, she torpedoed and sank the Australian sloop off the Libyan coast; although most survivors were picked up by other ships, three men managed to reach dry land where they were rescued by advancing British troops.

On her fifth patrol, which began on 8 December 1941, the boat sank on the 23rd. Shuntien carried 850 – 1,100 German and Italian prisoners of war. Between 800 and 1,000 people were killed, including at least 700 PoWs. Her sixth and seventh patrols were both from Salamis to the area of the Libyan coast. They were without success.

Having moved to Pula in Croatia in March 1942, she then sortied on 18 May, and sank the tanker Athene and damaged the oiler Brambleleaf in a convoy attack on 10 June. Her ninth patrol, however, was without success.