Neger (torpedo)
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The Script error: No such module "Lang". (German for Negro) was a torpedo-carrying craft generally described as a human torpedoTemplate:Sfn which could not submerge, but was difficult to see during night operations. The vessel was used by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine between 1943 and 1945. The name comes from its constructor, Richard Mohr, whose surname in German also means "Moor" or "Negro".[1]
Design
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The Script error: No such module "Lang". was based on the G7e torpedo and sported a spartan cockpit covered by a perspex dome, where the warhead would have been. It had sufficient positive buoyancy to run awash while supporting a second G7e, with warhead, slung below. The vessel had a range of 48 nautical miles (89 km) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h) and displaced 2.7 tons. The pilot navigated via a wrist compass and air was provided through a Dräger self-contained breathing device. The pilot aimed his weapon by lining up an aiming spike on the nose with a graduated scale on the dome. Subsequently, a second aiming spike was added closer to the dome. It, however, made little difference as water washing over the dome made visibility extremely poor. A simple lever in the cockpit irreversibly started the torpedo and released it. Though not designed as a suicide weapon, the Script error: No such module "Lang". would frequently become one when the torpedo started running but failed to release, and carried the craft and its pilot toward the target.Template:Sfn
About 200 vessels of this type were manufactured in 1944. The first Script error: No such module "Lang". vessels entered service in March 1944. However, the Script error: No such module "Lang". turned out to be very hazardous for its operator and up to 80 percent were killed. In return one cruiser, one destroyer, and three Catherine Class BAMS minesweepers were sunk in 1944 with the weapon.Template:Sfn
The first mission took place on the night of 20/21 April 1944. Thirty Script error: No such module "Lang". were launched against Allied ships berthed in Anzio. Only 17 of them managed to deploy, with the other 13 capsizing upon reaching the water. Three failed to return and up until then, the Allies had no knowledge of this new unusual weapon. None had made any successful attacks.
Normandy attacks
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Two major assaults were carried out with Script error: No such module "Lang". vessels against the Allied invasion fleet off Normandy before the Allies broke out from the landing site and forced the submarines to relocate out of reach of Normandy. The Script error: No such module "Lang". flotilla consisted of some 40 vessels and operated from Favrol Woods near Honfleur on the south bank of the Seine opposite Le Havre. On 5/6 July 1944, 24 Script error: No such module "Lang". attacked the invasion fleet, sinking two British minesweepers, Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". and Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"..Template:Sfn Nine Script error: No such module "Lang". returned from the mission.Template:Sfn
The second attack was mounted on the night of July 7/8 and was carried out by 21 Script error: No such module "Lang".. These were spotted in the moonlight and attacked by aircraft and ships. The Germans sank another minesweeper, Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., and severely damaged the Polish cruiser Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., which was later scuttled. There is a detailed account of the attack on Dragon by the Script error: No such module "Lang". pilot, Midshipman Potthast, who was captured several hours later. On 20 July 1944, the Royal Navy destroyer Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". was mined while at anchor in the Seine Bay. The loss was discovered the next morning. There were 20 survivors. German human torpedoes were suspected of sinking the warship.Template:Sfn
The Hunt class destroyer Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". was an escort for convoys of personnel during Operation Neptune, the naval support of Operation Overlord, the D-Day Landings. On 3 August, she was hit and sunk during a mass attack on the British assault area by a force of E-boats, explosive motorboats, human torpedoes and low-flying aircraft. Those on HMS Quorn that survived the initial attack spent up to eight hours in the water before being rescued and many of these perished; four officers and 126 seamen were lost.Template:Sfn
Later attacks
The Isles-class trawler HMS Colsay was sunk in shallow water by a Script error: No such module "Lang". on 2 November 1944 near Ostend, Belgium.[2]
Remnants found in 2024
On 30 October 2024, the remains of a Neger torpedo were uncovered on a beach in Calvados, Normandy, France.[3]
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ "Un rarissime lanceur de torpille allemand, de 8 m de long, découvert sur une plage du Calvados", Ouest-France, 30 October 2024.
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Bibliography
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External links
- Script error: No such module "Lang". at uboat.net
- Wartime photos from NAC: [1], [2], [3]
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