German submarine U-507

<th colspan="2" >Service record

U-505, a typical Type IXC boat
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German submarine U-507 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service in the Second World War and the Battle of the Atlantic. She was mainly notable for two patrols she conducted during the "Second Happy Time" in mid-1942, during the first of which she caused havoc in the Gulf of Mexico amongst unprotected American shipping, and then in the second she attacked ships along the coast of Brazil, in an inexplicable and shocking attack on a neutral nation's shipping in its own waters which almost single-handedly provoked the Brazilian declaration of war on Germany.

The U-boat was built during 1941 by the Deutsche Werft shipyards in Hamburg, and commissioned on 8 October 1941, with Korvettenkapitän Harro Schacht in command. Schacht commanded the boat for its entire lifespan, receiving the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 January 1943 in recognition of his successful patrols in the preceding year. He never wore his award however, as he was killed with his entire crew when the boat was sunk four days later.

Design

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-507 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged.Template:Sfn The U-boat 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 MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 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 .Template:Sfn

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of .Template:Sfn When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-507 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.Template:Sfn

Service history

First patrol

Once U-507 had completed her working up period of six months following her commissioning, she departed German waters and entered the Atlantic Ocean for her first patrol; an uneventful and simple cruise to Lorient in occupied France, which was to be her permanent home port for the remainder of her life.

Second patrol

The second patrol was more eventful, as the boat rounded Florida at the end of April 1942, taking full advantage of the lit-up settlements on the shoreline to pick and choose her targets amongst the unescorted shipping which bottlenecked between Cuba and the Floridan peninsula. Here she sank four large cargo ships in three days before following the coastline along Western Florida and Alabama, where in three more days she sank four more large unprotected ships, making full use of the failure of the local authorities to enforce either convoy regulations or the blackout. On 6 May she sank the about 45 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. On the 12 May she sank the 10,731 GRT Virginia in the mouth of the Mississippi, killing 26 sailors in an audacious attack which shocked the American authorities. Swinging south, she sank a Honduran freighter as she cruised out of the Caribbean Sea, leaving a shaken seaboard behind her. On this cruise alone she had sunk nine ships totalling 44,782 GRT.

Third patrol

File:Baependi (1930).jpg

under way

Her third patrol was even more controversial, as a fruitless passage across the Atlantic brought her to the Brazilian coast in mid-August 1942. There she searched for Allied shipping hugging the coastline in Brazilian territorial waters heading for North America. Here she again saw unescorted ships and a lit coastline, and Schacht attacked without first ascertaining the nationalities of her targets. The first was the Brazilian on 15 August, which was sunk by torpedo, killing 270 people. A few hours later U-507 sank , killing 131 people, and early on 16 May she sank , on which 150 civilians were killed. On 17 May, U-507 sank , within sight of the city of Valença, killing 36 people; and , killing 20, as she rescued survivors from . Two days later, the tiny sailing vessel was sunk; and a Swedish ship was torpedoed three days after that. In one week, U-507 sank seven ships totalling Template:GRT, and killed over 600 people, all of them neutral citizens.

Although since February 1942 German and Italian submarines had attacked Brazilian ships, during May Brazilian aero-naval forces began to attack Axis submarines. From July popular demonstrations occurred demanding that the Brazilian government officially abandon its neutrality; the political ramifications of what Schacht and his crew had done off the Brazilian coast were enormous. The then Brazilian dictatorship went from a neutral nation somewhat favourable towards the Axis powers, to an enraged opponent in the space of few days, declaring war on Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Brazil would send an Expeditionary Force to the Mediterranean theatre of operations, besides the full involvement of its navy in the Battle of the Atlantic.

More importantly, Brazilian Air Force bases were made available to American naval air squadrons, thus denying the U-boats their previous advantage of hiding in Brazilian coastal waters, and giving the Allies air cover across most of the Southern Atlantic, making the job of the U-boats significantly harder. In addition, Germany's standing amongst neutral nations, particularly the formerly pro-German dictatorships of South America, was in tatters, never to recover.

Three-quarter front view over the bow from a submarine conning tower of another submarine with numerous people standing on both submarines, at sea.

U-156 (foreground) and U-507 (background) on 15 September 1942

The third patrol of U-507, was also highly significant, as after two months ineffective cruising between the West African and Brazilian coasts of the South Atlantic, U-507 received a radio call from Template:GS on 15 September reporting that she had sunk a ship carrying 1,500 Italian prisoners of war. This ship was , and U-507 made all haste to aid in the rescue operation, collecting a large number of survivors on board and towing several lifeboats, until attacks by American aircraft on the rescuing submarines forced her to dive and escape. She returned to Germany with her human cargo, and there received the orders which were the result of the Laconia incident, which consisted of a total ban on aiding shipwreck survivors, except ships' officers who were to be captured for information purposes.

Fourth patrol

On her fourth and final patrol she put these new orders to full use, as she sank three British ships off the northern Brazilian coast, and captured the masters of all the ships; J. Stewart, F.H. Fenn and D. MacCallum. These victories had taken her into 1943 with a reputation for success, confirmed when her captain was informed of his Knight's Cross award. On 13 January 1943 U-507 was spotted by a United States Navy PBY Catalina aircraft of VP-83 flying from a newly available Brazilian base, which dropped several depth charges on the boat. The site of the attack was 330 miles off the Brazilian coast at Cape São Roque (Cape of Saint Roch). There were no survivors from the entire crew of 56 including the three captives and the boat's new captain Heinz Radau, who was conducting an observation and familiarization patrol.

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate
30 April 1942	Federal	United States	2,881	Sunk
4 May 1942	Norlindo	United States	2,686	Sunk
5 May 1942	Munger T. Ball	United States	5,104	Sunk
5 May 1942	Joseph M. Cudahy	United States	6,950	Sunk
6 May 1942		United States	6,759	Sunk
7 May 1942	Ontario	Honduras	3,099	Sunk
8 May 1942	Torny	Norway	2,424	Sunk
12 May 1942	Virginia	United States	10,731	Sunk
13 May 1942	Gulfprince	United States	6,561	Damaged
16 May 1942	Amapala	Honduras	4,148	Sunk
15 August 1942		Brazil	4,801	Sunk
15 August 1942		Brazil	4,872	Sunk
16 August 1942		Brazil	1,905	Sunk
17 August 1942	Itagiba	Brazil	2,169	Sunk
17 August 1942	Arará	Brazil	1,075	Sunk
19 August 1942	Jacyra	Brazil	89	Sunk
22 August 1942	Hammaren	Sweden	3,220	Sunk
27 December 1942	Oakbank	United Kingdom	5,154	Sunk
3 January 1943	Baron Dechmont	United Kingdom	3,675	Sunk
8 January 1943	Yorkwood	United Kingdom	5,401	Sunk

Bibliography

• Carey, Alan C. Galloping Ghosts of the Brazilian Coast. iUniverse, Inc. 2004. Template:ISBN
• Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars Volume II: The Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900–2001. Potomac Books, 2003. Template:ISBN