German submarine U-604

History

Nazi Germany
Name	U-604
Ordered	22 May 1940
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number	580
Laid down	27 February 1941
Launched	16 November 1941
Commissioned	8 January 1942
Fate	Scuttled on 11 August 1943 at position 04°30′S 21°20′W / 4.500°S 21.333°W / -4.500; -21.333 in the South Atlantic after being depth charged by two US aircraft, a Ventura and a Liberator.
General characteristics
Class & type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) 1 x 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 AA gun
Service record
Part of:	5th U-boat Flotilla 8 January – 31 July 1942 9th U-boat Flotilla 1 August 1942 – 11 August 1943
Identification codes:	M 27 582
Commanders:	Kptlt. Horst Höltring 8 January 1942 – 11 August 1943
Operations:	6 patrols: 1st patrol: 4 August – 8 September 1942 2nd patrol: 14 October – 5 November 1942 3rd patrol: 26 November – 31 December 1942 4th patrol: 8 February – 9 March 1943 5th patrol: 22 – 26 April 1943 6th patrol: 24 June – 11 August 1943
Victories:	6 merchant ships sunk (39,891 GRT)

German submarine U-604 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 27 February 1941 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as yard number 580, launched on 16 November 1941 and commissioned on 8 January 1942 under Kapitänleutnant Horst Höltring (German Cross in Gold).