German submarine U-714
VII C
H. C. Stülcken son, Hamburg
February 10, 1943
February 10, 1943 - March 14, 1945 Oblt.z.S. Hans -Joachim Schwebcke (1944 Lieutenant June 1 )
6 patrols
U 714 was a German U- Boat Type VII C of the former Navy in the Second World War.
History
Construction and commissioning
It was laid on December 29, 1941 HC Stülcken son in Hamburg to Kiel. On 13 November 1942, the launch and on 10 February 1943, the putting under the command of Oberleutnant Hans -Joachim Schwebcke, one escaped to Germany crew member of the Admiral Graf Spee.
Association membership
The boat was one of its commissioning until July 31, 1943 for the purpose of training the 5th U- Flotilla in Kiel, August 1, 1943 to November 10, 1944 to the 7th U- Flotilla in Saint- Nazaire and from 11 November 1944 to to its sinking to 33 U- flotilla in Flensburg.
Inserts
On his first patrol U 714 ran on October 13, 1943 Trondheim to the North Atlantic, and returned on December 2, back to Lorient, without that there had been special occurrences. In its second began on January 20, patrol boat barg west of the Hebrides in position 58 ° 17 ' N, 13 ° 22' W58.283333333333 - 13.366666666667 the crew of the damaged by an air attack boat U 545, which was subsequently sunk. On February 25, the boat in Saint- Nazaire was one. A third, uneventful patrol began on 6 June and ended on 15 June 1944 in La Pallice. Without special events ran the fourth war patrol ( 27 August-20 October 1944), after the boat broke in in Farsund (Norway ), as well as a fifth, ending in Flensburg patrol ( 23 to 28 October 1944).
Sinking
In February 1945, U 714 was moved by Horten (Norway ) where it ended on the 3rd March for its sixth and final war patrol. On March 10, 1945, the submarine sank before Dundee ( Scotland) at the position 56 ° 0 ' N, 2 ° 0' W56 -2 to the escort of the convoy FS 1753 belonging, but individually propelled minesweeping trawlers Nordhav II (FY 1906) (425 GRT) of the Norwegian Navy in exile. 17 of the 23 crew members were rescued. On March 14, 1945 U 714 sunk off St. Abbey Head, Firth of Forth, Scotland, at the position 55 ° 52 ' N, 1 ° 59' W55.866666666667 - 1.9833333333333 to be the convoy FS 1756 belonging Swedish freighter Magne ( 1226 BRT). Of the 21 men on board 11 survived The crew of the South African frigate HMSAS Natal pinpointed the submarine with Asdic as she ran to the sinking site for assistance, and volleyed it with his Squid depth charge launchers in position 55 ° 57 'N, 1 ° 57 ' W55.95 - 1.95. Here, all 50 crew members died. The Natal could hardly be regarded as operational, as they were only a few days previously put into service and its crew was the first time ever leaked to the attack from the port. Therefore, the sinking of success attracted considerable attention and brought the ship and crew a number of awards. The British destroyer HMS wivern complaining involvement in the sinking, but this is rejected by professionals.
Whereabouts
The wreck of U 714 was discovered in the fall of 2006 by a British diver group that held the GPS coordinates secret in order to avoid looting. Originally it was thought the south lying in deeper water British boat H11. In April 2007, succeeded the wreck diving expert Innes McCartney to identify the submarine. The lying at depths greater than 60 m and therefore only accessible for technical divers wreck should be broken into three parts, but was largely intact and without damage found by McCartney ( " the wreck is very intact showing little battle damage" ). The hull is thickly covered with soft corals. In 2008, the British government introduced the U- boat under the " Protection of Military Remains Act" of 1986 as "Protected Place" under protection. Thus, it is permissible for divers though, to look at the wreck, collecting souvenirs, making any salvage or penetration into the interior, however, is prohibited. Significantly involved in the campaign to the protected status of the wreck were Roger Williams, a former crew member of the HMSAS Natal and Axel Schwebcke, a son of the U- boat commander Hans -Joachim Schwebcke.