German submarine U-74 (1940)
German submarine U-74 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Her keel was laid down on 5 November 1939, by Bremer Vulkan of Bremen-Vegesack, Germany as yard number 2. She was launched on 31 August 1940 and commissioned on 31 October, with Kapitänleutnant Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat in command until March 1942, when he was succeeded by Oberleutnant zur See Karl Friederich, who remained in charge until the U-boat's loss.
Design
were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. U-74 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 MAN M 6 V 40/46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two BBC 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-74 was fitted with five torpedo tubes, fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one 2 cm Flak 30| anti-aircraft gun The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
U-74 conducted eight patrols, sinking four ships totalling 25,619 tons and damaging two others, totalling 11,525 tons. She was a member of three wolfpacks.1st patrol
Having first moved from Kiel to the German controlled island of Helgoland and Bergen in Norway, U-74 departed for her first patrol on 5 March 1941. Her route took her through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean, although one source - Uboat.net - gives her position as off the Belgian coast on 21 March. She sank Leonidas Z. Canbamis on 3 April southwest of Iceland, followed by damage to the armed merchant cruiser close by on the same day. The auxiliary warship was fortunate because Kentrat, in U-74, had run out of torpedoes.U-74 docked in St. Nazaire in occupied France on 11 April.
2nd patrol
The boat's second foray was in a northwesterly direction, toward Greenland. She was attacked by two British warships on 21 May 1941; the vessels were the corvette and the destroyer. A mix of gunfire and depth charges, were used. The damage inflicted was such that U-74 was obliged to return to France, but to Lorient, on the 30th.''U-74''s involvement with the ''Bismarck''
On 24 May 1941, the German battleship and the heavy cruiser sank the British battlecruiser and damaged the accompanying battleship, beginning a three-day hunt that would involve nearly a hundred ships.That concentration of ships was a very attractive set of targets; Kentrat was ordered to attack the British forces in this area. In the evening U-74 dived in order to listen for contact and detected another U-boat. She surfaced; a hundred meters away, another U-boat appeared -, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Wohlfarth.
Earlier, Flottenchef Admiral Lütjens requested that Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote provide a U-boat to recover Bismarcks war diary. BdU had given the order to Wohlfarth, but U-556 was both out of torpedoes and very low on fuel. Using a megaphone, Wohlfarth now passed the order on to Kentrat. He accepted and proceeded toward Bismarcks last known position.
By dawn on 27 May, Bismarck was crippled and under fire from the battleships and and the cruisers and. It was clear to her crew that she would not survive.
At 10:36 U-74 heard sinking sounds but Kentrat could not determine whether it was Bismarck or a British ship. He came to periscope depth and saw battleships and cruisers directly in front of him. He tried to maneuver into an attack position, but the weather was too bad and the seas too high to remain at periscope depth or to fire a torpedo. Wreckage and yellow life-jackets were visible.
After the British ships left, Kentrat surfaced amid debris and dead bodies. The sounds they had heard that morning was Bismarcks destruction. They searched but they could find no one alive until that evening when they came across a raft carrying three sailors, Georg Herzog, Otto Höntzsch, and Herbert Manthey. U-74 searched for another day but found no one else alive and was ordered to return to Lorient. On the return trip, the three survivors recovered from their shock and gave the first statements of Bismarcks loss.
3rd patrol
For her third sortie, U-74 sank Kumasian on 5 August 1941 west of Ireland. She returned to St. Nazaire on the 12th.4th patrol
Departing St. Nazaire on 8 September 1941, the boat about east of Cape Farewell on 19 September 1941. This success was followed the next day when she sank the Catapult Armed Merchantman.5th patrol
On 7 November 1941 U-74 sank southeast of Cape Farewell. This ship was on her maiden voyage, which was from Glasgow to New York. There were no survivors. The U-boat returned to St. Nazaire for the last time on 12 November 1941.6th patrol
U-74s next patrol was into the Mediterranean. Leaving St. Nazaire on 9 December 1941, she had slipped past the heavily defended Straits of Gibraltar by the 16th. She entered La Spezia in Italy on 24 December.7th patrol
The German submarine's first patrol in new surroundings was between Sicily and the Italian mainland and toward the British controlled port of Alexandria, which was reached on 3 January 1942. She returned to La Spezia on the 8th.8th patrol and loss
Having been ordered to operate against Allied aircraft carriers at the western end of the Mediterranean, U-74 was diverted to search for , when she was bombed by a Lockheed Hudson of No. 233 Squadron RAF on 1 May 1942. That evening, she also had torpedoes fired at her by the British submarine off the southeastern Spanish coast. Both attacks were unsuccessful.U-74 was detected and sunk by depth charges and 'Hedgehog' from the British destroyers and east southeast of Cartagena in Spain on 2 May 1942.
47 men died; there were no survivors.
Wolfpacks
U-74 took part in three wolfpacks, namely.- West
- Brandenburg
- Raubritter
Previously recorded fate