German submarine U-558

Type VIIC submarine

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-55820 February 1941 — 20 July 1943880 days of the war

Type VIIC submarine Particulars

Name: U-558
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Ordered: 25 September 1939
Laid down: 6 January 1940
Launched: 23 December 1940
Commissioned: 20 February 1941
Fate: Sunk on 20 July 1943 (1943)
Status: Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced: 757 long tons (769 t)
Displacement, submerged: 857 long tons (871 t)
Length: 67.1 m (220.1 ft) OA
Beam: 6.2 m (20.3 ft)
Draught: 4.74 m (15.6 ft)
Speed: 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h, 20.4 mph)
Range: 8,500 nmi (15,742 km)
Main gun: 88 mm (3.5 in)

U-558 was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg on 6 January 1940. She entered service on 20 February 1941, having been launched on 23 December 1940.

Her class ran to 612 ships. The class followed the Type UB III, Vetehinen class and was succeeded by the Type XXI (Late-war replacement).

The boat displaced 757 long tons surfaced and 857 long tons submerged. She measured 67.1 m (220 ft) long with a beam of 6.2 m (20 ft). Her designed speed was 17.7 knots.

Her main battery was one 88 mm (3.5 in) guns.

She was in commission for 880 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 20 July 1943, at 45°10′N 9°42′W. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Propulsion: 2 shafts
2 × diesel engines
2 × electric motors
Power: 2800 - 3200 PS (diesels)
750 PS (electric)
Armament: 5 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern)
14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines
1 × 8.8 cm deck gun (220 rounds)
1 x 2 cm C/30 AA gun

Sister ships

587 more in the class

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-558 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: Samisch — https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/2677/ — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons