German submarine U-278

Type VIIC submarine

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-27816 January 1943 — 9 May 1945844 days of the war

Type VIIC submarine Particulars

Name: U-278
Builder: Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack
Ordered: 10 April 1941
Laid down: 26 March 1942
Launched: 2 December 1942
Commissioned: 16 January 1943
Fate: Surrendered on 9 May 1945
Scuttled on 31 December 1945 during Operation Deadlight (1945)
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-278 was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack on 26 March 1942. She entered service on 16 January 1943, having been launched on 2 December 1942.

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 844 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 9 May 1945, at 55°44′N 8°21′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)
2 × twin 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft guns

Sister ships

587 more in the class

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-278 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: Unknown author — Tompei — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons