German submarine U-459

Type XIV ocean-going submarine tanker

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-45915 November 1941 — 24 July 1943616 days of the war

Type XIV ocean-going submarine tanker Particulars

Name: U-459
Builder: Deutsche Werke, Kiel
Ordered: 14 May 1940
Laid down: 22 November 1940
Launched: 13 September 1941
Commissioned: 15 November 1941
Fate: Scuttled on 24 July 1943 (1943)
Status: Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced: 1,661 long tons (1,688 t)
Displacement, submerged: 1,901 long tons (1,932 t)
Length: 67.1 m (220.1 ft) OA
Beam: 9.35 m (30.7 ft)
Draught: 6.51 m (21.4 ft)
Speed: 14.9 knots (27.6 km/h, 17.1 mph)
Range: 12,350 nmi (22,872 km)
Complement: 53
Main gun: 37 mm (1.5 in)

U-459 was a submarine of the Type XIV ocean-going submarine tanker in service with the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Deutsche Werke, Kiel on 22 November 1940. She entered service on 15 November 1941, having been launched on 13 September 1941.

Her class ran to ten ships.

The boat displaced 1,661 long tons surfaced and 1,901 long tons submerged. She measured 67.1 m (220 ft) long with a beam of 9.3 m (31 ft). Her designed speed was 14.9 knots, and she carried a complement of 53.

Her main battery was two 37 mm (1.5 in) guns.

She was in commission for 616 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 24 July 1943. 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: 2 × 3.7 cm SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns
1 × 2 cm C/30 AA gun

Sister ships

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-459 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: Royal Air Force official photographer — http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//8/media-8365/large.jpg This photograph C 3780 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons