German submarine U-501

Type IXC submarine

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-50130 April 1941 — 10 September 1941135 days of the war

Type IXC submarine Particulars

Name: U-501
Builder: Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
Ordered: 25 September 1939
Laid down: 12 February 1940
Launched: 25 January 1941
Commissioned: 30 April 1941
Fate: Sunk on 10 September 1941 (1941)
Status: Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced: 1,102 long tons (1,120 t)
Displacement, submerged: 1,213 long tons (1,232 t)
Length: 76.76 m (251.8 ft) OA
Beam: 6.76 m (22.2 ft)
Draught: 4.7 m (15.4 ft)
Speed: 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h, 20.9 mph)
Range: 13,450 nmi (24,909 km)
Complement: 48
Main gun: 105 mm (4.1 in)

U-501 was a Type IXC submarine in service with the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Deutsche Werft, Hamburg on 12 February 1940. Launched on 25 January 1941, she entered service on 30 April 1941.

142 ships of the class were built. The class followed the Type I and was succeeded by the Type XXI.

The boat displaced 1,102 long tons surfaced and 1,213 long tons submerged. She measured 76.8 m (252 ft) long with a beam of 6.8 m (22 ft). Her designed speed was 18.2 knots, and she carried a complement of 48.

Her main battery was one 105 mm (4.1 in) guns.

She was in commission for 135 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 10 September 1941, at 62°50′N 37°50′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: 4400 PS (diesels)
1000 PS (electric)
Armament: 6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern)
22 × 53.3 cm torpedoes
1 × 10.5 cm SK C/32 deck gun (180 rounds)
1 × 3.7 cm SK C/30 AA gun
1 × twin 2 cm FlaK 30 AA guns

Sister ships

117 more in the class

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-501 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: Jeremy Atherton — Self-photographed — CC BY-SA 2.5 — Wikimedia Commons