German submarine U-523

Type IXC submarine

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-52325 June 1942 — 25 August 1943426 days of the war

Type IXC submarine Particulars

Name: U-523
Builder: Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
Ordered: 14 February 1940
Laid down: 4 August 1941
Launched: 15 April 1942
Commissioned: 25 June 1942
Fate: Sunk on 25 August 1943 (1943)
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: 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h, 21.1 mph)
Range: 13,450 nmi (24,909 km)
Complement: 48
Main gun: 105 mm (4.1 in)

U-523 was a Type IXC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Deutsche Werft, Hamburg laid her keel on 4 August 1941. She entered service on 25 June 1942, having been launched on 15 April 1942.

She was one of 142 ships of her class. 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 18.3 knots, and she carried a complement of 48.

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

She was in commission for 426 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 25 August 1943, at 42°03′N 18°02′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-523 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: Jeremy Atherton — Self-photographed — CC BY-SA 2.5 — Wikimedia Commons