Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Kriegsmarine — Submarine

German submarine U-537

Type IXC/40 submarine

German submarine U-537
Bundesarchiv — https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=23781 — CC0 — Wikimedia Commons Plate Type IXC/40 submarine U-537 at anchor in Martin Bay, Labrador, Dominion of Newfoundland on 22 October 1943. Crewmen are visible on deck offloading components of Weather Station Kurt into rubber rafts.

Service

  1. Kriegsmarine as U-53727 January 1943 — 10 November 1944653 days of the war
Type IXC/40 submarine Particulars
Name
U-537
Builder
Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg-Finkenwerder
Ordered
10 April 1941
Laid down
10 April 1942
Launched
7 November 1942
Commissioned
27 January 1943
Fate
Sunk in the Java Sea on 10 November 1944 (1944)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,126 long tons (1,144 t)
Displacement, submerged
1,237 long tons (1,257 t)
Length
76.76 m (251.8 ft) OA
Beam
6.86 m (22.5 ft)
Draught
4.67 m (15.3 ft)
Speed
18.3 knots (33.9 km/h, 21.1 mph)
Range
13,850 nmi (25,650 km)
Complement
48
Main gun
105 mm (4.1 in)

U-537 was a Type IXC/40 submarine, operated by the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg-Finkenwerder on 10 April 1942. Launched on 7 November 1942, she entered service on 27 January 1943.

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

The boat displaced 1,126 long tons surfaced and 1,237 long tons submerged. She measured 76.8 m (252 ft) long with a beam of 6.9 m (23 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 653 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 10 November 1944, at 7°13′S 115°17′E. The wreck survives.

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

Armament and machinery

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-537 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Bundesarchiv — https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=23781 — CC0 — Wikimedia Commons