German submarine U-617

Type VIIC submarine

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-6179 April 1942 — 12 September 1943521 days of the war

Type VIIC submarine Particulars

Name: U-617
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Ordered: 15 August 1940
Laid down: 31 May 1941
Launched: 14 February 1942
Commissioned: 9 April 1942
Fate: Ran aground and destroyed on 12 September 1943 (1943)
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-617 was a Type VIIC submarine built for the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg on 31 May 1941. Launched on 14 February 1942, she entered service on 9 April 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 521 days of the Second World War.

She was wrecked on 12 September 1943, at 35°38′N 3°27′W.

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)
1 x 2 cm C/30 AA gun

Sister ships

587 more in the class

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-617 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: UK Marine — https://archive.org/index.php — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons