Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Kriegsmarine — Submarine

German submarine Wilhelm Bauer

Type XXI submarine

German submarine Wilhelm Bauer
File:German submarine Wilhelm Bauer.jpg : Sriman1971 derivative work: Georgfotoart — This file was derived from: German submarine Wilhelm Bauer.jpg : — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons Plate German submarine Wilhelm Bauer

Service

  1. Kriegsmarine as U-254024 February 1945 — 4 May 194569 days of the war
  2. Kriegsmarine as Wilhelm Bauer1 September 1960 — 28 August 1968
Type XXI submarine Particulars
Name
Wilhelm Bauer
Builder
Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Ordered
6 November 1943
Laid down
28 October 1944
Launched
13 January 1945
Commissioned
24 February 1945
Decommissioned
28 August 1968
Fate
Museum ship on 27 April 1984 (1984)
Status
Preserved

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,595 long tons (1,621 t)
Displacement, submerged
2,067 long tons (2,100 t)
Length
76.7 m (251.6 ft) OA
Beam
8 m (26.2 ft)
Draught
6.32 m (20.7 ft)
Speed
17.9 knots (33.2 km/h, 20.6 mph)
Range
15,500 nmi (28,706 km)
Complement
57
Main gun
20 mm (0.8 in)

Wilhelm Bauer was a Type XXI submarine in service with the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg on 28 October 1944. Launched on 13 January 1945, she entered service on 24 February 1945.

Her class ran to 118 ships. The class followed the Type VII and was succeeded by the Type XXVI.

The boat displaced 1,595 long tons surfaced and 2,067 long tons submerged. She measured 76.7 m (252 ft) long with a beam of 8 m (26 ft). Her designed speed was 17.9 knots, and she carried a complement of 57.

Her main battery was four 20 mm (0.8 in) guns.

She served with the Kriegsmarine as U-2540 until 4 May 1945. She then passed to the Kriegsmarine, serving as Wilhelm Bauer from 1 September 1960. She was in commission for 69 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 28 August 1968.

She has been preserved on 27 April 1984.

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

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Diesel/Electric
  • 2 × MAN M6V40/46KBB supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 4000 PS
  • 2 × SSW GU365/30 double acting electric motors, 5000 PS
  • 2 × SSW GV232/28 silent running electric motors, 226 PS
Armament
  • 6 × bow torpedo tubes
  • 23 × 53.3 cm torpedoes
  • or 17 × torpedoes and 12 × mines
  • 4 × 2 cm C/30 AA guns

Sister ships

93 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from German submarine Wilhelm Bauer on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: File:German submarine Wilhelm Bauer.jpg : Sriman1971 derivative work: Georgfotoart — This file was derived from: German submarine Wilhelm Bauer.jpg : — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons