The boat commenced her career with the 3rd U-boat Flotilla on 21 May 1941 carrying-out training before moving on to operations on 1 October 1941. U-402 carried out eight combat patrols, sinking 14 merchantmen and one auxiliary warship for a total of 71,036 gross register tons (GRT) during the Second World War. She also damaged three other ships. The submarine was a member of twelve wolfpacks.
For his numerous successes, von Forstner received the Knight's Cross.
Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-402 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.[3] She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder superchargeddiesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).[3]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).[3] When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-402 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.[3]
Service history
First and second patrols
No ships were sunk during the first patrol which lasted from 26 October to 9 December 1941. U-402 followed the Norwegian coast from Kiel before heading west towards the Atlantic. The submarine sailed into St. Nazaire in France, after 45 uneventful days.[4]
On her second patrol, U-402 damaged the 11,951 GRT troopship Llangibby Castle off the Bay of Biscay on 16 January 1942, but the troopship was able to make repairs in the Azores.[5]U-402 returned to St. Nazaire on 11 February 1942.
Third and fourth patrols
For her third sortie, U-402 headed for the US east coast, sinking a total of three ships, two of which were the 5,284 GRT Soviet freighter Ashkhabad and her escort, the 602 GRT converted yacht USS Cythera off Cape Hatteras on 2 May 1942.[6] The U-boat had been unsuccessfully attacked by a US Navy PBY Catalina in mid-Atlantic on 29 April 1942.[4]
The boat returned to the US eastern seaboard for her fourth patrol, but success eluded her. She returned to France, having been depth charged by patrol bombers off Cape Hatteras in mid-July and suffering a battery explosion.[7]U-402 limped back to France, but this time to La Pallice, on 5 August 1942.
Fifth and sixth patrols
It was a different story on her fifth patrol; the boat attacked over 20,000 GRT of shipping, including the torpedoing of five ships from convoy SC 107 which involved the sinking of the British 4,945 GRT Empire Antelope on 2 November 1942[8] and a sister, Empire Sunrise, a few hours earlier.
Her seventh outing saw her sinking two ships from convoy SC 129. Retribution was swift; one of the escorts, HMS Gentian depth charged the boat causing severe damage, which included a tear 3 metres long in a ballast tank, which forced it to return to La Pallice on 26 May.[10][11]
Her eighth and final patrol was marked with a paucity of targets and an ever-increasing frequency of air attacks; one of which involved a Wellington of 612 Squadron, RAF on 8 September. U-402 was not hit. The aircraft was damaged and reached RAF Portreath on one engine.[12]
Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War – The Hunted 1942–1945. New York: Random House. ISBN0-394-58839-8.
Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-Boat War – The Hunted 1942–1945. New York: Random House. ISBN0-679-45742-9.
Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II: a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, MD: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-186-6.
Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945]. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN3-8132-0514-2.
Edwards, Bernard (1996). Dönitz and the Wolf Packs – The U-boats at War. Cassell Military Classics. pp. 144, 147, 149, 206, 211. ISBN0-304-35203-9.
Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-593-4.
Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-019-3.
Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed – German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN1-85409-515-3.
Lenton, HT (1976). German Warships of the Second World War. Arco Publishing Company. ISBN0-668-04037-8.
Waters, John M Jr (December 1966). "Stay Tough". Proceedings. United States Naval Institute.
External links
Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-402". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
