German submarine U-527 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as yard number 342 on 28 October 1941, launched on 17 June 1942 and commissioned on 2 September with Kapitänleutnant Herbert Uhlig in command.
U-527 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 2 September 1942. She was reassigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 February 1943.
She carried out two patrols and sank one ship. She also sank one warship and damaged one commercial vessel. She was a member of four wolfpacks.
She was sunk by US aircraft south of the Azores on 23 July 1943.
Design
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-527 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-527 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.
Service history
First patrol
The boat departed Kiel on 9 February 1943, moved through the North Sea, negotiated the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and entered the Atlantic Ocean. There, southeast of Cape Farewell (Greenland), she sank Fort Lamy on 8 March. HMS LCT-2480 was also lost.
She damaged Mathew Luckenbach on 19 March. came across the drifting wreck and finished her off. U-527 was attacked by a Sunderland flying boat on the 20th - damage was slight. She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 12 April 1943.
Second patrol and loss
Having left Lorient on 10 May 1943, she was in the middle of "attacking a large ship under tow, when a corvette was summoned, which dropped 15 depth charges", damage sustained was minimal. Her sortie continued as far as the Gulf of Mexico.
On the return leg, on 23 July 1943, she was sunk south of the Azores by Avenger aircraft from the carrier . Pilot : Robert L Stearns from Bogue dropped four shallow-set depth charges as U-527 made for cover in a bank of sea fog. The pressure hull aft was blown open, U-527 sank instantly.
Forty men went down with the U-boat; there were 13 survivors. One survivor died in the water of internal injuries. Twelve survivors, sharing four punctured life-vests, were picked up after considerable time in the water; by and then later transferred to USS Bogue. The survivors recall having deafness and contusions which took two weeks to recover from. The survivors were taken to Casablanca and put in the prison there for full interrogation. They were later transported to the USA. The crew had a considerably high regard and respect for their captain, Captain Uhlig, aged 27 years finding him a man of great integrity and fairness. The crew recall that, quite the opposite to the film, 'Das Boot', that they only ever spoke in orderly, quiet voices during service on the seas and that they were neither allowed to shout nor would have done so. On U-527 being hit by the depth charges from the Avenger Aircraft there was only time for the twelve men on watch to escape and one other who was not on watch but around the conning tower. By an act of extreme bravery, Captain Herbert Uhlig, on finding the hatch exit from the conning tower to be damaged and unable to be opened normally, "put his shoulder to the hatch and exerted his utmost force" and the hatch came open. Family of Captain Uhlig remember his having a shoulder injury and weakness for the rest of his life to that shoulder. This act saved the lives of those few of the crew who had time and proximity to escape as U-527 sank almost immediately. Others closer to the blast and damage would have died instantly, the survivors recalled.