German submarine U-1229

German submarine U-1229 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Design
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-1229 had a displacement of 1144 t when at the surface and 1257 t while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of 76.76 m, a pressure hull length of 58.75 m, a beam of 6.86 m, a height of 9.60 m, and a draught of 4.67 m. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4400 PS for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1000 shp for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 m.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 kn. When submerged, the boat could operate for 63 nmi at 4 kn; when surfaced, she could travel 13850 nmi at 10 kn. U-1229 was fitted with six 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a 3.7 cm Flak M42 as well as two twin 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.

Service history
U-1229 was ordered on 14 October 1941 from Deutsche Werft AG Weser in Hamburg-Finkenwerder under the yard number 392. Her keel was laid down on 2 March 1943 and was launched on 22 October 1943. About three months later she was commissioned into service under the command of Kapitänleutnant Arnim Zinke (Crew 31) in the 31st U-boat Flotilla on 13 January 1944.

After completing training and work-up for deployment, U-1229 was transferred to the 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 August 1944. The U-boat left Kiel on 13 July 1944 for the first and only war patrol operating unsuccessfully against Allied shipping in the North Atlantic and off the coast of Canada. A special mission to infiltrate an Abwehr agent into the United States failed, when U-1229 was spotted south of Newfoundland by a Radar-equipped aircraft from USS Bogue (CVE-9) and subsequently attacked by several more aircraft over a period of two hours. Having been heavily damaged in the initial air attack, U-1229 attempted to escape under water but was forced to surface again as poisonous fumes started to develop from the damaged battery sections. While the crew was abandoning ship, the U-boat was strafed by several aircraft resulting in the death of numerous crew members, including Zinke. In total 18 crew members died while 41 survivors were picked up by a US destroyer after seven hours in the water. One of the survivors was the experienced German intelligence agent Oskar Mantel.