German submarine U-426

German submarine U-426 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out two patrols. She was a member of seven wolfpacks. She sank one ship.

She was sunk by an Australian aircraft on 8 January 1944

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-426 had a displacement of 769 t when at the surface and 871 t while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m, a pressure hull length of 50.50 m, a beam of 6.20 m, a height of 9.60 m, and a draught of 4.74 m. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2800 to 3200 PS for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 PS for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 m.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 kn. When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nmi at 4 kn; when surfaced, she could travel 8500 nmi at 10 kn. U-426 was fitted with five 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and two twin 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 20 June 1942 at the Danziger Werft (yard) at Danzig (now Gdansk), as yard number 127, launched on 6 February 1943 and commissioned on 12 May under the command of Kapitänleutnant Christian Reich.

She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 12 May 1943 and the 11th flotilla from 1 October of that year.

Patrols and loss
The boat's first patrol was preceded by a trip from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway. U-426 then left Bergen on 5 October 1943 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She sank the British ship Essex Lance on 15 October 408 nmi east of Cape Farewell (Greenland). The submarine arrived in Brest in occupied France on 29 November.

Her second sortie began on 3 January 1944. On the eighth, she was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped by an Australian Sunderland flying boat of No. 10 Squadron RAAF.

Fifty-one men went down with the U-boat; there were no survivors.

Wolfpacks
U-426 took part in seven wolfpacks, namely:
 * Schlieffen (16 – 22 October 1943)
 * Siegfried (22 – 27 October 1943)
 * Siegfried 2 (27 – 30 October 1943)
 * Jahn (30 October – 2 November 1943)
 * Tirpitz 4 (2 – 8 November 1943)
 * Eisenhart 9 (9 – 10 November 1943)
 * Schill 1 (16 – 21 November 1943)