German submarine U-516

German submarine U-516 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 312 on 12 May 1941, launched on 16 December 1941 and commissioned on 21 February 1942 with Korvettenkapitän Gerhard Wiebe in command.

U-516 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 10 March 1942. She was reassigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 September 1942, then the 33rd flotilla on 1 October 1944.

She carried out six patrols, sank 16 ships and damaged one more. She surrendered on 14 May 1945 at Loch Eriboll in Scotland and was transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk on 2 January 1946.

Design
German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-516 had a displacement of 1120 t when at the surface and 1232 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 6.76 m, a height of 9.60 m, and a draught of 4.70 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 13450 nmi at 10 kn. U-516 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 SK C/30 as well as a 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.

First patrol
U-516'es first patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel in Germany to Kristiansand in Norway. The patrol itself began with the boat's departure from Kristiansand on 15 August 1942. She passed through the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean.

She damaged the Port Jackson with 14 rounds from her deck gun 480 nmi west of Cape Clear, (at the southern tip of Ireland), on the 27th, after a spread of four torpedoes had missed. A small fire was started on the ship, but her accurate return fire discouraged the U-boat which broke off the attack. Port Jackson escaped at top speed into haze.

The boat moved to the waters off northern South America where her success rate shot-up, although one target required seven torpedoes to sink her.

She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 14 November.

Second and third patrols
For her second foray, U-516 headed toward South Africa. She sank three ships in the vicinity of East London and a fourth off the coast of southern Namibia.

Her third sortie was also in a southerly direction; its furthest point was reached between South America and the Cape Verde Islands.

Fourth patrol
Patrol number four took the boat to the Caribbean Sea. One of her victims was the Colombian sailing ship Ruby, which was sunk with the deck gun on 18 November 1943.

Another was the Elizabeth Kellog. This ship, which had been torpedoed and abandoned on the 23rd, ran around the survivors (she was still underway because the engines could not be secured). Her after magazine exploded and she burned for 12 hours before sinking.

The U-boat was damaged by an unidentified aircraft on 19 December 1943.

Fifth patrol
The boat's fifth patrol saw her sink the Esso Harrisburg 200 nmi northwest of Aruba in the Caribbean. She then made her way to Flensburg via the Denmark Strait that separates Greenland and Iceland. She docked at the German harbour on 4 October 1944.

Sixth patrol and fate
Having moved from Kiel to Horten Naval Base, (south of Oslo) and then Kristiansand, she left the Norwegian port on 5 April 1945. She surrendered at Loch Eriboll on 14 May and was then transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk on 2 January 1946 at 56.1°N, -9°W.