German U-210 submarine during its attack by Canadian Assiniboine destroyer
U-210 submarine, Assiniboine destroyer

 

The German U-210 submarine (type VIIC) set out on its first battle trip from Kiel on July 18, 1942 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Lemcke to the North Atlantic.
On August 6, 1942, the submarine entered the allied marine SC 94 convoy. Despite the heavy fog, the U-210 was detected on the surface by the Canadian Assiniboine destroyer (HMCS Assiniboine) radar (the destroyer commander, lieutenant commander John H. Stubbs).
U-210 tried to escape in the fog, but the destroyer suddenly appeared just 50 meters away. Both ships opened fire. Because of the short distance, the destroyer could not use the main guns, and fired machine gun fire on the deck and wheelhouse of the boat, preventing the use of 88-mm deck guns. Since the U-210 opened fire from a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun, damaging the destroyer and causing a fire on the tank, which spread almost to the bridge. Both ships maneuvered in the vicinity of about half an hour. Subsequently, the destroyer passed behind the U-210 astern, and from the 120-mm feed implement, a direct hit was made into the deckhouse of the submarine, which made it possible to disable the anti-aircraft gun and its calculation. Died and the commander of the boat. A senior officer of the U-210 gave the command to dive, and the boat began to go under water, but the destroyer managed to make a maneuver and ram the boat behind the conning tower. This led to the failure of the electric motor of the submarine, damage to the propellers and ballast tanks. The destroyer made a repeated ram and dropped depth charges. Then the U-210 surfaced. Of the crew of the submarine 37 people were rescued and 6 were killed during the battle. The destroyer killed 1 and injured 13 people.

U-210 sank on August 6, 1942, in the North Atlantic to the south of Farwell Point, Greenland.

Due to serious damage to the underwater part of the hull, flooding of compartments, failure of the radar and sonar (ASDIC), the Assiniboine destroyer was unable to escort the maritime convoy and went for repairs.


Sources of information about the U-210 submarine photo:

  1. www.warmuseum.ca
  2. en.wikipedia.org




Location: North Atlantic
Photo date: August 6, 1942
Photo author: G. Salter

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