German submarine U-862

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German submarine U-862 was a Type IXD2 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. After Germany's surrender in May 1945, U-862 put into Singapore and was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy under the name I-502.<ref name="uboatnet"/>

U-862 was laid down on 15 August 1942 by DeSchiMAG AG Weser of Bremen. She was commissioned on 7 October 1943 with Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Timm in command. Timm commanded U-862 for her entire career in Kriegsmarine and received a promotion to Korvettenkapitän on 1 July 1944. U-862 conducted two patrols, sinking seven ships totalling Template:GRT.<ref name="uboatnet"/>

Design

German Type IXD2 submarines were considerably larger than the original Type IXs. U-862 had a displacement of Template:Convert when at the surface and Template:Convert while submerged.Template:Sfn The U-boat had a total length of Template:Convert, a pressure hull length of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Convert, a height of Template:Convert, and a draught of Template:Convert. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines plus two MWM RS34.5S six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines for cruising, producing a total of Template:Convert for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of Template:Convert for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two Template:Convert propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to Template:Convert.Template:Sfn

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of Template:Convert and a maximum submerged speed of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn When submerged, the boat could operate for Template:Convert at Template:Convert; when surfaced, she could travel Template:Convert at Template:Convert. U-862 was fitted with six Template:Convert torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 24 torpedoes, one [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun|Template:Convert SK C/32 naval gun]], 150 rounds, and a [[3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43|Template:Convert Flak M42]] with 2575 rounds as well as two [[2 cm FlaK 30|Template:Convert C/30]] anti-aircraft guns with 8100 rounds. The boat had a complement of fifty-five.Template:Sfn

Service history

First patrol

U-862 was one of the most travelled of all U-boats. She sailed from Germany in May 1944 and eventually reached Penang, in Japanese-controlled Malaya, in September 1944. Penang was the base for the 33rd U-boat Flotilla, code-named Monsun Gruppe ("Monsoon Group").

On the way there, she launched a T5/G7es Zaunkönig I acoustic homing torpedo at a tanker. The Zaunkönig came around full circle to home in on U-862. Only an emergency crash dive and staying silent saved the U-boat from her own torpedo. She also shot down an Allied Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft H of No. 265 Squadron RAF on 20 August 1944 and then escaped an intense search for her. She sank several merchant ships in the Mozambique Channel between Africa and Madagascar.

Second patrol

Template:See also U-862 departed for her second war patrol from Batavia in the Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies in December 1944. She sailed down the west coast of Australia, across the Great Australian Bight, around the southern coast of Tasmania and then north towards Sydney where she sank the U.S.-registered Liberty ship Template:SS on 25 December 1944. She then travelled around New Zealand and entered the port of Napier at night undetected.<ref>According to U-Boat Far from Home, U-862 entered Gisborne Port – not Napier</ref> This has given birth to an urban legend in New Zealand, where it is said that the captain of U-862 sent sailors ashore at night to steal fresh milk from a farm. This may arise from a joke made by Captain Timm to Air Vice Marshal Sir Rochford Hughes in the late 1950s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> U-862's voyage to New Zealand was portrayed in a stage comedy U Boat Down Under which was written and directed by Peter Tait and performed at Downstage Theatre, Wellington from 27 July to 5 August 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

U-862 then returned to the Indian Ocean. On 6 February 1945, about 1,520 km (820 nm) south-west of Fremantle, U-862 sank the U.S.-registered Liberty ship, Template:SS, which was loaded with mules bound for Burma.

U-862 was also a trial boat for the FuMo 65 Hohentwiel radar system. This was cranked out of a casing on the port side of the conning tower and rose on a mast. The aerial was hand trained onto targets whilst the U-boat was on the surface. The radar had a range up to Template:Convert and was very effective where there was little risk from air attack on the U-boat.

Transfer to Japan

When Germany surrendered in May 1945, she put into Singapore and was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy.<ref name=Giese>Giese, O., 1994, Shooting the War, Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, Template:ISBN</ref>Template:Rp On 15 July 1945 she became the IJN submarine I-502. The I-502 surrendered at Singapore in August 1945 and was scuttled in the Strait of Malacca at Template:Coord on 15 February 1946.<ref name="uboatnet"/>

The German crew of U-862 suffered no casualties, and some returned to Germany several years after the war. Others who were interned at Kinmel Camp, Bodelwyddan, North Wales, remained in Wales and settled in the neighbouring communities of Rhyl, Rhuddlan and Prestatyn, due to the risks of returning to the Soviet occupied areas of Germany after the war. Two of the crew are buried at the new cemetery at Rhuddlan, North Wales, on nearby plots.

Summary of raiding history

File:Myoko after surrender (3).jpg

U-boat (either U-181 or U-862) moored next to the Japanese cruiser Myōkō

Date	Ship name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
25 July 1944	Robin Goodfellow	Template:Flagcountry	6,885	Sunk
13 August 1944	Radbury	Template:Flagcountry	3,614	Sunk
16 August 1944	Empire Lancer	Template:Flagcountry	7,037	Sunk
18 August 1944	Nairung	Template:Flagcountry	5,414	Sunk
19 August 1944	Wayfarer	Template:Flagcountry	5,068	Sunk
24 December 1944	Robert J. Walker	Template:Flagcountry	7,180	Sunk
6 February 1945	Peter Silvester	Template:Flagcountry	7,176	Sunk