German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-406 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.^[2] She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).^[2]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).^[2] When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-406 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.^[2]

The boat's career began with training at 8th U-boat Flotilla on 22 October 1941, followed by active service on 1 May 1942 as part of the 7th Flotilla for the remainder of her service.

During the attack of Convoy ON 92 on May 11 and May 12, 1942, U-406 would suffer from torpedo launch failures on two separate occasions thus failing to hit any ship.

In eight patrols she sank one merchant ship, for a total of 7,452 gross register tons (GRT), and damaged three merchant ships for a total of 13,285 GRT.

Wolfpacks edit

U-406 took part in eleven wolfpacks, namely:

• Hecht (8 May – 18 June 1942)
• Blücher (14 – 28 August 1942)
• Iltis (6 – 23 September 1942)
• Spitz (22 – 31 December 1942)
• Neuland (4 – 13 March 1943)
• Dränger (14 – 20 March 1943)
• Drossel (29 April – 5 May 1943)
• Rügen (14 – 26 January 1944)
• Stürmer (26 January – 3 February 1944)
• Igel 1 (3 – 17 February 1944)
• Hai 1 (17 – 18 February 1944)

Fate edit

U-406 was sunk on 18 February 1944 in the North Atlantic in position 48°32′N 23°36′W / 48.533°N 23.600°W / 48.533; -23.600, by depth charges from Royal Navy frigate HMS Spey. Twelve of the crew were killed.

U-406 is mentioned in Wolfpack, a song released by the Power metal band Sabaton in their 2005 debut studio album Primo Victoria.

• Convoy ON 154

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-406". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
• Hofmann, Markus. "U 406". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.