Class: VIIC

To give an idea of her appearance, one of her sister-ships, the U-9, was the star of the German TV Mini-series/Film Das Boot

Displacement:

• 769 tons (surfaced)
• 871 tons (submerged)

• 44-52 men

• 14 torpedoes
• 4 bow tubes
• 1 stern tube

History

Laid down: February 7, 1940, Hamburg

Commissioned: March 20, 1941.

Between March and June 1941 she would have been part of the 1st U-boat flotilla based in Kiel, doing general work-ups and training.

In June 1941 the 1st flotilla moved to Brest in France, where the U-562 became a front-line boat.

On September 22, 1941, whilst on patrol on the North Atlantic (South of Greenland) she attacked and sank the 1,600-ton British Merchantman Erna III, a straggler from a convoy sailing from Milford-Haven in Wales to Montreal, Canada

10 days later, in the same area, on October 2, 1941, she sunk the 7,500 ton, British CAM (Catapult Armed Merchant) Vessel Empire Wave, which was en-route for Halifax, Nova Scotia as part of another convoy.

Later that year (December 2, 1941), whilst on patrol in the Eastern Atlantic, she sank the 4,200-ton British merchantment the Grelhead.

In January 1942 she was transferred to the 29th Flotilla working out of LaSpezia in Italy.

Some time in April 1942 she carried out a Minelaying patrol to the southeast of Cyprus. The mine field she laid claimed two ships on April 29, 1942... The 81-ton tug Alliance and the 150-ton sailing ship Terpsithea.

Again, when on Patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean, she sighted and attacked a small convoy, first, without success on July 13th, then again the next day, this time hitting the 3,300-ton Dutch-registered tanker, the Adinda. Fortunately for the tanker, she was not badly damaged and managed to reach port in Haifa later that day.

In December 1942, whilst on Patrol in the Western Mediterranean, the U-562 sighted and attacked a convoy about 40 miles north of Oran. At 02:23 on December 21st, she fired four torpedoes at the convoy, one of which struck the 24,000-ton troop transport the Strathallan...

The full details, taken from U-boat.net are as follows:

At 02.23 hours on 21 Dec, 1942, U-562 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy KMF-5 about 40 miles north of Oran and heard two detonations after 65 seconds and another after 5 minutes 50 seconds. However, only the ship of the convoy commodore, the Strathallan (Master John Henry Biggs CBE), was hit by one torpedo which struck on port side in the engine room. The explosion killed two engineer officers and two Indian crewmen on watch below, damaged the bulkhead separating the engine and boiler rooms and fractured a tank causing oil to enter the boiler room. The ship immediately developed a 15° list to port and the master ordered the nurses and troops to abandon ship in calm seas in the four motor boats, 16 lifeboats and rafts. All got away, except one lifeboat that had been damaged by the explosion and another that could not be launched due to the list. After it became clear that the ship would not sink fast, the evacuation was stopped and the troops ordered to the starboard side to help the stability. The about 1300 survivors in the boats and on rafts were picked up in the morning by HMS Verity (D 63) (Lt J.C. Rushbrooke DSC) and taken to Oran.

After two hours of work, at about 06.00 hours, HMS Laforey (F 99) (Capt R.M.J. Hutton DSO) took the Strathallan in tow for Oran at a speed of 5-6 knots. Shortly after midday about 2000 survivors were transferred to HMS Panther (G 41) (LtCdr Viscount Jocelyn) and HMS Pathfinder (G 10) (Cdr E.A. Gibbs) and taken to Oran. It appeared as tough the ship could be saved as HMS Restive (W 39) (Lt D.M. Richards) went alongside to assist the pumping, but at 13.15 hours oil came in contact with the hot boilers and the fumes exploded, sending flames up through the funnel. The ship was soon ablaze amidships so the master ordered the ship to be abandoned. All men went aboard the tug execept a skeleton crew and were then transferred to HMS Laforey (F 99) because HMS Restive (W 39) continued to tow the burning ship slowly towards Oran for 14 hours, but she capsized to port and sank 12 miles off Oran in 36°01N/00°33W at about 04.00 hours on 22 December.

The Strathallan had 440 crew members, 26 gunners, 248 Queen Alexandra nurses and 4408 British and American troops (among them 296 officers, some possibly of the Headquarter staff of the 1st US Army) on board. Of this number, only 6 crew members and five troops were lost. The master John Henry Biggs was awarded the Lloyds War Medal for bravery at sea.

Finally, On February 19th 1943 she was attacked, north east of Bengazi (Libya), by 2 British Destroyers and a Wellington Bomber and was sunk with all hands. Her final resting place was at 32°57'N 20°54'E

One other piece of information is that she was widely reported to have sunk the first US warship to have been sunk during the second world war, the destroyer USS Reuben James, however, the ship in question was actually sunk by another U-boat, the U-552.