Diving on the wreck site
The wreck of U-272 rests on a silty bottom, tilted on its starboard side. It is partially covered by sediment.
The protruding parts of the hull are entangled in numerous fishing nets.
The Sail with an extended periscope, which still has its glass eye remarkably well-preserved towers over the seabed. Visible components of the ship's optics can still be seen today.
Additionally, large sections of the bow and stern decks are exposed, along with the barrel of an 88 mm cannon.
The depth at the seabed is 48 meters, with the shallowest part of the wreck being 43 meters. Strong currents in the area can occasionally make diving difficult. The substantial depth and presence of currents make U-272 a challenging dive site, but it is worth visiting due to its beauty and historical significance.
Story
U-272 was a German Type VIIC submarine that launched on August 5, 1942, from the Bremer Vulkan shipyard in Vegesack, Bremen. The submarine entered service in the Kriegsmarine on October 7, 1942, under the command of Oberleutnant zur see Horst Hepp. It was assigned to the 8th U-boat Training Flotilla stationed in Gdańsk. On November 12, 1942, U-272 sank north of Hel, near Góra Szwedów. According to German sources, the submarine collided with another submarine, U-346. At the time of the incident, there were 41 crew members on board, but 11 were missing due to being on official travel, training, in the hospital, or on leave. The situation was exploited by the command, which placed 5 mechanics on board for their training. A total of 29 crew members perished as a result of the collision. 12 survived by jumping into the water from the sinking submarine, and the remaining survivors were rescued after 9 hours using individual life-saving devices, including the submarine's commander, Lieutenant Horst Hepp, who later commanded U-238. The submarine had not undertaken any operational patrols or sunk any enemy vessels before it sank.
Technical Specifications
U272 was a German submarine Type VIIC that had a displacement on surface of 769 tons length: 67.1 meters and width of 6 meters
It was equipped with two F46 diesel engines (3200 HP), providing power for surface travel and battery charging for two GU460/8-276 electric motors (560 kW) for submerged travel The vessel could have been equipped with 14 G7a steam or G7e electric torpedoes or 39 TMA/TMB mines, an 88 mm cannon, and a 20 mm cannon
Interesting facts about the wreck
Until 2014, the wreck of U-272 was classified as the wreck of another U-boat, U-346. This misclassification was corrected after examination by Daniel Pastwa and the Baltictech diving team, who conducted several dives to verify the assessment of the wreck's construction. They documented characteristic features of the wreck, such as the lack of damage to the bow section, which would have been present if it had collided with U-346,
The presence of an 88 mm gun, a "Turm 1" sail, specific flow hole patterns under the sail, and a "slotted" wooden deck—features characteristic of a U-boat built and used until 1943, like U-272, rather than U-346, which was launched on April 13, 1943. Reports from the sinking locations of both submarines also pointed to the initial incorrect classification.
The materials gathered during dives and other clues led to renaming the wreck from the "U-346 wreck" to "U-272 wreck."
Text by: Kamil Stankiewicz
Translation: Szymon Rydzewski
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