German submarine U-552

Erich Topp (r) on U-552 in St. Nazaire in October 1941
History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-552
Ordered	25 September 1939
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number	528
Laid down	1 December 1939
Launched	14 September 1940
Commissioned	4 December 1940
Decommissioned	February 1945
Fate	Scuttled on 5 May 1945 at Wilhelmshaven
General characteristics
Class and type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors.
Speed	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) 1 x 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 AA gun
Service record
Part of:	7th U-boat Flotilla 4 December 1940 – 30 April 1944 22nd U-boat Flotilla 1 May 1944 – February 1945
Identification codes:	M 20 052
Commanders:	K.Kapt. Erich Topp 4 December 1940 – 8 September 1942 Kptlt. Klaus Popp 9 September 1942 – 10 July 1944 Oblt.z.S. Günther Lube 11 July 1944 – February 1945
Operations:	15 patrols: 1st patrol: 18 February – 16 March 1941 2nd patrol: 7 April – 6 May 1941 3rd patrol: 25 May – 2 July 1941 4th patrol: 18 – 26 August 1941 5th patrol: 4 September – 5 October 1941 6th patrol: 25 October – 26 November 1941 7th patrol: 25 December 1941 – 27 January 1942 8th patrol: 7 March – 27 April 1942 9th patrol: 9 – 19 June 1942 10th patrol: 4 July – 13 August 1942 11th patrol: 10 September – 15 December 1942 12th patrol: 4 April – 13 June 1943 13th patrol: 3 October – 30 November 1943 14th patrol: 8 – 14 February 1944 15th patrol: 16 February – 28 April 1944
Victories:	30 merchant ships sunk (163,756 GRT) 1 warship sunk (1,190 tons) 1 auxiliary warship sunk (520 GRT) 3 merchant ships damaged (26,910 GRT)

German submarine U-552 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 1 December 1939 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as yard number 528, launched on 14 September 1940, and went into service on 4 December 1940. U-552 was nicknamed the Roter Teufel ("Red Devil") after her mascot of a grinning devil, which was painted on the conning tower. She was one of the more successful of her class, operating for over three years of continual service and sinking or damaging 35 Allied ships with 164,276 GRT and 1,190 tons sunk and 26,910 GRT damaged. She was a member of 21 wolf packs.

U-552 was involved in two controversial actions: On 31 October 1941, she sank the USS Reuben James, the first US Navy warship to be lost in World War II; this was at a time when the US was still officially neutral, and caused a diplomatic dispute. On 3 April 1942, she sank the freighter David H. Atwater off the US seaboard.

U-552 had an unusually long service life, surviving to the end of World War II; after evacuating from her French base during the spring of 1944, she operated on training duties in the Baltic Sea until she was decommissioned in February 1945. On 5 May 1945, she was scuttled in Helgoland Bight, to prevent her falling into enemy hands.