German Submarine U-511

"Submarine U-511 of the German Navy, please call me Yuu.
I've come a long way, so I'll be in your care..."


German submarine U-511 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine waslaid down on 21 February 1941 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as yard number 307, launched on 22 September 1941 and commissioned on 8 December 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Steinhoff.

IJN RO-500 (ex U-511), in 1943
After training with the 4th U-boat Flotilla, from May 1942, U-511 was used for testing the possibility of launching Wurfkörper 42 30 cm (12 in) artillery rockets from U-boats. In cooperation with the commanding officer's brother Ernst Steinhoff of the Peenemünde Army Research Center, a rack of six rockets were mounted on deck, and were successfully launched while on the surface and while submerged up to a depth of 12 metres (39 ft). However, the rockets were not particularly accurate and the racks on the deck had a negative effect on the U-boat's underwater handling and performance, so the project was abandoned.

The U-boat was attached to the 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 September 1943. In that role she carried out four war patrols, two commanded by Kptlt. Steinhoff, and two by Kptlt. Fritz Schneewind, sinking five ships totalling 41,373 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging one of 8,773 GRT.

The U-boat was transferred to Japan on 16 September 1943 and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy as submarine RO-500 until August 1945 when she surrendered to the Allies.