German submarine U-Boot U-52 TYPE VIIB COBI 4852 - World War II 1:144

Did you know:

• The German Navy ordered the submarine on May 15, 1937, from the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft AG shipyard in Kiel.
• In less than two years, it was launched on December 21, 1938 — an incredibly short time by today’s standards.
• After testing and crew training, the submarine was assigned to the "Wegener" submarine flotilla.
• In June 1940, the submarine was sent on another mission in the North Atlantic, in the Northern Passage near Cape Finisterre, where it successively sank the Allied ships Monarch, Ville de Namur, Hilda, and Thetis. These were mainly merchant ships transporting grain.
• The greatest damage to Great Britain was caused by the sinking of the ship Dunsley, which carried steel for the production of Churchill tanks, slowing down production for several weeks.
• During its service, the submarine had a total of eight captains, the most famous of whom was likely media magnate Otto Salman.
• As the German Navy gradually introduced new ocean-going submarines of Type IX, the vessel numbered 52 was reassigned to the 3rd Division on October 22, 1943, as a training ship.
• In May 1945, several RAF Hawker aircraft attacked the moored submarine in port, which was sunk after being hit by unguided rockets.
• Germany already had extensive experience in submarine construction from World War I (Type 51) and continued to improve its designs over time. 
• A major factor in the operational success was the new “Wolfpack” strategy developed by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, based on night searches for Allied convoys. Once a convoy was spotted, the submarine commander usually passed the coordinates to other nearby submarines to maximize the destructive impact of the attack.

Technical specifications:

• Dimensions: length 66.5 m, width 6.2 m, height 4.97 m
• Power unit: 2× diesel engine Germaniawerft F46 (2386 kW), 2× electric motor AEG GU 460/8-276 (560 kW)
• Surface speed: 33.2 km/h
• Submerged speed: 15 km/h
• Operational range: 16,112 km
• Maximum diving depth: 230 m
• Armament: 1× SK C/35 gun (88 mm) + 1× C/30 AA gun (20 mm) + five 56.3 cm torpedo tubes and 14 torpedoes
• Crew: 4 officers + 40–56 men

From the memoirs of HMS Bluebell Captain Allen Parker:

“From the deck of the escort corvette we spotted a dark bow silhouette. The radioman reported contact at one-oh-eight-five. It was a U-Boat, ready to hunt. I knew we had only one chance and gave the order to turn. The submarine’s captain must have been an old fox, as he fired two torpedoes simultaneously into the area where he expected our evasive maneuver to go. The corvette heeled sharply; after endless seconds, she finally aligned parallel to the torpedoes’ path. We saw pale white trails rapidly closing in. We were incredibly lucky. Each torpedo missed and harmlessly passed along our hulls. We definitely didn’t want to give them a second chance and used maximum speed to escape into the darkness.”

About the COBI building set:

• The COBI set 4852 is made of 474 high-quality ABS bricks
• World War II collection 1:144
• pad printed – no stickers
• highly detailed design
• made in the EU