German submarine U-164 (1941)

German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-164 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-164 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight. ==Service history==

First patrol The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 18 July 1942, across the North Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She sank Stad Amsterdam on 25 August in the eastern Caribbean. The first torpedoes hit, except they were duds, probably fired from too close-in; but a coup de grǎce caused the ship to sink stern-first. The boat also sank John A. Holloway northwest of Curaçao. U-164 arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 7 October. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her brief career. Second patrol and loss She sank Brageland, a neutral Swedish ship, on 1 January 1943. A three-man boarding party inspected the ship and under the prize rules, she was torpedoed. U-164 was sunk by an American PBY Catalina flying boat of VP-83 from northwest of Ceará State shoreline, Brazil on 6 January 1943. 54 men died, there were two survivors. ==Summary of raiding history==