German submarine U - 201 German submarine " U - 201 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 20 January 1940 by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kielv as ' werk ' 630 , launched on 7 December 1940 , and commissioned on 25 January 1941 under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Adalbert Schnee . Attached to the 1st U - boat Flotilla , she made nine successful patrols in the North Atlantic , the last two under the command of " Kptlt . " Günther Rosenberg . She was a member of eight wolfpack s . She was sunk on 17 February 1943 in the North Atlantic , by depth charge s from a British warship . All 49 hands were lost . Operational career . 1st patrol . " U - 201 " departed Kiel for her first patrol on 22 April 1941 . Her route took her across the North Sea , through the ' gap ' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean . Her first ' kill ' was the " Capulet " which she sank on 2 May south of Iceland . The ship had already been torpedo ed by " U - 552 " ; her back was broken , she had caught fire and been abandoned . Moving east of Greenland , she sank the " Greglia " on 9 May and damaged the " Empire Cloud " on the same day . She was attacked over five hours by three escorts from Convoy OB - 318 . A total of 99 depth charges were dropped , severely damaging the boat , but she escaped . She docked at Lorient in occupied France on 18 May . 2nd patrol . The submarine ' s second foray passed without major incident : starting on 8 June 1942 , finishing on 19 July but in Brest . ( For the rest of her career she would be based in this French Atlantic port ) . 3rd patrol . " U - 201 " s third sortie began from Brest on 14 August 1941 . On the 19th she sank the " Ciscar " west southwest of Fastnet Rock . In addition on the 19th , she sank the " Aguila " ; this ship went down in 90 seconds . Of the 168 people aboard , 22 of the dead were members of the Women ' s Royal Navy Service also known as ' Wrens ' . As a memorial , a new RNLI lifeboat was christened the " Aguila Wren " in 1952 . The boat also sank the " Aldergrove " and the " Stork " northwest of Lisbon on 23 August , before returning to Brest on the 25th . 4th patrol . Success continued to accompany " U - 201 " . Having departed Brest on 14 September 1941 she sank the " Runa " , the " Lissa " and the " Rhineland " , all on 21 September . She then sank the " Cervantes " on 27 September . This ship had four survivors from the " Ciscar " on board . She also accounted for HMS " Springbank " , a Fighter catapult ship about west southwest of Cape Clear , southern Ireland on the same date . One torpedo was seen to pass between " Springbank " and " Leadgate " , but two others sealed the British vessel ' s fate . The submarine ' s final victim on this patrol was the " Margareta " , which went down southwest of Cape Clear . " U - 201 " returned to Brest on 30 September . 5th patrol . The gods of fate showed how fickle they could be on " U - 201 " s fifth sortie ; she failed to find any targets . 6th patrol . " U - 201 " commenced her sixth and longest patrol on 24 March 1942 . Having departed Brest and crossed the Atlantic , she damaged the Argentinian and neutral " Victoria " about east of Cape Hatteras , North Carolina on 18 April . The crew , realizing that the ship , despite the torpedo strike , was not settling , decided to stay on board . The U - boat men only saw the neutrality markings after a second torpedo was fired and the submarine had surfaced . " Victoria " s complement then abandoned their vessel ; " U - 201 " reported their mistake to the " BdU " ( U - boat headquarters ) who ordered them to clear the area , which they did . < br > " USS Owl " , an American minesweeper towing the barge " YOG - 38 " , picked - up " Victoria " s distress signals and sent a boarding party across to the tanker to effect repairs . The ship reached New York on 21 April and after much legal wrangling , was repaired and requisitioned by the US government and returned to service in July . She survived the war . Three more ships went to the bottom on this patrol - the " Bris " on 21 April , the " San Jacinto " and the " Derryheen " , both on 22 April . The boat returned to Brest on 21 May . 7th patrol . Patrol number seven was in tonnage terms , the boat ' s most successful . Departing Brest on 27 June 1942 , she operated in the eastern north Atlantic , sinking the " Avita Star " east of San Miguel in the Azores on 6 July . The death toll was increased when a torpedo exploded under a lifeboat as it was being lowered from the stricken ship . Another victim , the " Cortuna " , was sunk about west of Madeira on 12 July after " U - 116 " had already hit her . The " Siris " went down on the same day after a torpedo and 100 rounds from the deck gun . Three more ships met watery ends before the submarine returned to Brest on 26 October . 8th patrol . So it went on ; this time in the waters off South America . Another three ships met their end . One , the " John Carter Rose " was sunk about east of Trinidad only after a chase lasting 32 hours , and seven torpedoes on 8 October 1942 . Also involved was " U - 202 " . Another , the " Flensburg " , went down the following day about from Suriname . The 48 survivors were spotted by a Yugoslavian merchant ship , but when they learned of the prospect of an unescorted Atlantic crossing to Durban , opted to remain in their lifeboats until they reached the mouth of the River Marowijine . 9th patrol and loss . The boat left Brest for the last time on 3 January 1943 and headed for the eastern coast of Canada . She was sunk in position by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS " Viscount " east of Newfoundland . 49 men died ; there were no survivors . Previously recorded fate . " U - 201 " was sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS " Fame " east of Newfoundland on 17 February 1942 . This attack sank " U - 69 " . Summary of raiding Career . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Damaged . Later sunk by U - 564 < nowiki > * * < / nowiki > Damaged