German submarine U - 338 German submarine " U - 338 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 4 April 1941 at the Nordseewerke yard at Emden , launched on 20 April 1942 , and commissioned on 25 June 1942 under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Manfred Kinzel . Service history . " U - 338 " was nicknamed " Wildesel " ( " Wild Donkey " ) after an incident on the day of its launch , when the U - boat broke free from its moorings and struck a small tug boat , sinking it . After training with the 8th U - boat Flotilla at Danzig , " U - 338 " was transferred to the 7th U - boat Flotilla for front - line service on 1 March 1943 . 1st patrol . " U - 338 " sailed from Kiel on 23 February 1943 under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Manfred Kinzel , and out into the north Atlantic where she joined the wolfpack ' Stürmer ' on 11 March for an attack on Convoy SC 122 . On 17 March at 03 : 05 , " U - 338 " fired two torpedoes at the convoy southeast of Cape Farewell , Greenland and hit and sank two British merchant ships ; the 4 , 898 ton " Kingsbury " , and the 5 , 072 ton " King Gruffydd " . After a minute , two more torpedoes were fired , one of which struck the 7 , 886 ton Dutch merchantman " Alderamin " , which later sank . A single torpedo was then fired from the stern tube aimed at the " Alderamin " , but it missed and struck the 7 , 134 ton British merchant ship " Fort Cedar Lake " . The ship , badly damaged , fell behind the convoy and was sunk by around noon . " U - 338 " attacked the convoy again at 14 : 52 with another salvo of torpedoes , one of which hit the 4 , 071 ton Panama - registered American ship " Granville " , which broke in two amidships and sank within 15 minutes . On 22 March 1943 , " U - 338 " was in the Bay of Biscay , heading for its new home port of Saint - Nazaire in France , when it was attacked by a British Halifax bomber from No . 502 Squadron RAF . Anti - aircraft fire from the submarine hit the starboard outer engine and fuselage of the aircraft , causing its bombs to fall wide and cause only slight damage to the U - boat . The aircraft was seen to crash into the sea some distance away , killing all but one of the eight - man crew , who was picked up by " U - 338 " and taken prisoner . Two days later , on 24 March , the U - boat arrived at St . Nazaire . 2nd patrol . " U - 338 " sailed from St . Nazaire on 15 June 1943 , but the patrol was cut short when she was attacked on the 17th by a B - 17 Flying Fortress from No . 206 Squadron RAF . The U - boat was damaged , the " Obersteuermann " ( " Navigator " ) killed , and three men were wounded . The U - boat returned to port on 21 June . 3rd patrol . " U - 338 " sailed from St . Nazaire again on 25 August 1943 into the mid - Atlantic , joining the wolf pack ' Leuthen ' on 15 September . The U - boat was lost on 20 September during an attack on Convoy ON 202 . After being spotted by a B - 24 Liberator patrol aircraft , the Canadian corvette approached at speed firing her 4 - inch gun . The U - boat dived , and was located by " Drumheller " s ASDIC ( sonar ) . As the corvette prepared to attack with depth charge s she observed a large underwater explosion . No further contact with " U - 338 " was made , and it is assumed that she was destroyed as a result of damage caused by " Drumheller " s shell fire .