German submarine U - 862 German submarine " U - 862 was a German Type IXD2 U - boat of the " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . She was the only German submarine to operate in the Pacific Ocean during World War II . After Germany ' s surrender in May 1945 , " U - 862 " put into Singapore and was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy under the name I - 502 " . " U - 862 " was laid down on 15 August 1942 by AG Weser of Bremen . She was commissioned on 7 October 1943 with " Kapitänleutnant " Heinrich Timm in command . Timm commanded " U - 862 " for her entire career in the " Kriegsmarine " , receiving a promotion to " Korvettenkapitän " on 1 July 1944 . " U - 862 " conducted two patrols , sinking seven ships totalling 42 , 374 tons . Service history . 1st patrol . " U - 862 " was one of the most travelled of all U - boat s . She sailed from Germany in May 1944 and eventually reached Penang , in Japanese - controlled Malaya , in September 1944 . Penang was the base for the 33rd U - boat Flotilla , code - named " Monsun Gruppe " ( " Monsoon Group " ) . On the way there , she launched a T5 / G7es " Zaunkönig I " acoustic homing torpedo at a tanker . The Zaunkönig came around full circle to home in on " U - 862 " . Only an emergency crash dive saved the U - boat from its own torpedo . She also shot down an Allied PBY Catalina aircraft on 20 August 1944 and then escaped an intense search for her . She sank several merchant ships in the Mozambique Channel between Africa and Madagascar . 2nd patrol . " U - 862 " departed for her second war patrol from Batavia in the Japanese - occupied Netherlands East Indies in December 1944 . Assigned the task of operating off Australia , she sailed down the west coast of Australia , across the Great Australian Bight , around the southern coast of Tasmania and then north towards Sydney where she sank the U . S . - registered Liberty ship on 25 December 1944 . She then travelled around New Zealand and entered the port of Napier at night undetected . This has given birth to an urban legend in New Zealand , where it is said that the captain of the " U - 862 " sent sailors ashore at night to steal fresh milk from a farm . This may arise from a joke made by Captain Timm to Air Vice Marshal Sir Rochford Hughes in the late 1950s . " U - 862 " then returned to the Indian Ocean . On 6 February 1945 , about 1 , 520 km ( 820 nm ) southwest of Fremantle , " U - 862 " sank the U . S . - registered Liberty ship , , which was loaded with mules bound for Burma . " U - 862 " was also a trial boat for the FuMo 65 " Hohentwiel " radar system . This was cranked out of a casing on the port side of the conning tower and rose on a mast . The aerial was hand trained onto targets whilst the U - boat was at the surface . The radar had a range up to and was very effective where there was little risk from air attack on the U - boat . Transfer to Japan . When Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945 , she put into Singapore and was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy . On 15 July 1945 she became the IJN submarine " I - 502 " . The " I - 502 " surrendered at Singapore in August 1945 and was scuttled in the Strait of Malacca at on 13 February 1946 . The German crew of " U - 862 " suffered no casualties , and some returned to Germany several years after the war . Others were interned at Kinmel Camp , Bodelwyddan , North Wales , and remained in Wales and settled in the neighbouring communities of Rhyl , Rhuddlan and Prestatyn , due to the risks of returning to the Soviet occupied areas of Germany after the war . Two of the crew are buried at the new cemetery at Rhuddlan , North Wales , on nearby plots .