German submarine U - 223 German submarine " U - 223 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . Ordered on 15 August 1940 from the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel , she was laid down on 16 June 1941 as ' werk ' 653 , launched on 16 April 1942 and commissioned on 6 June under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Karl - Jürg Wächter . A member of eight wolfpack s , she sank two ships totalling in six patrols . She also sank one warship of 1 , 935 tons and caused one ship of 4 , 970 GRT and one warship of 1 , 300 tons to be declared total losses . She was sunk on 30 March 1944 by British warships in the Mediterranean Sea . 23 men died ; there were 27 survivors . Operational career . 1st patrol . For her first patrol , " U - 223 " departed Kiel on 12 January 1943 . Keeping to the Norwegian side of the North Sea , she entered the Atlantic Ocean having negotiated the ' gap ' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands . She moved to the south of Greenland . There , she sank the " Dorchester " west of Cape Farewell on 3 February . This steam passenger ship was sailing with a total of 904 people on board . 675 of them died . Four of the dead were chaplains of different faiths who had given up their lifebelts to soldiers among the incumbents . The clergymen were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart ; the US Congress declared 3 February ' Chaplains Observance Day ' in 1961 . She also sank the " Winkler " on 23 February ; the ship went down in 45 seconds . The U - boat then prevented any retaliation from the convoy escort ships by diving underneath survivors in the water . " U - 223 " was attacked by a British Flying Fortress of No . 59 Squadron RAF on 1 March . The aircraft dropped seven depth charge s which overshot . Damage to the U - boat was slight , but the Fortress was hit and only just managed to return to its base . The submarine docked at St . Nazaire in occupied France on 6 March . 2nd patrol . " U - 223 " was depth charged to the surface and rammed by the destroyer HMS " Hsperus " in mid - Atlantic on 11 May 1943 . Two men were lost overboard ; one of them was rescued by " U - 359 " . Meanwhile , " U - 223 " had escaped the wrath of the British ship and returned to St . Nazaire . Due to the repairs needed , she did not put to sea again until September . 3rd patrol . Having left St . Nazaiare on 14 September , the boat had passed the heavily fortified British base at Gibraltar by the 26th . Before docking at Toulon on 16 October , she attacked the " Stanmore " on the 2nd near Cape Ivi , Algeria . The badly damaged ship was taken under tow by two tugs . She was beached at Cape Tenes where she broke in two and was declared a total loss . 4th and 5th patrols . Also a total loss was the British frigate HMS " Cuckmere " . She had been escorting a convoy off Bougie when she was hit . She was towed to Algiers and returned to the US Navy in 1946 . " U - 223 " s fifth sortie was relatively uneventful , passing south of Sardinia and headed for the Italian mainland . 6th patrol and loss . The U - boat had left Toulon on 16 March 1944 . She was detected by the ASDIC ( sonar ) of HMS " Ulster " on the 29th north of Palermo . " Ulster " was not alone ; she was accompanied by two other destroyers - " Laforey " and " Tumult " . By early morning of the 30th , the U - boat , after heavy depth charging , was forced to the surface , where she was engaged by gunfire . " Ulster " had been replaced by two escort destroyers , HMS " Hambledown " and " Blencartha " . Before being sunk , " U - 223 " managed to sink HMS " Laforey " . 23 men died ; there were 27 survivors .