German submarine U - 509 German submarine " U - 509 " was a Type IXC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 1 November 1940 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as ' werk ' 305 . She was launched on 19 August 1941 , and commissioned on 4 November 1941 under the command of " Korvettenkapitän " Karl - Heinz Wolff . The U - boat served with the 4th U - boat Flotilla for training , before being assigned to the 10th U - boat Flotilla from 1 July 1942 , for front - line service . Service history . 1st patrol . " U - 509 " sailed from Kiel on 25 June 1942 , across the Atlantic , into the Caribbean Sea and along the coast of South America , without any successes . She arrived at her new home port of Lorient in occupied France on 12 September after 80 days at sea . 2nd patrol . " U - 509 " departed from Lorient on 15 October 1942 , now under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Werner Witte . Operating in the waters west of the Canary Islands as part of wolfpack " Streitaxt " ( English : " Battle axe " ) she attacked Convoy SL 125 , sinking four ships and damaging three more . Convoy SL 125 . At 17 : 40 on 26 October the U - boat attacked the 7 , 705 ton British tanker " Anglo Mærsk " , a straggler , with a single torpedo with no apparent effect . However the damaged ship was sunk at 21 : 06 the next day by . The entire crew : master , 32 crewmen , and two gunners , landed at Hierro Island , Canary Islands , on 27 October . At 22 . 33 and 22 . 38 hours on 27 October , " U - 509 " fired torpedoes at the convoy and sank two British merchant ships . The 7 , 951 ton " Pacific Star " did not sink immediately , but the crew abandoned ship , and she was last seen on 30 October , very low in the water , and probably sank shortly afterwards . The 6 , 148 ton " Stentor " was the ship of the Vice - Commodore of the convoy Captain Richard Hart Garstin , CBE , RNR , and was carrying 125 passengers , including 26 army personnel , 11 nursing sisters and six naval staff members . The master , Vice - Commodore , 20 crewmen , three army personnel , four nurses and 15 passengers were lost . 93 crew members , seven gunners and 107 passengers were picked up by . Between 22 . 00 and 22 . 09 hours on 28 October , " U - 509 " fired five torpedoes at the convoy and hit two more British merchant ships . The 5 , 283 ton " Nagpore " was carrying 7 , 000 tons of general cargo , including 1 , 501 tons of copper , as well as being the flagship of the convoy ' s commodore Rear Admiral Sir C . N . Reyne , KBE , RN . As she sank , the master , 18 crewmen , and one naval staff member were lost . The commodore , five naval staff members , 23 crewmen and five gunners were picked up by , while on 10 November , the fourth engineer and 18 men landed at La Orotava , Tenerife , Canary Islands , after being adrift for 14 days . The 5 , 178 ton " Hopecastle " was badly damaged . Three crewmen and two gunners were lost , and her crew abandoned ship . The master and 20 survivors were picked up by the British merchant ship " Mano " , and another 19 survivors later landed at Funchal , Madeira . Around 05 : 00 on 29 October , the abandoned " Hopecastle " was hit by torpedoes from , but the ship stayed afloat and was finally sunk at 10 : 10 by gunfire . At 22 : 16 on 29 October 1942 , the U - boat hit the 7 , 131 ton British merchant ship " Corinaldo " with a single torpedo . The ship , loaded with 5 , 141 tons of frozen meat from Buenos Aires , dropped out of the convoy and was abandoned . Seven crew members and one gunner were lost . The master , 41 crewmen and eight gunners were picked up by . At 02 : 07 the next day , struck the ship with two torpedoes , but she remained afloat . At 04 : 16 on the 30th the wreck was finally sunk by a torpedo and gunfire from . Finally , at midnight on 30 October the U - boat torpedoed and sank the 4 , 772 ton British merchant ship " Brittany " near Madeira . Twelve crewmen , one gunner , and one passenger were lost . The master , 32 crewmen , seven gunners , and three passengers were picked up by the British auxiliary patrol vessel . " U - 509 " then sailed for the waters off Morocco to operate against the Allied ships taking part in the Operation " Torch " landings . The U - boat operated for three days in waters less than deep and was constantly bombed and depth charged by Allied surface vessels and aircraft . " U - 509 " received some damage , forcing her to abort the patrol and return to Lorient on 26 November after 43 days at sea . 3rd patrol . " U - 509 " s next patrol took her far south , to the waters off South Africa . Leaving Lorient on 23 December 1942 , she made her first kill at 02 : 19 on 10 February , sinking the 4 , 937 ton British merchant ship " Queen Anne " eight miles south - south - west of Cape Agulhas . The U - boat was attacked by the ASW trawler with gunfire and seven depth charges , but was not damaged and made her escape . The master , two crewmen and two gunners from " Queen Anne " were lost . Eighteen survivors were picked up by " St . Zeno " , while 22 survivors later made landfall at Bredasdorp . The U - boat struck again at 22 : 00 on 2 April , torpedoing the 7 , 129 ton British passenger ship " City of Baroda " of Convoy NC - 9 north - west of Cape Town . The badly damaged vessel was towed to Lüderitz Bay , South West Africa and beached . Later she broke in two , and was declared a total loss . One crewman and seven passengers were lost . The master , 124 crewmen , four gunners , and 196 passengers were picked up by . " U - 509 " returned to Lorient on 11 May after a voyage lasting 140 days . 4th patrol . The U - boat ' s final patrol began on 3 July 1943 , under the command of the newly promoted " Korvettenkapitän " Werner Witte , and sailing south - west to the waters south of the Azores . There on 15 July , north - west of Madeira , in position , she was sunk with all hands by aerial FIDO torpedoes from an Avenger aircraft of Navy squadron VC - 29 flying from the escort carrier .