German submarine U - 198 German submarine " U - 198 " , was a Type IXD2 U - boat which fought in World War II . She was built by the Deschimag AG Weser in Bremen . She was laid down on 1 August 1941 as ' werk ' 1044 , launched on 15 June 1942 and commissioned on 3 November under " Kapitän zur See " Werner Hartmann . The boat was sunk on 12 August 1944 near the Seychelles , by depth charges from a British frigate and an Indian sloop . The submarine is credited with sinking eleven ships , for a total of 59 , 690 GRT . Commanders . " Kapitän zur See " Werner Hartmann , 3 November 1942 – 15 January 1944 < br > " Oberleutnant zur See " Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg , 21 January 1944 – 12 August 1944 Service History . First Patrol . " U - 198 " began her first active war patrol on 9 March 1943 , departing Kiel under the command of " Fregattenkapitän " Werner Hartmann . The new submarine headed south around South Africa to hunt the waters between Madagascar and the African mainland . Her first taste of combat arrived on 5 April 1943 northeast of the Cape Verde Islands . At 18 . 10 hours , the submarine was sighted and attacked by a British Short Sunderland flying boat with eight depth charges . One of them bounced off the stern without detonating . At 20 . 40 hours , the same aircraft attacked again with four more depth charges . " U - 198 " escaped unharmed . A little over two months after departing Kiel , " U - 198 " scored her first success of the war , torpedoing and sinking the 4 , 392 GRT British steam merchant ship " Northmoor " northeast of Durban on 17 May . Two anti - submarine trawlers and an escorting aircraft retaliated furiously , dropping about 55 depth charges but " U - 198 " escaped without damage . Two days later , the submarine was spotted and attacked by a British PBY Catalina aircraft . The U - boat was not damaged , but effective anti - aircraft fire hit the flying boat , forcing it to return to base on one engine . POWs . On the evening of 29 May 1943 , " U - 198 " torpedoed the unescorted British motor merchantman " Hopetarn " about east of Durban . 37 souls survived this attack , although the second officer was taken prisoner by the submarine crew . At the end of the patrol he was sent to the POW camp at Milag Nord . < br > While tracking a small convoy on 31 May , " U - 198 " was sighted by the escorts . Attacks from one of the corvette s drove the submarine deep but caused no serious damage . A little while later , the submarine drove off an approaching British Catalina with gunfire and then crash - dived to escape , losing the convoy in the process . The morning of 5 June 1943 found " U - 198 " stalking her next victim , the unescorted British motor merchant vessel " Dumra " . Two torpedoes at 07 . 50 hours destroyed the merchant ship ' s bow , but she remained afloat . A coup de grâce ten minutes later hit amidships , causing her to sink immediately . This final torpedo killed the ship ' s master ( who was blown overboard by the blast ) and 24 men in a lifeboat that had already abandoned the sinking freighter . The chief engineer , Henry Townsend Graham , was taken prisoner . At 13 . 18 hours the U - boat hit the American Liberty Ship " William King " with one of two torpedoes as she traveled on a zig - zag course about east of Durban . A coup de grâce about 45 minutes later caused her to sink by the stern in about ten minutes . After questioning the survivors , the ship ' s master ( Owen Harvey Reed ) was taken prisoner . He and the chief engineer of " Dumra " were transferred to the German supply ship " Charlotte Schliemann " and handed over to the Japanese at Batavia ( in modern Indonesia ) in August . Both men died in captivity on 18 September 1944 when the Japanese hell ship that was transporting them , the " Junyo Maru " , was sunk by the British submarine . A month passed before " U - 198 " encountered her next victim , the 4 , 476 GRT Greek steam merchantman " Hydraios " . A single torpedo followed by a coup de grâce fifteen minutes later sealed her fate . All 40 men aboard survived , although after questioning the survivors , the Germans confiscated the ship ' s papers and a cashbox containing 682 Egyptian pounds . < br > Early the next day , " U - 198 " located the British steam merchantman " Leana " . The submarine shelled the vessel with 147 rounds from her deck gun before finishing the job with a coup de grâce torpedo a little over an hour after the shelling began . Two men were killed by the submarine ' s gunfire , the master , ( Joseph Crosthwaite ) , was taken prisoner . When the patrol ended , he was sent to Milag Nord . The final kill of this patrol occurred on 1 August 1943 . " U - 198 " fired two torpedoes at the Dutch steam merchant vessel " Mangkalihat " which was traveling with convy BC - 2 , transporting a cargo of copper , sisal and tobacco . The first two shots missed so the U - boat fired her last torpedo at 18 . 51 hours , scoring a hit that eventually sank the ship ( she foundered on 4 August while under tow ) . " U - 198 " turned for home and terminated this highly successful patrol at Bordeaux on 24 September 1943 . Second Patrol . " Oberleutnant zur See " Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg took command on 21 January 1944 and the submarine was transferred from Bordeaux to La Pallice . " U - 198 " began her second and final patrol on 20 April 1944 , sailing again around South Africa and into the Indian Ocean . " En route " , she was attacked by two Ventura patrol aircraft . Effective anti - aircraft fire drove the attackers off ; " U - 198 " received only slight damage in return and continued south to her assigned patrol area . 16 June brought the U - boat crew their first success of the patrol . The unescorted South African steam merchant ship " Columbine " was hit on the port side by one torpedo . The crew began to abandon ship and were still in the process of doing so when a coup de grâce struck eight minutes after the first hit , causing the ship to sink very rapidly . 23 men died , including the ship ' s master . About a month later , on 15 July , " U - 198 " torpedoed the British steam merchant vessel " Director " in the Mozambique channel ( between the African mainland and Madagascar ) . One man died , the remaining 56 were picked up by the Portuguese Sloop Gonçalves Zarco . On 19 July , " U - 198 " fired torpedoes at an unidentified freighter and was counter - attacked by an escorting corvette . The torpedoes missed and no damage was suffered from depth charges . Ranging farther up the east coast of Africa , " U - 198 " sighted convoy DKA - 21 on 6 August 1944 and attacked , sinking the 7 , 295 GRT British motor merchant vessel " Empire City " east of Mocímboa da Praia , Portuguese East Africa ( now Mozambique ) . Two crew and ten gunners were lost from a total complement of 70 . The following day , " U - 198 " scored her final kill , sinking the British motor merchantman " Empire Day " . All 43 crew and gunners managed to abandon the sinking ship , however the U - boat crew took the chief officer of the ship , Robert Courteney Selfe , prisoner . The remaining crew landed safely on the island of Zanzibar . Loss . On 12 August 1944 , " U - 198 " was depth charged and sunk by the British frigate HMS " Findhorn " and the Indian Black Swan class sloop HMIS " Godavari " in position ( near the Seychelles ) . The entire crew of the submarine was lost , as well as the first officer of the " Empire Day " , a total of 66 men .