German submarine U - 575 German submarine " U - 575 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . She carried out ten patrols , sank eight ships totalling 36 , 010 GRT and damaged three other of 29 , 777 GRT . She was a member of 18 wolfpack s . She was sunk north of the Azores by Allied ships and aircraft , in March 1944 . Service history . The submarine was laid down on 1 August 1940 at " Blohm & Voss " , Hamburg as ' werk ' 551 , launched on 30 April 1941 and commissioned on 19 June under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Günther Heydemann . She served with the 7th U - boat Flotilla from 19 June 1941 for training and stayed with that organization for operations until her loss , from 1 September 1941 to 13 March 1944 . 1st patrol . " U - 575 " s first patrol was from Trondheim in Norway ; she headed for the Atlantic Ocean " via " the ' gap ' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands . She swept an area southeast of Greenland and sank the " Tuva " on 2 October . The ship ' s crew abandoned their vessel in a pair of lifeboats and two rafts , but had to leave one of their number who had been trapped underneath debris . The neutral US destroyer , escorting convoy ON 20 , came to help " Tuva " . As " Winslow " reached the area , she closed in on " U - 575 " and began the tracing with depth charge s , but " U - 575 " had escaped any damage . The submarine was the target of an air attack on 7 October ; damage was slight . She arrived at St . Nazaire in occupied France , on 9 October 1941 . Statistic . Days on sea : 32 distance travelled over all 5 . 059 , 5 nmi distance travelled over water 4 . 776 , 70 nmi ( 94 , 4 % ) distance travelled under water 282 , 8 nmi ( 5 , 6 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 292 nmi at 08 . 10 . 1941 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 36 , 3 nmi at 12 . 09 . 1941 diving : 7 . 029 minutes ; 117 , 15 hours ; 4 , 88 days ( 15 , 3 % ) 2nd patrol . Having left St . Nazaire on 9 November 1941 , " U - 575 " headed for the Newfoundland and Labrador coast . On 1 December 1941 " U - 575 " runs across on the American tanker " Astral " by 35°40´N / 24°00´W ( ca . grid square CF75 - 79 ) . He cames from Aruba in Venezuela und was sailed to Lissabon with a cargo from 78 . 200 barrel benzine and kerosine . " U - 575 " hunted " Astral " for many hours to come into a good firing position , but when he recognized the neutral US flag , Heydemann let " Astral " proceed . But on the return leg , when she was looking to re - fuel in Vigo in Spain , she was depth charge d . The damage was serious enough to prevent her entry into the Mediterranean ; she was obliged to return to St . Nazaire , which she did on 17 December . Statistic . Days on sea : 39 distance travelled over all 5 . 814 , 0 nmi distance travelled over water 5 . 508 , 80 nmi ( 94 , 8 % ) distance travelled under water305 , 2 nmi ( 5 , 2 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 354 nmi at 30 . 11 . 1941 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 37 nmi at 10 . 12 . 1941 diving : 6 . 841 minutes ; 114 , 02 hours ; 4 , 75 days ( 12 , 2 % ) 3rd patrol . For her third foray , " U - 575 " left St . Nazaire on 14 January 1942 . On the 25th , a lookout broke an arm in bad weather . At the end of January , " U - 575 " was involved with in trying , in the mid - ocean ' air - gap ' , to rendezvous with the " Spreewald " , a German blockade runner whose doctor might be able to treat one of " U123 " s members who had been injured . On the 31st , " U - 123 " met " U - 575 " , but there was no sign of the " Spreewald " . She had been sunk , but it was not then known by whom . Statistic . Days on sea : 44 distance travelled over all 5 . 986 , 0 nmi distance travelled over water 5 . 750 , 00 nmi ( 96 , 1 % ) distance travelled under water 236 , 0 nmi ( 3 , 9 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 210 nmi at 27 . 01 . 1942 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 24 nmi at 16 . 01 . 1942 diving : 3 . 369 minutes ; 56 , 15 hours ; 2 , 34 days ( 5 , 3 % ) 4th patrol . " U - 575 " s only victim on this patrol was the " Robin Hood " , which she sank about southeast of Nantucket Island ( off the eastern US coast ) . Statistic . Days on sea : 53 distance travelled over all 7 . 129 , 5 nm distance travelled over water 6 . 912 , 00 nmi ( 97 , 0 % ) distance travelled under water 217 , 5 nmi ( 3 , 0 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 268 nmi at 28 . 03 . 1942 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 37 , 5 nmi at 26 . 03 . 1942 diving : 5 . 622 minutes ; 93 , 7 hours ; 3 , 90days ( 7 , 4 % ) 5th patrol . A steady stream of sinkings on her fifth sortie followed , e . g . the " Norlandia " on 4 July 1942 ; on the 9th and two sailing ships sunk with gunfire : " Comrade " and " Glacier " , both on the 18th . < br > She also damaged " San Gaspar " off Manzilla , Trinidad on the 18th . It was assumed that this ship had sunk , but she was taken in tow by the tug HMS " Roode Zee " to Port of Spain , repaired and returned to service in October 1943 . Statistic . Days on sea : 59 distance travelled over all 10 . 173 , 0 nmi distance travelled over water 9 . 732 , 30 nmi ( 95 , 7 % ) distance travelled under water 440 , 7 nmi ( 4 , 3 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 286 , 1 nmi at 14 . 06 . 1942 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 57 nmi at 06 . 08 . 1942 diving : 9 . 866 minutes ; 164 , 4 hours ; 6 , 85 days ( 11 , 6 % ) 6th patrol . On the boat ' s sixth patrol , a man was lost overboard on 5 October 1942 . The death toll was increased when she sank the troopship which was sailing unescorted about northwest of the Azores . 362 people were killed . " Abosso " s top speed was only and therefore normally sailed only in convoys . One passenger , Dutch Navy submarine commander Luitenant ter zee der 1e klasse H . C . J . Coumou had warned against this but the British authorities overruled him . On board were 162 crew , 20 DEMS gunners to defend the ship and 210 passengers . The passengers were 149 military , 44 internees and 17 civilians , including 10 women with children . The cargo was 3 , 000 tons of wool and mailbags . Among the military passengers were 44 newly - trained pilots of the 23rd Service Flying Training School in Southern Rhodesia and 34 Dutch submariners on their way to crew the submarine Hr . Ms . " Haai " , which was then under construction . " Haai " had been laid down as for the Royal Navy but had been reallocated to the Dutch Navy . 30 of the submariners were killed on " Abosso " and the Dutch were unable to replace them . The British authorities therefore reallocated the submarine again , and she was launched as the Norwegian Navy Statistic . Days on sea : 54 distance travelled over all 7 . 363 , 4 nmi distance travelled over water 6 . 903 , 10 nmi ( 93 , 8 % ) distance travelled under water 460 , 3 nmi ( 6 , 2 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 300 nmi at 04 . 10 . 1942 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 53 nmi at 23 . 09 . 1942 diving : 7 . 587 minutes ; 126 , 5 hours ; 5 , 27 days ( 9 , 8 % ) 7th patrol . On Patrol number seven on 9 . 1 . 1943 at 6 . 36 a . m . the boat fired a stern torpedo oat the Norwegian tanker " Minister Wedel " with 6 , 830 GRT , therefore it began to burn ( Position : 28°08´N / 28°20 ` W grid square DG8682 , convoy TM 1 ) and two minutes later , 6 . 38 a . m . , one hit with a torpedeo caused by a FAT - 4th - shot on the Norwegian tanker under Panama flag " Norvik " with 10 . 034 GRT . Both were sinking after a finishing shot from . " Minister Wedel " were all surviving , the " Narvik " lost two men and 43 surviving . On 25 . 1 . 1943 from the convoy UGS . 4 " U - 575 " sank the US ship , this time about east southeast of the Azores . Statistic . Days on sea : 67 distance travelled over all 10 . 132 , 3 nmi distance travelled over water 9 . 692 , 70 nmi ( 95 , 7 % ) distance travelled under water 439 , 6 nmi ( 4 , 3 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 294 , 8 nmi at 09 . 01 . 1943 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 40 , 7 nmi at 20 . 12 . 1942 diving : 10 . 449 minutes ; 174 , 2 hours ; 7 , 26 days ( 10 , 8 % ) 8th patrol . Her eighth sortie , which commenced on 22 April 1943 and finished on 11 June , was relatively uneventful . Statistic . Days on sea : 51 distance travelled over all 8 . 028 , 7 nmi distance travelled over water 7 . 164 , 90 nmi ( 89 , 2 % ) distance travelled under water 863 , 8 nmi ( 10 , 8 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 307 nmi at 14 . 05 . 1943 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 53 , 3 nmi at 26 . 04 . 1943 diving : 17 . 217 minutes ; 287 , 0 hours ; 11 , 96 days ( 23 , 4 % ) 9th patrol . In the last dock yard time changed the commandants . The new Captain was since September 1943 Oberleutnant z . S . Wolfgang Boehmer . The boat ' s ninth patrol was split into four parts ; the first three were only a couple of days duration . The fourth was longer and included an approach by a B - 24 Liberator which turned away when engaged by the U - boat ' s anti - aircraft guns . Nevertheless , she crash - dived . Statistic . Days on sea : 70 distance travelled over all 6 . 776 , 2 nmi distance travelled over water 5 . 432 , 80 nmi ( 80 , 2 % ) distance travelled under water 1 . 343 , 4 nmi ( 19 , 8 % ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 263 , 1 nmi at 16 . 11 . 1943 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 54 nmi at 09 . 10 . 1943 diving : 36 . 392 minutes ; 606 , 5 hours ; 25 , 27 days ( 36 , 1 % ) 10th patrol and loss . In the two and a half months of the past dock yard time get " U - 575 " as second Atlantic - boat a Snorkel built - in . On this journey they shall reported her experiences by the snorkeling and used as weather - boat . " U - 575 " left St . Nazaire for the last time on 29 February 1944 . After sinking west northwest of Cape Finisterre on 10 March , the boat was hunted for 18 hours by convoy escorts , but escaped . Her luck ran out on the 13th when she was sunk by the efforts ( and depth charge s ) of the Canadian frigate , the American destroyer , the American destroyer escort , a British Vickers Wellington of No . 172 Squadron RAF , two B - 17 Flying Fortress es of 206 and 208 squadrons and a TBM Avenger from . 18 men died with " U - 575 " ; there were 37 survivors . Statistic ( total ) . Days on sea : 463 In nine war patrols ( without the period from 14 . - 26 . 2 . 42 ) : Days on sea : 459 thereof dived : 1 . 739 , 53 hours ( 72 , 5 days ; 15 % ) max . depth : 230m Distance over all : 66 . 462 , 6 nm ( triply around the world ) max . distance travelled in 24 hours over water : 354 nm at 30 . 11 . 1941 max . distance travelled in 24 hours under water : 57 nm at 06 . 08 . 1942 max . distance : 10 . 173 nm at the 5 . war patrol max . diving time : 1 . 230 min . ( 20 , 5 h ) at 12 . 10 . 1943 Enemy seen : 117 thereof without contact : 92 thereof with contact : 18 thereof air planes : 30 thereof subs : 1 ( US - R I ) depth charges / aircraft bombs : 188 Enemy radar detection : 30 own U - Boats seen : 20 Seen vessels / convoys : 40 thereof neutral vessels : 11 ( no neutral vessel attack ) Torpedo shots : 45 thereof hits 19 miss 26 ( thereof misfire 10 ) four war patrols without torpedo shots six war patrols with torpedo shots two patrols without attack with depth charges