German submarine U - 59 ( 1938 ) German submarine " U - 59 " was a Type IIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " that served in the Second World War . She was built by Deutsche Werke AG , Kiel . Ordered on 17 June 1937 , she was laid down on 5 October as " Werk 258 " . She was launched on 12 October 1938 and commissioned on 4 March 1939 under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Harald Jürst . History . The boat began her career by training with the 5th U - boat Flotilla from March to December 1939 . She was declared operational on 1 January 1940 with the 1st flotilla . She was assigned to the 22nd flotilla on 1 January 1941 , then the 19th flotilla on 1 July 1944 . The last two assignments were as a " school " boat . She carried out 13 patrols in which she sank 17 merchant ships , two auxiliary warships , and damaged a tanker . A further victim was declared a " total loss " . She was scuttled in the Kiel Arsenal at the end of the war . The wreck was broken up in 1945 . Operational career . 1st , 2nd and 3rd patrols . For her first patrol , " U - 59 " departed Helgoland , ( the German island in the North Sea ) , on 29 August 1939 , before war was declared . She arrived in Kiel on 11 September after an uneventful trip . Her second sortie saw her first success , sinking the British trawler " Lynx II " west of the Shetland Islands on 28 October 1939 . She also sank the " St . Nidian " on the same date and HMS " Northern Rover " on the 30th . Her third patrol also passed without incident . 4th , 5th and 6th patrols . The boat departed Wilhelmshaven on 14 December 1939 and sank the " Lister " off Newcastle on the 16th . She then sank the neutral " Glitfriejell " on the same day ; the ship broke in two off St . Abbs Head . Her next victim was the neutral " Bogø " which also broke in two , east of May Island . " U - 59 " returned to Germany , but this time to Kiel . Her fifth outing took her from Kiel ( leaving on 14 January 1940 ) , to the vicinity of the British East Anglian coast . She returned , empty - handed , to Wilhelmshaven on 22 January . The boat ' s sixth patrol saw her return to the East Anglian coast , but this time she was more successful , sinking the " Ellen M . " on 1 February 1940 and the " Creofield " and " Portlet " , both on 2 February . 7th , 8th , 9th and 10th patrols . Her seventh effort was uneventful , but her eighth , which commenced on 31 March 1940 was , at 38 days , her longest . She sank the " Navarra " on 6 April , but was in turn attacked by a submarine on 5 May ; a torpedo track was seen 100 m from her stern . She returned to the ' Fatherland ' , to Kiel on 7 May . The submarine ' s ninth patrol was marked with the sinking of the " Sigyn " on 1 August 1940 west of Oban ( on the Scottish west coast ) . She completed the operation by docking at Bergen in occupied Norway on 4 August . " U - 59 " s tenth sortie began on 8 August 1940 , it finished at Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on the 19th . In between , she sank the " Betty " west of Tory Island on 14 August . 11th , 12th and 13th patrols . On her eleventh patrol , the boat damaged two ships , the " San Gabriel " and the " Anadara " , both on 30 August 1940 and both west of Scotland . Her twelfth effort , west of Ireland and Scotland , was followed by the journey from Lorient back to Bergen . Her thirteenth and last operational patrol was a fairly straightforward affair : from Bergen , down the Norwegian coast arriving in Kiel on 20 October 1940 .