German submarine U - 65 ( 1940 ) German submarine " U - 65 " was a Type IXB U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . Over the course of six war patrols between 9 April 1940 and 28 April 1941 , she sank twelve ships and damaged three others for a total loss of 88 , 664 GRT . Construction and design . Construction . " U - 65 " was ordered by the German " Kriegsmarine " on 16 July 1937 . Her keel was laid down on 6 December 1938 by AG Weser , Bremen as " Werk 953 " . She was launched on 6 November 1939 and commissioned on 15 February 1940 under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Hans - Gerrit von Stockhausen . Design . Like all Type IXB submarines , " U - 65 " had a total output of while submerged and when surfaced . As a result , she could travel at a maximum speed of while surfaced and submerged . She had a range of at while on the surface and at while submerged . She was equipped with six torpedo tubes ( four in the bow and two in the stern ) and carried a total of 22 x torpedoes . The submarine could also be equipped with 44 TMA mines . " U - 65 " s main deck gun was a " Utof " 10 . 5 cm SK C / 32 naval gun with 110 rounds . The last piece of armament that " U - 65 " was equipped with was the standard 2 cm FlaK 30 anti - aircraft gun . She had a crew of 46 but could carry up to 56 men at any given time . After being commissioned , " U - 65 " was initially stationed in the German port city of Wilhelmshaven . Service history . First patrol . " U - 65 " s first war patrol began on 9 April 1940 when she left her home port of Wilhelmshaven . For 36 days she patrolled the North Sea and the waters off the coast of Norway , participating in the invasion of that country . During this time , she sank no enemy vessels . On 13 April , the U - boat attacked a group of British destroyers north of Bergen , Norway ; but her torpedoes failed to detonate , the destroyers counter - attacked , causing some minor damage to the submarine . " U - 65 " was able to escape the attack , she returned safely to Wilhelmshaven on 14 May . Second patrol . " U - 65 " s second war patrol began on 8 June 1940 . Over 30 days the boat crossed the North Sea , rounded the British Isles to the north and proceeded through the Celtic Sea to the Bay of Biscay . At 08 . 17 hours on 21 June , she encountered her first victim , the 1 , 177 ton Dutch steam merchant ship " Berenice " , outbound from Bordeaux , carrying 1 , 000 tons of manganese ore and 22 passengers . A single torpedo hit her amidships and she sank in three minutes . Out of 47 souls aboard , only nine survivors were pulled from the water by a coastal vessel . One of these men , the ship ' s master , died of his wounds before the remaining complement was landed at Falmouth in Cornwall . The following day , at 18 . 04 hours , " U - 65 " sank an unescorted tanker in the Bay of Biscay . This is believed to have been the 7 , 011 GRT French steam tanker " Monique " , although there were no survivors to confirm her identity . The only trace ever found of " Monique " was the body of one of her sailors , which washed ashore near La Coruña , Spain . Near midday on 30 June , " U - 65 " located and attacked convoy SL - 36 and reported hits on two ships . In fact only one , the 5 , 802 GRT British steam merchantman " Clan Ogilvy " was hit . There were no casualties ; the damaged ship was assisted by HMS " Vesper " and " Gladiolus " and arrived at Falmouth on 4 July . One day later ( 1 July ) , the U - Boat attacked convy OA - 175 . At 13 . 51 hours she fired her sole remaining torpedo at the Dutch steam merchant vessel " Amstelland " about southwest of Lands End . The torpedo struck her on the starboard side ; one crew member was blown overboard and drowned . " Kplt . " Stockhausen claimed to have sunk his target , but despite being disabled " Amstelland " remained afloat for two days with a flooded Number 5 hold before being taken in tow by the rescue tug . The " Calendula " escorted the tug and her charge to Falmouth , where they arrived on 5 July . The last of her torpedoes expended , " U - 65 " headed for home . This successful patrol was terminated at Wilhelmshaven on 7 July . Third patrol . Departing Wilhelmshaven on 8 August 1940 , " U - 65 " proceeded into the North Sea and around the British Isles on her way to her new base at the recently captured Lorient , in France . The journey took twelve days . This patrol was unfruitful however , the submarine arrived at Lorient on 19 August without scoring any kills . Fourth patrol . " U - 65 " stood out of Lorient on 21 August 1940 for her fourth patrol . After a stop of about six days at Brest , the North Atlantic patrol began in earnest . No targets were sighted until 20 . 00 hours on 14 September , when convoy HX - 70 was located about off Barra Head ( in Scotland ) . At 21 . 18 hours , a torpedo was fired but missed ahead of the Norwegian MV " Hird " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > bow . Reacting to the attack , the merchantman began zigzagging at full speed , trying to escape . Due to the evasive course , it took nine hours to reach a new firing position , but at 06 . 05 hours a single torpedo fired from " U - 65 " s stern tube struck the merchant vessel on the starboard side between the bridge and the foremast . As the ship developed a heavy list , the crew abandoned their vessel in one lifeboat and a gig , signalling a nearby trawler to pick them up . The Germans observed the crew being rescued and the " Hird " sinking at 20 . 30 hours . The trawler , the Icelandic " Þórólfur " ( English : Thorolf ) , landed the survivors at Fleetwood on England ' s west coast on 17 September . A second successful attack occurred on 17 September 1940 , when the boat torpedoed the British steam merchant ship " Treganna " which had been travelling with convoy HX - 71 . A single torpedo hit sent her to the bottom northwest of Rockall in a matter of seconds ; of her 37 crew , only four survived . They were picked up by the British merchantman " Filleigh " from the same convoy , and landed at Avonmouth . Another twelve days at sea provided no additional targets ; " U - 65 " returned to Lorient on 25 September . Fifth patrol . Several weeks later , on 15 October , " U - 65 " sortied from Lorient , bound for the west coast of Africa and the South Atlantic . This would become both her longest and most successful patrol . A full month at sea passed before the submarine spotted her first target , the 5 , 168 GRT British steam merchant vessel " Kohinur " ; recently separated from convoy OB - 235 . At 15 . 11 hours , " U - 65 " attacked and sank her about north of the Equator . Initially , 68 of 85 men aboard survived , however many of them were killed a few hours later when " U - 65 " sank her second victim of the patrol , the 7 , 614 GRT Norwegian motor tanker " Havbør " . < br > British sailors on a raft from " Kohinur " had warned " Havbør " that a submarine was in the area , but boats were lowered to assist the 31 survivors anyhow . While this operation was in progress , " Havbør " was hit on the port side by a single torpedo from " U - 65 " and immediately caught fire , burning oil spread over the surface of the water and engulfed many of the boats involved in the rescue operation . 28 members of " Havbør " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > crew ( including the ship ' s master ) and all 31 men from " Kohinur " perished in the flames . The tanker sank seven hours later . Of the five survivors , one died of his wounds before rescue finally arrived on 24 November . The four remaining men were landed at Freetown in Sierra Leone . On 16 November , the submarine found her next mark in the 3 , 059 GRT British steam merchant ship " Fabian " about west of Freetown . A single torpedo at 14 . 29 hours hit her in the foreship . The U - Boat surfaced and finished off the stricken freighter with five hits out of eight rounds from the deck gun and she sank with the loss of six men . The 33 survivors were questioned by the Germans , who treated two injured men and provided food and water before departing the scene . At 18 . 02 hours on 18 November , " U - 65 " sighted the unescorted British motor tanker " Congonian " . The first torpedo hit the tanker ' s engine compartment . A " coup de grâce " followed at 18 . 12 hours , hitting her near the stern . One man was lost , the remaining 35 crew members were picked up by the British cruiser and landed at Freetown a few days later ( 29 November ) . " U - 65 " became the first U - Boat to cross the Equator on 11 December 1940 . After the sinking of " Congonian " , more than a month passed before " U - 65 " encountered her next victim . At 16 . 05 hours on 21 December , the unescorted ( neutral ) Panamanian steam tanker " Charles Pratt " was hit amidships by a single torpedo . Although Stockhausen noted that the neutral flags painted on her sides were clearly visible , he decided to attack without warning as it was clear ( based on her position and heading ) that she was bound for an enemy port . The tanker ' s fire suppression system was damaged in the attack , the crew abandoned their vessel in two portside lifeboats . A second torpedo hit on the starboard side just forward of the midship house about 20 minutes later , showering the surrounding water with debris , some of which barely missed the lifeboats . Although this second attack extinguished the fire , the flooding was too much and the ship sank with a heavy list . The survivors were picked up a few days later by the British merchantmen " Gascony " and " Langleegorse " and landed at Freetown . On Christmas Eve " U - 65 " encountered the steam tanker " British Premier " , a straggler from convoy SLS - 60 . Two torpedoes sealed her fate at 16 . 41 hours ; she was sunk about southwest of Freetown . The ship ' s master , thirty crew and a gunner were lost in the sinking . Of the thirteen survivors , nine were picked up on 3 January 1941 by and landed at Freetown . The other four drifted in an open boat for 41 days ( 25 of those without food ) before being rescued by . Three days later , the unescorted Norwegian steam merchant vessel " Risanger " ( 5 , 455 GRT ) was sighted . At 11 . 31 hours a single torpedo fired from " U - 65 " ' s stern hit her amidships . " U - 65 " surfaced and fired 70 rounds from the deck gun to finish off the merchant ship , which sank with her screw still turning . All 29 men aboard abandoned ship and were picked up a few days later by the Norwegian motor tanker " Belinda " . They were landed at Cape Town , South Africa on 10 January 1941 . On 31 December , " U - 65 " sighted the 8 , 532 GRT motor tanker " British Zeal " traveling on a non - evasive course at 10 . 5 knots east of the Cape Verde Islands . The submarine fired two torpedoes at 17 . 52 hours , one of which became hot in the tube and had to be launched manually ; both of these shots missed . At 23 . 00 hours a lookout spotted another torpedo track and the helm was thrown hard to starboard , but the torpedo struck the tanker squarely on the starboard side under the bridge , rupturing Number 2 tank . Despite rough seas , the crew took to the lifeboats immediately . A first " coup de grâce " missed , due to a malfunction , but a second struck the starboard side at the bulkhead between Numbers 3 and 4 tanks about 30 minutes after the first hit . The darkness and adverse weather prevented use of the deck gun , but having observed the crew abandoning ship the submarine departed the area , assuming the tanker would sink . < br > At first light , the tanker ' s crew spotted their still floating ship and re - boarded her . Despite three flooded tanks , two large holes in the starboard side , and a deck torn open by the explosions the engine room was found to be intact . The crew raised steam and tested the engines and steering , but then abandoned the ship again , fearing the submarine was still nearby . At dawn the next day , the crew re - boarded the vessel a second time , raised steam and headed toward Bathurst at five knots . A few hours later the British destroyer arrived , offered assistance , and then left to search for the long - departed attacker . The damaged tanker continued alone until joined by the rescue tug on 4 January . Despite heavy damage and inclement weather , " British Zeal " made harbour at Freetown on 8 January . She left the port after temporary repairs for more permanent restoration in Baltimore . The ship returned to service in February 1942 . A final kill was added to the submarine ' s tally on 2 January 1941 . At 22 . 07 hours a single torpedo from " U - 65 " struck the British steam merchant ship " Nalgora " ( 6 , 579 GRT ) about north of the Cape Verde Islands . About 20 minutes later , the U - Boat surfaced and finished off the stricken vessel with the deck gun . All 105 souls aboard the merchantman survived . 86 were picked up by the British merchant ships " Nolisement " and " Umgeni " after eight days adrift . The remaining 19 reached land in the Cape Verde Islands . After months at sea , " U - 65 " returned to the U - Boat pens at Lorient on 10 January 1941 . In honor of this highly successful patrol , Stockhausen was promoted to " Korvettenkapitän " and awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . He left the boat at this time and assumed command of the newly formed 26th U - boat Flotilla . Sixth patrol and loss . After a much needed break from life at sea , " U - 65 " sortied again from Lorient on 12 April 1941 . Under the command of " Kptlt . " Joachim Hoppe , she made for the North Atlantic where , on 28 April she was attacked and sunk by depth charge s from the British destroyer HMS " Douglas " . 50 men died with the U - boat ; there were no survivors .