German submarine U - 353 German submarine " U - 353 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 30 March 1940 at the Flensburger Schiffbau - Gesellschaft yard at Flensburg , launched on 11 November 1941 , and commissioned on 31 March 1942 under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Wolfgang Römer . After training with the 5th U - boat Flotilla based at Kiel , " U - 353 " was transferred to the 1st U - boat Flotilla at Brest in France for front - line service from 1 October 1942 . " U - 353 " was sunk on her first and only combat patrol at 15 : 02 GMT on 16 October 1942 in the North Atlantic after being rammed and depth - charged by the destroyer , in position , while about to attack Convoy SC 104 . Six of the crew were killed and 39 survived the attack . < br > She did not sink any ships . Service history . Commissioning and training . " U - 353 " was ready for commissioning in early February 1942 , but this was delayed until 31 March by ice in the Baltic Sea . Her " U - Bootsabnahmekommission " trials ( UAK , " U - Boats Acceptance Commission " ) at Kiel was delayed by three weeks because of the number of U - boats already there , so she remained at Flensburg , performing exercises . The U - boat finally arrived at Kiel on about 21 April , taking the normal UAK trials in Kiel Fjord . She also entered the pressure dock at the Deutsche Werke shipyard and was tested to the equivalent depth of . The UAK trials lasted until about 20 May . " U - 353 " then proceeded to Rønne ( on the Danish island of Bornholm , in the western Baltic ) , for silent running tests , but these were interrupted by the threat of Russian submarines . She consequently sailed to Danzig , arriving about 23 May , proceeding immediately to Königsberg , where she put into the Schichau shipyard for a few days for minor repairs . She then sailed to Gdingen , where she spent about five days in torpedo firing exercises , and then to Hela in Poland for the " Ausbildungsgruppe Front " ( " Training Group Front " ) technical and dive training , which lasted about four weeks . " U - 353 " returned to Rönne for a week of silent running tests , then arrived back at Flensburg for final adjustments and crew leave on 11 July . There the boat was fitted with a Metox radar detector . In mid - August she sailed to Gdingen for tactical exercises , which lasted until early September . On 11 September " U - 353 " arrived back at Kiel for fitting - out , fuelling , and embarked provisions and torpedoes . Combat patrol . " U - 353 " sailed from Kiel at 07 : 00 on 22 September 1942 , accompanied by two other U - boats and for a short distance by two " Sperrbrecher " ( lit . " Pathmaker " , in English " Minesweeper " ) . She was provisioned for ten weeks and carried 130 tons of fuel oil . It was expected that she would remain at sea for just over eight weeks , before arriving at Brest , where she would join the 1st U - boat Flotilla . She proceeded on the surface to Kristiansand in Norway at , arriving about 07 : 00 on 24 September and topped up her fuel from two Norwegian oil lighters . She left Kristiansand at 07 : 00 the next day , hugging the Norwegian coast northwards at . She was escorted by minesweepers and " Vorpostenboot e " ( " patrol boats " ) . On making Skudesnes , off Stavanger , on the evening of 26 September , the escorts parted company , " U - 353 " sailed west until she reached the 100 - fathom line , then altered course northwards . The U - boat detected radar transmissions several times , and dived immediately . She continued north before altering course to the west to pass through the " Rosengarten " ( " rose garden " , the German naval slang term for a minefield ) between Iceland and the Faroe Islands , encountering drifting mines several times . The U - boat then received orders from the BdU ( " U - boat High Command " ) to proceed to a position roughly 400 miles west of Rockall . Wolf pack ' Panther ' . About 3 October , " U - 353 " received another signal from the BdU reporting a convoy about 190 miles to the north - north - west , however heavy seas made reaching it difficult . About 5 October , she was ordered to abandon the attempt , and was later ordered to proceed to another position , arriving about 6 October , as one of nineteen U - boats forming the wolfpack ' Panther ' . " U - 353 " was the seventh or eighth boat in the patrol line and remained in position for a week . On sighting a fast independently - sailing ship at a range of about 4 , 000 yards , she altered course to intercept it , but lost contact . Early on 10 October , the U - boat sighted another ship , estimated to be of about 15 , 000 tons , sailing independently . The U - boat pursued her , but lost her in rapidly worsening weather , abandoning the chase and returning to the patrol line . The next day , 11 October , reported sighting a convoy of three fast ships and three destroyers , " U - 353 " was one of several U - boats ordered to pursue them . Wolf pack ' Leopard ' . The detached U - boats were designated wolf pack ' Leopard ' , but were soon ordered to change course to close a larger convoy spotted by wolf pack ' Wolf ' about 400 miles to the west . At 05 : 00 on 12 October , " U - 353 " spotted an independently - sailing merchant ship of 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 tons , and closed to attack , firing two torpedoes from a range of 2 , 000 yards . The ship promptly altered course , and the U - boat fired another torpedo from her stern tube . Two loud explosions were heard , and the ship was seen to break in two and sink . " U - 353 " surfaced and closed at full speed , only to find " U - 133 " already there and claiming the victory . Eventually the two captains agreed that " U - 353 " s torpedoes had forced the ship to change course into " U - 133 " s line of fire , and they agreed to share the credit . Ten minutes later another U - boat was sighted , , which claimed to have sunk two ships . The U - boats then parted company to search for the convoy . About noon on 12 October , " U - 353 " was proceeding on the surface in daylight in company with two other U - boats , when a B - 24 Liberator bomber from No . 120 Squadron RAF appeared out of low cloud and attacked . " U - 353 " crash - dived , hearing depth charges explode some distance away . After an hour she resurfaced and searched for her companions , but found nothing . Convoy SC 104 . At about 05 : 00 on 16 October , " U - 353 " was proceeding at full speed on the surface in total darkness . The U - boat saw the shadows of ships all around , the nearest about five miles away . This ship , the corvette detected the U - boat by radar , promptly closed the range and opened fire with her guns . " U - 353 " dived to and was attacked with depth charges , sustaining minor damage . The attack lasted for an hour before the corvette withdrew . An hour later the U - boat surfaced , and set a course to intercept the convoy . Sinking . At 13 : 05 the U - boat estimated that it was now about eight miles ahead of the convoy and submerged to use her hydrophone s , proceeding dead slow at a depth of . On detecting propeller noise , the U - boat altered course to approach the convoy . After half an hour the hydrophone operator heard faint propeller noises approaching . The U - boat altered course again and after 15 minutes the operator again reported oncoming propeller noises . The captain ordered the U - boat to rise to periscope depth . Unknown to " U - 353 " , this was the destroyer , about two miles ahead of Convoy SC 104 , which had gained a firm Asdic ( sonar ) contact , and increased speed to 15 knots to intercept the U - boat . Suddenly there was a series of ear - splitting explosions , as " Fame " dropped a pattern of 10 depth charges . The lights in " U - 353 " went out and water entered forward and aft through the hydrophone shafts . The electric motors stopped working , all but one of the depth gauges broke , and the aft hydroplanes were put out of action . " U - 353 " went deeper , almost out of control as water poured in through the stern torpedo tube causing her to lose trim . The U - boat blew her tanks and surfaced , and the captain ordered the crew to prepare to abandon ship . " Fame " was preparing for a hedgehog attack when the U - boat surfaced . The destroyer increased speed to 18 knots and opened fire with every weapon which could bear . " Fame " rammed " U - 353 " forward , her bows hitting her a glancing blow , the U - boat scraped down her starboard side , the destroyer then dropped a pattern of five depth charges when the U - boat was abreast of her stern . The survivors of " U - 353 " s crew leapt into the sea from the sinking U - boat and swam to safety . The commander , four officers and 14 ratings were picked up by " Fame " , another 20 men were rescued by the Norwegian corvette . All were landed at Liverpool a few days later for interrogation and internment in a POW camp .