German submarine U - 255 German submarine " U - 255 " was a Type VIIC U - boat that served in the German Navy ( " Kriegsmarine " ) during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 21 December 1940 at the Bremer Vulkan yard at Bremen - Vegesack , launched on 8 October 1941 and commissioned on 29 November 1941 under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Reinhart Reche . One of the most successful U - boats to operate in Arctic waters , she operated from Norway during 1942 – 1943 , and then from France in 1944 – 1945 , sailing on 15 combat patrols , sinking ten merchant ships totalling and damaging another of enough for it to be written off as a total loss . She also sank the . At the end of the war " U - 255 " surrendered to the British , and was sunk during Operation " Deadlight " on 13 December 1945 . Construction . " U - 255 " was ordered by the " Kriegsmarine " on 23 September 1939 and laid down more than a year later on 21 December 1940 at the Bremer Vulkan yard at Bremen - Vegesack as " Werk 20 " . " U - 255 " was launched 8 October 1941 , and commissioned on 29 November that same year with " Kapitänleutnant " Reinhart Reche in command . " U - 255 " carried 5 × torpedo tube s ( four located in the bow , one in the stern ) and had one C35 88mm / L45 deck gun with 220 rounds . She could also carry 14 G7e torpedo es or 26 TMA mines and had a crew of 44 - 52 men . Service record . After a period of training with the " 8th U - boat Flotilla " , based at Königsberg in the Baltic Sea , " U - 255 " was transferred to the " 11th U - boat Flotilla " , based at Bergen , Norway , for front - line service on 1 July 1942 . 1st patrol . On 15 June 1942 , " U - 255 " sailed from Kiel , under the command of Kapitänleutnant Reinhart Reche , arriving at Narvik on the 20th . She then departed on her first patrol on 23 June , sailing into the Barents Sea , north of Russia . She made her first kill on 6 July , sinking the 7 , 191 ton American Liberty ship " John Witherspoon " about 20 miles off Novaya Zemlya . The ship , en route from Baltimore to Arkhangelsk with 8 , 575 tons of ammunition and tanks aboard , had been a part of Convoy PQ 17 which had dispersed on Admiralty orders in the Barents Sea on 4 July . After being hit by four torpedoes , the ship broke in two , and sank within minutes . The crew abandoned ship , and one seaman fell overboard and drowned . " U - 255 " questioned the survivors , offered food and water , gave directions to the nearest land , and left . The crew were picked up by Royal Navy ships on 9 July . The next day , 7 July , she sank the 5 , 116 ton American Hog Islander " Alcoa Ranger " , also from Convoy PQ 17 . A single torpedo struck the ship , causing the vessel to list heavily to starboard . The crew abandoned ship in three lifeboats within 15 minutes . After she questioned the crew , she began to shell the ship from a distance of about , firing at least 60 shells ( some survivors said as many as 150 ) until the ship sank . The crewmen were rescued by Soviet patrol boats later that day . Early on 8 July , " U - 255 " caught another ship from Convoy PQ 17 , the 6 , 069 ton American merchant ship " Olopana " , loaded with 6 , 000 tons of explosives , gasoline , and trucks as deck cargo . A single torpedo hit the ship , blowing out all the bulkheads , and killing seven of the crew . The surviving crewmen abandoned ship on four rafts , as " U - 255 " surfaced and fired 20 shells at the ship , which sank after 20 minutes . " U - 255 " questioned the survivors , gave them a course to land , and asked if they had enough food and water before leaving . The survivors landed at Moller Bay , Novaya Zemlya , two days later . On 13 July " U - 255 " found the 7 , 168 ton Dutch merchant ship " Paulus Potter " abandoned and drifting , with 2 , 250 tons of general goods , ammunition , 34 tanks , 15 aircraft and 103 trucks aboard . The ship had been attacked by Ju 88 dive bombers of III . / KG 30 east - north - east of Bear Island on 5 July , the day after Convoy PQ 17 dispersed , the crew had abandoned the badly damaged ship , believing it was about to sink . All 76 of the crew had taken five days to reach land at Novaya Zemlya , eventually being rescued by a Soviet whaling vessel . After finding her the II . WO and two mates from " U - 255 " boarded the ship , and attempted to start the engines , but the engine room was flooded . They then searched the vessel , taking blankets , cigarettes , and other useful materials , including confidential documents found on the bridge , and the ship ' s ensign as a prize , before the ship was sunk with a single torpedo . " U - 255 " returned to Narvik on 15 July . 2nd patrol . " U - 255 " left Narvik on 18 July 1942 , arriving at Bergen on the 20th . She sailed from Bergen on 4 August for her second combat patrol , heading deep into Soviet waters , but had no success , although she shelled two Soviet wireless stations , as part of Operation Wunderland , before arriving at Neidenfjord on the Norwegian / Finnish border on 9 September . 3rd patrol . " U - 255 " sailed from Neidenfjord on 13 September 1942 , patrolling the Barents Sea , with no result , before heading out into the Greenland Sea . There , on 20 September , she attacked the 4 , 937 ton American merchant ship " Silver Sword " , returning from Arkhangelsk to New York with 5 , 000 tons of hides and chrome ore and a deck cargo of wood pulp . Hit by two torpedoes , which blew off the stern post , propeller and rudder , and caused the after magazine to explode , the 48 crew and 16 passengers ( survivors from PQ 17 ) abandoned ship in two lifeboats and one raft . The ship was then shelled by the W class destroyer and sank . The crew were later picked up by British ships , with one man dying of wounds later . Three days later , on 23 September , " U - 255 " was attacked by a Catalina patrol aircraft of No . 210 Squadron RAF south of Jan Mayen . After being badly damaged by two depth charges , she was forced to return to Bergen , arriving on the 25th . Refitting and 4th patrol . On 29 September 1942 " U - 255 " sailed from Bergen , arriving back at Kiel on 3 October . There the submarine was fitted with a " Schnorchel " underwater - breathing apparatus before sailing again on 7 January 1943 , and arriving at Hammerfest in northern Norway on the 18th . Returning to her old hunting grounds north of Norway , " U - 255 " sailed from Hammerfest on 23 January 1943 , and on the 26th , " U - 255 " likely sank the 2 , 418 ton Soviet merchant ship " Krasnyj Partizan " with two torpedoes west of Bear Island . The Russian ship had just evaded the pursuing when it went missing . She was probably sunk by " U - 255 " because the submarine recorded a loss the same day . After the sinking of the unknown merchant ship that was likely the " Krasnyj Partizan " , " U - 255 " surfaced and tried to question the survivors . They only spoke Russian and could not be understood . As a result , the crew of " U - 255 " were unable to confirm the identity of the vessel . On 29 January , she sank another Russian freighter , the 1 , 892 ton " Ufa " , south of Bear Island . Both the " Krasnyj Partizan " and the " Ufa " were loaded with timber destined for the United States , and no survivors were found from either ship unless the survivors from the unknown Russian merchant vessel that was sunk by " U - 255 " were indeed crew members of the " Krasnyj Partizan " . On the afternoon of 3 February , about 600 miles north - east of Iceland , " U - 255 " fired a salvo of torpedoes at Convoy RA - 52 , en route from Murmansk to New York , and hit the 7 , 460 ton American merchant ship " Greylock " . The ship attempted to evade the attack , but was holed below the waterline , immediately flooded , and began to list to starboard . Within fifteen minutes the crew of 61 and nine passengers abandoned ship in four lifeboats . A British escort then shelled and sank the crippled ship . " U - 255 " then arrived back at Narvik on 9 February . 5th patrol . " U - 255 " sailed from Narvik on 22 February 1943 out into the northern seas once more . On 5 March she fired a spread of three torpedoes at Convoy RA - 53 , sailing from Murmansk to Scotland , and hit two American merchant ships ; the 4 , 978 ton Hog Islander " Executive " , loaded with 1 , 500 tons of potassium chloride , and the 7 , 191 ton Liberty ship " Richard Bland " , carrying 4 , 000 tons of lumber . The " Executive " was struck on the starboard side ; the explosion demolished the booms , engine , dynamos and all equipment in the immediate area . One hold rapidly flooded and the ship began to settle by the stern . Nine of the crew were killed , the remaining 53 abandoned ship in three lifeboats and a raft . The ship was sunk by gunfire from a destroyer about an hour after the attack . The " Richard Bland " was struck by a torpedo which did not explode , but passed through the ship , making holes on either side . The ship remained with the convoy with only a slightly reduced speed , but on the night of 6 March lost contact in gale force winds and rough seas , and proceeded alone towards Iceland . Five days later , on 10 March , " U - 255 " found the vessel about 35 miles off Langanes , Iceland , and hit her with two more torpedoes , breaking the ship in two just forward of the bridge . The crew abandoned ship , and of the total of 69 on board , the master , five officers , 13 crewmen and 15 armed guards were lost , when their lifeboats were swamped in heavy seas . The stern section was torpedoed by " U - 255 " again and sank , but the forward section was towed to Akureyri in Iceland , where the ship was declared a total loss . " U - 255 " then returned to Narvik , arriving on 15 March . 6th patrol . " U - 255 " sailed from Narvik on 29 March 1943 to patrol the Barents Sea , but had no successes , arriving at Bergen on 29 April . On 1 June 1943 , " U - 255 " was transferred to the newly created " 13th U - boat Flotilla " based at the DORA 1 submarine base at Trondheim . 7th patrol . Under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Erich Harms ( the U - boat ' s former I . WO ) from 7 June 1943 , " U - 255 " sailed from Bergen on 9 July , arriving at Narvik on the 16th . She left Narvik on 19 July and sailed into Soviet waters , where on 27 July she sank the 411 ton Russian survey ship " Akademik Shokalskij " with her deck gun and small arm s fire . " U - 255 " established a secret seaplane base on Novaya Zemlya , and returned to Narvik on 19 September after 63 days at sea . On 1 December 1943 " U - 255 " was transferred again , this time to the " 7th U - boat Flotilla " , based at Saint - Nazaire in France . 8th patrol . " U - 255 " departed Bergen on 26 February 1944 sailing out into the northern Atlantic between Greenland and Iceland . On 10 March , about 400 miles south of Iceland , " U - 255 " located Convoy CU 16 , but was detected by sonar by the US Navy destroyer escort . The ship turned to investigate the contact , but was hit by an acoustic torpedo . The crew abandoned ship , and she sank after several hours . Only 28 survivors were picked up by her sister ship from her crew of 199 . " U - 255 " was hunted by other escorts for three hours , but managed to slip away . On 11 April , the inbound U - boat was caught on the surface with its escort by 15 British Mosquito aircraft . These were in turn attacked by German Ju 88 aircraft . " U - 255 " reached its new home port of St . Nazaire later that day on with only minor damage . 9th and 10th patrols . " U - 255 " made two short patrols in the Bay of Biscay on the 6 – 9 May and 6 – 15 June 1944 , but had no successes . " U - 255 " began her ninth patrol on 6 May 1944 when she left St . Nazaire . However she was recalled to her home port after only 2 days fully at sea on 8 May . " U - 255 " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > tenth patrol was to suffer the same fate as her ninth . She left St . Nazaire on 6 June 1944 , ( the day of the Normandy landings ) and was recalled home on 15 June after only 10 days at sea . 11th - 14th patrols . Damaged in an air raid in August 1944 , " U - 255 " was decommissioned for repairs . She was transferred back to the " 13th U - boat Flotilla " on 1 March 1945 , and recommissioned on 2 March with " Oberleutnant zur See " Helmuth Heinrich in command . " U - 255 " made a series of four short patrols between St . Nazaire and La Pallice in April and early May 1945 laying mines . 15th patrol . " U - 255 " began her final voyage under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Helmuth Heinrich on the day of the German surrender , sailing from St . Nazaire on 8 May 1945 to Loch Alsh in Scotland , arriving there on 19 May to make her formal surrender . Post war fate . " U - 255 " was transferred to Loch Eriboll , and then Loch Ryan on 14 May 1945 for " Operation Deadlight " . She was towed out to sea by and on 13 December was sunk by Beaufighter aircraft of No . 254 Squadron RAF with RP - 3 rockets . in position , south west of Ireland . Raiding career . During her service in the German " Kriegsmarine " , " U - 255 " sank 10 commercial ships for , one warship of , and sank another commercial ship for a total loss of .