German submarine U - 57 ( 1938 ) German submarine " U - 57 " 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 in Kiel as ' werk ' 256 . Ordered on 17 June 1937 , she was laid down on 14 September , launched on 3 September 1938 and commissioned on 29 December under the command of " Oberleutnant " Claus Korth . " U - 56 " was initially part of the 5th U - boat Flotilla during her training period , until 31 December 1939 , when she was re - assigned to the 1st U - boat Flotilla for operations . She carried out eleven war patrols , sinking eleven ships for a total 48 , 053 GRT and one auxiliary warship of 8 , 240 GRT ; she also damaged two vessels totalling 10 , 403 GRT ; one ship was declared a total loss ( 10 , 191GRT ) . Service history . 1st , 2nd and 3rd patrols . The boat ' s first patrol was brief and passed without incident . For her second sortie , she departed Kiel on 5 September 1939 , but went no further than the Kattegat . Her third effort was as far as the waters separating Orkney and Shetland , but success continued to elude her . 4th and 5th patrols . It was more of the same for her fourth and fifth patrols , although her activity was centred more in the southern North Sea . 6th and 7th patrols . The submarine ' s luck changed for the better on her sixth foray , when she sank the " Miranda " about northwest of Peterhead in Scotland on 20 January 1940 . Sally number seven began with the boat ' s departure from Wilhelmshaven on 8 February 1940 . On the 14th , she attacked the " Gretafield " southeast of Noss Head . The burnt - out ship , which had been abandoned , drifted ashore at Dunbeath in Caithness . She broke in two and was declared a total loss . < br > " U - 57 " was one of six U - boats that took part in Operation " Nordmark " ; carrying out reconnaissance in the area of the Orkney and Shetland Islands for a subsequently unsuccessful sortie by the German capital ship s " Scharnhorst " , " Gneisenau " and " Admiral Hipper " between 18 and 20 February 1940 . 8th and 9th patrols . On her eighth patrol , also executed in the vicinity of Orkney , she sank the " Daghestan " east of Copinsay , Orkney , on 25 March 1940 . Patrol number nine saw the boat sweeping the area of the North Sea off the English / Scottish borders , Orkney and Shetland and all points east , with no result . 10th patrol . " U - 57 " had moved to Bergen in Norway ; HMS " Tetrarch " , a British submarine , fired three torpedo es at the U - boat in the entrance to Kors fjord on 15 July 1940 : they missed . On the 17th , she sank the " O . A . Brodin " northwest of Noup Head in the Orkney Islands . She also successfully attacked the " Manipur " northwest of Cape Wrath , ( on the northern Scottish mainland ) . Her next victim was the " Atos " which went to the bottom in three minutes about north of Malin Head ( in Ireland ) on 3 August . < br > She then docked at the recently captured port of Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on 7 August . 11th patrol and loss . Although her base had changed , the boat ' s area of operations had not . She damaged the " Havildar " northeast of Malin Head on 24 August 1940 and sank the " Cumberland " but was unsuccessfully attacked by British warships the next day . As sort of a farewell gift , she sank the " Pecten " in the evening of the 25th ; the ship went down in 90 seconds . Returning to Germany , she was relegated to duties as a training boat and sunk after a collision with the Norwegian ship " Rona " at Brunsbüttel ( northwest of Hamburg ) . She was raised , repaired and returned to service in January 1941 . With the end of the war in sight , she was scuttled on 3 May 1945 at Kiel .