German submarine U - 652 German submarine " U - 652 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 5 February 1940 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Hamburg , launched on 7 February 1941 , and commissioned on 3 April 1941 under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Georg - Werner Fraatz . Attached to " 3rd U - boat Flotilla " based at Kiel , " U - 652 " completed her training period on 30 June 1941 and was assigned to front - line service . In September 1941 she was involved in the " Greer Incident " , attacking and being counter - attacked by the supposedly neutral American destroyer , an incident that brought the United States closer to war with Germany . " U - 652 " was transferred to " 29th U - boat Flotilla " based at La Spezia , Italy on 1 January 1942 . The U - boat was scuttled on 2 June 1942 . Service history . 1st patrol . " U - 652 " left Kiel on 19 June 1941 and sailed to Bökfjord near Kirkenes , via Horten and Trondheim , arriving on 22 July . Her first combat patrol began the next day , on 23 July , patrolling the coast of the Kola Peninsula . There on 6 August at 19 : 00 she torpedoed and sank the 558 ton Soviet despatch vessel " PS - 70 " seven miles off Cape Teriberka , about east of Murmansk . The 12 survivors from the crew of 57 were rescued by motorboats sent from the nearby coast . This was the first U - boat success in the Arctic Sea . The U - boat returned to Kirkenes on 7 August after 16 days at sea , and after two days headed for Trondheim , arriving there on 13 August . 2nd patrol . " U - 652 " sailed from Trondheim on 23 August 1941 and headed out into the Atlantic waters between Greenland and Iceland . As part of wolfpack " Grönland " , at 00 : 44 on 26 August the U - boat fired a spread of three torpedoes at a British naval convoy running south - south - east and observed a hit on the 10 , 917 ton auxiliary minelayer HMS " Southern Prince " , which soon came to a halt . Another torpedo was fired at the vessel at 00 : 53 , but missed . The destroyers and sailed from Scapa Flow to assist the damaged ship and escorted her to The Minch es . She was repaired at Belfast . As part of wolfpack " Markgraf " , on 10 September at 04 : 52 " U - 652 " fired two single torpedoes at ships of Convoy SC 42 north - east of Cape Farewell , and damaged two British ships . The 6 , 508 ton tanker " Tahchee " caught fire and was abandoned . The crew later reboarded the vessel and managed to put out the fire . The ship was towed to Reykjavík by and after repairs was towed to the Tyne , repaired and returned to service in November 1942 . The 3 , 410 ton merchant ship " Baron Pentland " remained afloat due her cargo of timber despite a broken back , but was later torpedoed and sunk by on 19 September . The " Greer " incident . On 4 September 1941 , off Iceland , the American destroyer received a signal from a British bomber that a German submarine was in the vicinity . " Greer " made sonar contact , and pursued the " U - 652 " at close range . The aircraft dropped four depth charge s , and soon after the U - boat fired a torpedo at the US warship , perhaps believing she had launched the attack . Oblt . Fraatz also misidentified the destroyer as " " one of the 50 American vessels that are now sailing for England " . " A two - hour battle ensued , during which " Greer " dropped 19 depth charges , and the U - boat fired another torpedo , without result . President Roosevelt used this event in his campaign to convince the US to go to war , and the " undeclared war " between U - boats and US escorts escalated dramatically . " U - 652 " arrived at Lorient , France , on 18 September after 27 days on patrol . 3rd patrol . " U - 652 " left Lorient on 1 November 1941 , and headed out into the mid - Atlantic , before sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea . There , south of the Balearic Islands , on 9 December she hit the 1 , 595 ton Vichy French merchant ship " Saint Denis " with a single torpedo , which sank her immediately . " U - 652 " arrived at Messina on 12 December after 42 days at sea . 4th patrol . The U - boat departed Messina on 14 December 1941 and sailed around Greece into the Aegean Sea . There at 21 : 34 on 19 December she torpedoed the unescorted 6 , 557 ton Soviet tanker " Varlaam Avanesov " , which sank two hours later 2 . 5 miles off Cape Babakale , Çanakkale Province , Turkey . The survivors abandoned ship in lifeboats , reached the Turkish coast and were later repatriated . The U - boat arrived at La Spezia on 1 January 1942 , where she joined " 29th U - boat Flotilla " . 5th & 6th patrols . After sailing from La Spezia to Salamis in early February 1942 , " U - 652 " carried out two short and uneventful patrols . 7th patrol . Departing Salamis on 18 March 1942 " U - 652 " headed for the coast of North Africa . There on 20 March at 10 : 54 she fired four torpedoes at the 1 , 050 ton British Type II Hunt class destroyer about 40 miles north - east of Bardia . One torpedo hit " Heythrop " , which was taken in tow by towards Tobruk , but she foundered five hours later . On 26 March at 02 : 27 the U - boat fired a spread of four torpedoes at the 1 , 690 ton British J class destroyer north - east of Sollum . Two of the torpedoes struck the ship in the bows , and she caught fire and sank in a short time . From her complement of 246 , only 53 survived . " U - 652 " arrived at Pola on 31 March 1942 . 8th patrol . The U - boat left Pola on 25 May 1942 on her final patrol , and returned to the North African coast . On 2 June 1942 " U - 652 " was severely damaged by depth charge s dropped by a British Swordfish torpedo bomber from 815 Naval Air Squadron , and was scuttled in the Gulf of Sollum , in position , by torpedoes from . There were no casualties from her crew of 46 .