German submarine U - 193 German submarine " U - 193 " was a Type IXC / 40 U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " built during World War II for service in the Atlantic Ocean . The submarine was laid down on 22 December 1941 at the AG Weser yard in Bremen as ' werk ' 1039 . She was launched on 24 August 1942 and commissioned on 10 December under the command of " Korvettenkapitän " Hans Paukstadt . She was a member of two wolfpack s and carried out four war patrols in which she sank one ship , before being lost herself in the Bay of Biscay in April 1944 . Operational history . 1st patrol . The boat ' s first patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway in May 1943 . She then left the Nordic port on 22 May , heading west . She negotiated the ' gap ' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and entered the Atlantic Ocean . She did not encounter any Allied shipping , and failed to find her first victory . An unidentified aircraft attacked " U - 193 " south of the Canary Islands on 6 July , wounding two men and destroying the Metox radar detection equipment . The submarine entered Bordeaux in occupied France , on 23 July . 2nd and 3rd patrols . " U - 193 " s second foray began with her departure from La Pallice , ( she had moved there in September ) , on 12 October 1943 . Moving to the Gulf of Mexico , she sank the independently - sailing 10 , 000 ton American oil tanker TS " Touchet " west of Florida with the loss of ten of her crew . The remainder of the patrol was a failure however , as a combination of dud torpedoes , well - organized convoys and effective counter - measures combined to prevent the boat gaining a single hit . < br > As the second patrol came to an end in February 1944 after five frustrating months at sea , " U - 193 " caused an international incident following an attack by Allied aircraft and convoy escorts off the Spanish coast . In her desperate attempts to escape , she dived straight into the seabed , causing serious damage to the boat . Knowing a journey to a German - held port was now impossible , her captain , Hans Pauckstadt , decided to intern his boat in Ferrol , Spain . Under international law , if " U - 193 " remained in the neutral harbour for more than 24 hours , then the Spanish authorities were obliged to detain the submarine for the remainder of hostilities . This did not occur , " U - 193 " stayed in Ferrol for ten days whilst Spanish workmen performed superficial repairs to the U - boat . < br > " U - 193 " then left the port despite Allied protests and returned to Lorient in France , where more extensive repairs were completed and Paukstadt was replaced by " Kplt . " Dr . Ulrich Abel . This six - day passage is often listed as " U - 193 " s ' third ' patrol , although there was no intention of operating against Allied shipping . 4th patrol . Following repairs , " U - 193 " departed on her fourth and final patrol and was never heard from again . Her loss remains a mystery . A post - war assessment states that on the 28 April 1944 , she was seen and attacked by a British Royal Air Force Vickers Wellington bomber of No . 612 Squadron RAF , whose depth charges sank the boat with all 59 hands not far from Nantes . This attack was actually against , inflicting no damage .