German submarine U - 376 German submarine " U - 376 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down in April 1940 in Kiel , launched in July 1941 , and commissioned in August 1941 under the command of " Oberleutnant zur See " Friedrich - Karl Marks . " U - 376 " was attached to the 6th U - boat Flotilla , and was ready for front - line service from 1 March 1942 . Operating from Norwegian bases , from July 1942 she served with the 11th U - boat Flotilla , and was transferred to the 3rd U - boat Flotilla , based in France , in early 1943 . " U - 376 " sailed on eight combat patrols , sinking only two merchant ships totalling 10 , 146 tons before she went missing in the Bay of Biscay in April 1943 . Construction and Design . Construction . " U - 376 " was ordered by the " Kriegsmarine " on 16 October 1939 . She was laid down about six months later at the " Howaldtswerke " yard in Kiel , on 3 April 1940 . Just over a year and three months later , " U - 376 " was launched in Kiel on 10 July 1941 . She was formally commissioned into the " Kriegsmarine " later that year on 21 August . Design . Like all type VIIC submarines , " U - 376 " carried five 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 . Her propulsion consisted of two supercharged Germaniawerft 6 - cylinder 4 - stroke M6V 40 / 46 diesel engines that had a total of . Her maximum rpm was between 470 and 490 . She was also equipped with two electric motors totalling and had a maximum rpm of 296 . This power - train enabled " U - 376 " to have a maximum speed of while on the surface and when submerged . She had range of at when she was surfaced and at while submerged . Her test depth was ; while her crush depth was . Service history . 1st patrol . " U - 376 " , under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Friedrich - Karl Marks , left Kiel on 11 March 1942 , arriving at Heligoland in the North Sea the next day . She sailed on her first combat patrol on the 15th , heading north into the Barents Sea . There , on 30 March she torpedoed and sank the 5 , 086 ton British merchant ship " Induna " , part of the Arctic convoy PQ - 13 , en - route to Murmansk . Forty - one survivors , from the crew of 66 , abandoned ship in two lifeboats in temperatures around - 20°C and freezing winds . Only 30 were still alive on 2 April when they were picked up by a Russian minesweeper , two subsequently died of exposure . The U - boat arrived at Kirkenes in the far northeast of Norway , on 1 April 1942 . 2nd and 3rd patrols . " U - 376 " sailed on two patrols from Kirkenes , from 7 to 20 April , and from 29 April to 6 May , without success , before sailing to Bergen in Norway in early May . 4th patrol . " U - 376 " left Bergen on 7 June 1942 , sailing to the waters north of Iceland before returning to the Barents Sea . where on 10 July , she sank the 5 , 060 ton American Hog Islander " Hoosier " , en route to Arkhangelsk with a cargo of 5 , 029 tons of machinery and explosives , and tanks as deck cargo . Part of Convoy PQ 17 , the ship had been bombed the previous day by several Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of KG 30 , which had disabled the engines . Taken in tow by she was abandoned when was sighted in pursuit . The drifting wreck of " Hoosier " was hit by two torpedoes from U - 376 and sank . The U - boat arrived at Narvik on 15 July , sailing to Bergen after three days , before spending August to October at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel . She returned to Bergen on 25 October , then sailed to Skjomen fjord on 3 November 1942 . 5th patrol . " U - 376 " left Skjomenfjord on 5 November to patrol the Barents Sea once more , arriving at Narvik on 8 December , having had no success . 6th patrol . She returned to Bergen before setting out once more on 26 January 1943 , but was attacked by Allied aircraft the next day and was forced to return to base with several crewmen wounded . 7th patrol . The U - boat left Bergen on 30 January , but during the night her third watch officer was washed overboard . " U - 376 " returned to Bergen to embark a replacement and departed the same day . This patrol took her out into the Atlantic , south of Greenland , before she arrived at her new home port of La Pallice in France on 13 March . 8th patrol and loss . " U - 376 " sailed from La Pallice on 6 April 1943 on a mission codenamed " Operation Elster " ( " Magpie " ) , to take on board German Naval officers who had escaped from a POW camp at North Point on Prince Edward Island , Canada . " U - 376 " was preceded by the mission ' s backup boat , , which had left from the same port on 27 March , but had had to return due to a defective air vent , and sailed again on 7 April . While some believe that " U - 376 " was sunk on 7 May 1943 off Prince Edward Island , the U - boat failed to send the mandatory radio signal to report that she had successfully exited the Bay of Biscay and was listed as having been lost on 13 April 1943 .