German submarine U - 111 ( 1940 ) German submarine " U - 111 " was a Type IXB U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . She had a short career , sinking four enemy vessels and damaging one other . These victories took place over a period of two war patrols . During her first sortie , the boat sank two enemy vessels and damaged a further one . On her second patrol , " U - 111 " sank two more enemy ships before she herself was sunk on 4 October 1941 southwest of Tenerife , by depth charge s from a British warship . Out of a crew of 52 officers and men , eight died in the attack ; 44 survived . Construction and design . Construction . " U - 111 " was ordered to be built by the " Kriegsmarine " on 8 August 1939 ( as part of Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versailles ) . Her keel was laid down on 20 February 1940 by AG Weser in Bremen as ' werk ' 976 . Following about seven months of construction , she was launched on 15 September and commissioned on 19 December under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Wilhelm Kleinschmidt . Design . Like all Type IXB submarines , " U - 111 " had a total output of when surfaced and while submerged . As a result , she could travel at while surfaced and submerged . She had a range of at while on the surface and at while submerged . She was equipped with six torpedo tubes ( four in the bow , two in the stern ) and carried a total of 22 x torpedoes . The submarine was also equipped with 44 TMA mines . " U - 111 " s main deck gun was a " Utof " 10 . 5 cm SK C / 32 naval gun with 110 rounds . She was also equipped with the standard 2 cm FlaK 30 anti - aircraft guns . She had a crew of 52 men , but could carry up to 56 at any given time . After being commissioned and deployed , the boat was stationed in the German port city of Wilhelmshaven . Service history . First patrol . " U - 111 " went to sea on a war patrol for the first time on 5 May 1941 . For a period of 64 days , she roamed the North Sea and eventually the North Atlantic as far west as Nova Scotia in search of any Allied convoys heading to Great Britain . During that time she encountered three enemy vessels . The first confrontation took place on the 13th , just eight days after leaving port , when she came across the British merchant vessel " Somersby " and sank her just south of Iceland . On 20 May , the submarine came across the tanker " San Felix " and fired a torpedo at her , causing damage to her hull but failing to sink her . Two days later , " U - 111 " sank the second and last enemy vessel of her patrol , the " Barnby " , south of Greenland . After these victories , the boat returned to port . However , instead of returning to Wilhelmshaven , she entered the port of Lorient in occupied France on 7 July . Second patrol and loss . " U - 111 " left Lorient on 14 August 1941 and traveled south off the west coast of Africa and into the South Atlantic . She then turned west towards the eastern coast of Brazil . It was in these waters that the boat sank her last two enemy merchant ships . The first was the Dutch Motor merchant vessel " Marken " . She was torpedoed on 10 September just north of Ceará in Brazil . All of her crew survived the attack and boarded life boats . They were questioned by the crew of the U - boat , given food and released . " Marken " s crew were later safely picked up by a Spanish merchant vessel . Ten days later , " U - 111 " sank her fourth and last enemy vessel , the British motor merchant ship " Cingalese Prince " also off Brazil . On 28 September she was involved in an action in Tarafal Bay , in the Cape Verde islands ; having been ordered to rendezvous there with two other U - boats , " U - 67 " and " U - 68 " . " U - 111 " then headed for home . On 4 October 1941 , " U - 111 " was hunted down and sunk by depth charges from the British anti - submarine trawler HMS " Lady Shirley " southwest of Tenerife . Of a crew of 52 men , eight died ; 44 survived . They were subsequently interrogated ; it was the first time prisoners of war were captured from a U - boat operating in the South Atlantic .