German submarine U - 221 German submarine " U - 221 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . Ordered on 15 August 1940 from the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel , she was laid down on 16 June 1941 as ' werk ' 651 , launched on 14 March 1942 and commissioned on 9 May 1942 under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Hans - Hartwig Trojer . A member of twelve wolfpack s , she sank a total of 11 ships for a total of in five patrols . Operational career . " U - 221 " is also credited with the destruction of ten allied landing craft ( nine LCM s and one LCT ) that were lost aboard the British merchantman " Southern Empress " when that vessel was torpedoed and sunk on 14 October 1942 . 1st patrol . " U - 221 " departed Kristiansand on 3 September 1942 having moved to the Norwegian port a day earlier . Her route took her through the ' gap ' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands . She claimed her first victim , the " Fagersten " , about east of the Belle Isle Strait , in Newfoundland on 13 October . In the same attack , she sank the " Ashworth " and the " Senta " . There were no survivors from either vessel . The next day two more ships fell to the torpedoe s of the German U - boat . The " Susana " went down in six minutes northeast of St . Johns ; the " Southern Empress " was sent to the bottom , taking a deck cargo of ten landing craft with her . " U - 221 " docked in St Nazaire on 22 October . 2nd patrol . The boat ' s second foray was one of anti - climax and tragedy . Although she scoured the Atlantic west of Ireland , she failed to find any targets . On 8 December " U - 221 " and " U - 254 " collided in heavy fog , resulting in the loss of the latter boat . " U - 221 " was badly damaged . Unable to dive , " Oberleutnant " Trojer aborted the patrol and returned to St . Nazaire . 3rd patrol . Her third sortie was more fruitful . The " Jamaica " was destroyed on 7 March 1943 . This ship took just two minutes to find a watery grave , followed by the " Tucurina " on the 10th , southeast of Cape Farewell , ( Greenland ) . In the same attack , the U - boat sank the " Andrea F . Luckenbach " and damaged the " Lawton B . Evans " ( probably due to a dud torpedo ) . Retribution was swift ; the convoy ' s escorts from HX - 228 caused serious damage to " U - 221 " . Repairs were carried out at sea , enabling the boat to sink two more ships on 18 March ; the " Canadian Star " and the " Walter Q . Gresham " were added to her list of ' kills ' . 4th patrol . " U - 221 " only sank one ship on this patrol , the " Sandanger " ; the survivors had a remarkable escape . Occupying the only intact lifeboat , they found themselves in an area of low pressure created by the ship ' s burning fuel cargo . The flames were split in two by strong winds which also kept them above the men ' s heads by only a few feet as they rowed clear of the location . 5th patrol and loss . " U - 221 " left St . Nazaire for the last time on 20 September 1943 . On the 27th she was attacked by a Handley Page Halifax of No . 58 Squadron RAF with eight depth charge s southwest of Ireland . The U - boat was seen to sink by the stern but the aircraft was also hit , forcing the pilot to ditch about three miles from the encounter . Two gunners from the Halifax were lost ; the U - boat was sunk with all hands ( 50 men ) . Summary of raiding history . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Being carried aboard the " Southern Empress " See also . " U - 254 "