German submarine U - 558 The German submarine " U - 558 " was a Type VIIC U - boat in the service of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II . She sank 19 merchant ships and military vessels totalling nearly 100 , 000 tons before being sunk by bombers in July 1943 . Construction and early service life . " U - 558 " was laid down on 6 January 1940 at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg , Germany as ' werk ' 534 and launched on 23 December 1940 . She was commissioned on 20 February 1941 , with " Oberleutnant zur See " Günther Krech in command . Her service began with the 1st U - boat Flotilla where she conducted training before moving on to operations , also with the 1st flotilla , on 1 May 1941 . Operational career . She was a member of nine wolf pack s , although group ' Ziethen ' is not on uboat . net ' s list . However , " U - 558 " is mentioned as part of ' Ziethen ' in Michael Gannon ' s book " Operation Drumbeat " ( on p . 200 ) . 1st , 2nd and 3rd patrols . " U - 558 " departed Kiel on 1 July 1941 and entered the Atlantic via the North Sea and the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands with no major encounters , arriving at her new home port of Brest in occupied France on the 28th . Her second patrol was also relatively uneventful . The submarine ' s third patrol , from 25 August to 16 September 1941 , became interesting when she came upon the British Convoy OS 4 about 330 miles northwest of Fastnet Rock . She torpedoed and sank the " Otaio " , a 10 , 300 - ton cargo ship , on 28 August . 4th and 5th patrols . Her fourth patrol , which began on 11 October 1941 , first saw action off Ireland when she torpedoed and sank the unescorted " Vancouver Island " , a Canadian merchant ship of 9 , 472 tons , on 15 October . Two days later on 17 October , " U - 558 " was involved in a devastating attack on Convoy SC 48 in the North Atlantic . During the battle , " U - 558 " sank four ships : the 925 - ton escort corvette , the 9 , 552 - ton British merchant steamer " W . C . Teagle " , and the Norwegian merchant steamers " Erviken " ( which broke in two and sank in three minutes ) and " Rym " , 6 , 595 and 1 , 369 tons respectively . " U - 558 " took a hit from a depth charge dropped by a Catalina flying boat , but did not sustain serious damage and continued to shadow the convoy . She returned to Brest on 25 October 1941 , having sunk four ships in the 15 days of her fourth patrol . " U - 558 " ' s fifth patrol began on 24 November 1941 . On 2 December , a British aircraft spotted the U - boat attempting to enter the Mediterranean Sea and called for surface support . " U - 558 " took serious damage from depth charges dropped by the two ships that responded . She was able to escape , but had to return to Brest for repairs , arriving 7 December 1941 after only 14 days at sea , having had no success . 6th and 7th patrols . " U - 558 " required significant repairs and remained in port until 10 February 1942 , when she embarked on her sixth patrol . On 21 February Convoy ONS 67 was spotted , so she moved into position along with five other submarines . Eight of its ships were sunk by the U - boats , another two were left damaged . On 24 February , " U - 558 " torpedoed the 8 , 009 - ton British tanker " Anadara " , which escaped . That same day she also torpedoed and sank the 9 , 432 - ton Norwegian tanker " Eidanger " and the 5 , 578 - ton British steamer " Inverarder " . She returned to Brest on 11 March 1942 . " U - 558 " departed Brest to begin her seventh patrol of the war on 12 April 1942 . On 12 May , she sank the 913 - ton British armed trawler off the coast of Ocracoke Island , North Carolina , where the ship had been assisting the United States Navy with anti - submarine patrols . Six days later on 18 May , she sank the 1 , 254 - ton Dutch steamer " Fauna " . On 21 May she sank the 1 , 925 - ton Canadian steamer " Troisdoc " in the Caribbean . Off Jamaica on 23 May , " U - 558 " torpedoed the 7 , 061 - ton American merchant steamer " William Boyce Thompson " , but the tanker used evasive maneuvers and reached the safety of Guantanamo Bay , Cuba for repairs . Still in the Caribbean on 25 May , " U - 558 " next attacked the 3 , 451 - ton American merchant steamer " Beatrice " . When her torpedo hit the ship but failed to detonate , " U - 558 " surfaced and trained her deck guns on the vessel , which was quickly ordered abandoned , and subsequently sunk . Remaining in the Caribbean , " U - 558 " next torpedoed and sank the 2 , 622 - ton United States Army transport " Jack " on 27 May . Her last target during the patrol was the 2 , 078 - ton Dutch steamer " Triton " , which she shelled and sank on 2 June about 470 miles southeast of Bermuda . " U - 558 " returned to Brest to end her seventh patrol on 21 June 1942 , having sunk six ships and damaged one . 8th , 9th and 10th patrols . " U - 558 " ' s eighth patrol began when she left Brest on 29 July 1942 . On 25 August , she encountered the 1 , 987 - ton British steamer " Amakura " , which had been travelling with Convoy WAT 15 but had fallen behind . " U - 558 " torpedoed and sank her approximately 90 miles southeast of Port Morant , Jamaica . " U - 558 " encountered Convoy TAG 5 on 13 September ; she torpedoed and sank the 7 , 241 - ton British cargo ship " Empire Lugard " and the 7 , 915 - ton Dutch steamer " Suriname " . The same day she also hit the convoy ' s 6 , 672 - ton Norwegian tanker " Vilja " , whose crew quickly abandoned ship but were able to reboard after " U - 558 " left the area . " Vilja " did not sink , but was later deemed a total loss . On 16 September " U - 558 " torpedoed and sank the 2 , 606 - ton American steamer " Commercial Trader " about 75 miles east of Trinidad . " U - 558 " returned to port on 16 October , having sunk four ships and damaged a fifth . " U - 558 " remained in port until the end of 1942 , and embarked on her ninth war patrol on 9 January 1943 . On 23 February , she torpedoed and sank the 9 , 811 - ton British steam tanker " Empire Norseman " south of the Azores , which had been travelling with Convoy UC 1 but was drifting unmanned after being torpedoed by and . She found no other targets during her ninth patrol , which ended when she returned to Brest on 29 March 1943 . Her tenth — and ultimately last — patrol began on 8 May 1943 . " U - 558 " ran into difficulty many times during this patrol . At one point , she manoeuvred to attack a large eastbound convoy , but a destroyer harried her into retreat . Off Lisbon on 14 July , a British Wellington bomber from No . 179 Squadron RAF dropped depth charges ; " U - 558 " was not hit , and damaged the plane with anti - aircraft fire . Three days later off Porto on 17 July , a British Liberator from 224 Squadron dropped 24 35 - pound anti - submarine bombs , but " U - 558 " was able to escape by crash - diving ; the plane took damage from anti - aircraft fire and its own malfunctioning bombs . Sinking . In the Bay of Biscay on 20 July , an American Liberator from the 19th Bombardment Squadron , United States Army Air Forces , called the Sea Hawk dropped depth charges on " U - 558 " ; the boat was undamaged , and returned fire , shooting down the bomber . Later the same day , a second Liberator from the 19th Bombardment Squadron dropped depth charges on " U - 558 " . The sub was severely damaged and unable to dive . The Liberator , her port inner engine taken out by " U - 558 " s anti - aircraft guns , left the scene and was relieved by a Halifax bomber from 58 Squadron , which finished off the sub with depth charges . Captain Krech and four of his crew were picked up on 24 July by the .