German submarine U - 442 German submarine " U - 442 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 19 October 1940 at the Schichau - Werke in Danzig as ' werk ' , launched on 17 January 1942 , and commissioned on 21 March 1942 under the command of " Fregattenkapitän " Hans - Joachim Hesse . " U - 442 " first served with the 5th U - boat Flotilla , a training unit , and then operationally with the 7th flotilla from 1 October 1942 until the time of her loss . Service history . 1st patrol . " U - 442 " departed Kiel on 17 September 1942 for her first operational war patrol . Heading via the North Sea toward the north - central Atlantic Ocean , she was near Iceland when convoy UR - 42 was sighted . At 16 . 16 hours on 25 September , " U - 442 " torpedoed and sank her first victim , the 1 , 744 GRT British steam merchant ship . Ten of her 37 crew died in the attack , the survivors were picked up by the Norwegian merchantman " Lysaker IV " and landed at Reykjavík . Over a month would pass before " U - 442 " crossed paths with the second and final victim of this patrol , the 6 , 690 GRT British ammunition ship " Hatimura " . Already on fire and slowly sinking from an attack three hours earlier ( delivered by " U - 132 " ) , the hit resulted in a catastrophic explosion which threw debris in a large radius around the ship . It is believed " U - 132 " was still nearby and was sunk as a result of this detonation . The patrol was terminated at St . Nazaire in occupied France on 3 November 1942 . 2nd patrol . Her second patrol began 20 December 1942 , when she sortied from St . Nazaire bound for the central Atlantic via the Bay of Biscay . On the morning of 9 January 1943 , " U - 442 " attacked convoy TM - 1 west of the Canary Islands , claiming hits on two tankers . In reality only one was hit , the 9 , 807 GRT steam tanker . 14 men were lost in this attack . The remaining 34 men abandoned ship and were picked up by HMS " Havelock " and " Saxifrage " . The British tanker turned out to be a tough ship ; the escorts attempted to scuttle her with gunfire before breaking off their efforts and heading for Gibraltar to land the survivors . Seven hours later ( 14 . 50 hours ) , the burning , drifting tanker was located again by " U - 442 " who torpedoed her a second time ; still she would not go down . Finally , a third torpedo at 19 . 38 hours sent the hardy tanker to the bottom . The evening of 27 January 1942 found " U - 442 " stalking her second ( and last ) victim of the patrol , the 7 , 176 GRT American Liberty Ship " Julia Ward Howe " , a straggler from convoy UGS - 4 . The first torpedo at 18 . 07 hours hit on the starboard side between # 3 hold and the deck house , blowing off # 3 hatch cover , wrecking two lifeboats and destroying the radio equipment . The ship immediately took on a 15° list but flooded slowly , gradually righting herself to an even keel . Three shots were fired from the merchantman ' s defensive 5 " gun , but no hits were scored on the submarine . Three men , including the ship ' s master , died in the attack ; seventy one abandoned ship . One more ( the chief engineer ) , subsequently died of his wounds . 40 minutes after the initial attack , a coup de grâce struck amidships and broke the ship in two . The submarine then surfaced and took the second mate on board for questioning , releasing him afterward . As the U - boat departed the area , the rafts were secured together and steered toward the Azores . Fifteen hours later , they were rescued by the Portuguese destroyer " Lima " and landed at Ponta Delgada . Loss . " U - 442 " met her end on 12 February 1943 . She was attacked and sunk by depth charges from a British Hudson aircraft of 48 Squadron RAF , west of Cape St . Vincent , Portugal . Her wreck lies at position .