German submarine U - 557 U - 557 was a Type VIIC U - boat built for the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " for service during World War II . She was laid down on 6 January 1940 , launched on 22 December 1940 and commissioned on 13 February 1941 . " Oberleutnant " Ottokar Paulssen was in command throughout her career . For her first three war patrols her 2nd Watch Officer was Herbert Werner , who later wrote the memoir of U - boat service , " Iron Coffins " . She sank six merchant ships and one warship , a total of almost over four patrols . She was rammed and sunk by mistake by an Italian torpedo boat on 16 December 1941 west of Crete . Career . Emergency in the Baltic . " U - 557 " ' s career began in Königsberg , from where she departed " en route " for Kiel . A routine dive in the Baltic turned into an emergency when the boat sank out of control . She hit the bottom stern - first with a thump . The depth gauge read ; the submarine was in severe difficulty , having taken on tons of water , poisonous chlorine gas was leaking from the batteries and there was the danger of an explosion . " U - 557 " had also suffered her first death ; a mechanic had sustained fatal head injuries in the after torpedo room . A human chain of sailors was formed , passing buckets of sea - water to each other , in an attempt to shift some of the weight from the stern to the bow . After many hour ' s toil , the boat pivoted so that the bow hit the bottom . But the sheer weight of water ( about 40 tons ) , prevented " U - 557 " from reaching the surface . The boat , having exhausted its supply of compressed air , stayed on the sea - bed . The crew , under the direction of the Chief Engineer , rocked the boat by moving rapidly from stern to bow and back again . The submarine eventually worked herself free . After 20 hours , " U - 557 " surfaced and sailed on to Kiel . First patrol . " U - 557 " spent a week in dry - dock ; emerging on 5 May , she " looked and smelled newly commissioned " . Leaving Kiel for her first patrol on 13 May , her route took her through the Kiel Canal , across the North Sea , passing southeast of Iceland and into the Atlantic . Her first kill was the sinking of the British ship " Empire Storm " south of Greenland on 19 May 1941 . On 25 May , a convoy was spotted and stalked for some hours . " U - 557 " fired five torpedoes and scored three hits ; she then received instructions from U - boat Headquarters to " transmit beacon signals " , ( for other U - boats to home - in on ) . By now she was being chased by escort ships , so Paulssen ordered the boat to dive deep ; a pattern of depth charge s soon followed . The submarine eluded her pursuers , who dropped more depth charges , by using ' silent routine ' and her electric motors to get away . When it was judged safe , the boat surfaced . Two days later she received a signal that ordered " all U - boats with torpedoes " to go to the assistance of the battleship , then being hunted by the Royal Navy . Later that day , another message was received which stated that all " U - boats in [ the ] vicinity [ were ] to search for survivors " . " U - 557 " arrived in the area on 29 May ; none were found . In early June , following fruitless searches for two separate convoys , a solitary ship was sighted , this vessel was hit by two torpedoes but stubbornly refused to sink . Having sailed his boat among the amazed survivors , Paulssen sank the ship with a third ' eel ' . On their way to a refueling rendezvous with the tanker " Belchen " , the boat encountered three warships ; evasive action was taken , but positive identification was delayed by the large number of icebergs in the region . The trio , which steamed away at a speed far in excess of " U - 557 " s best , were " London " - class cruisers . The submarine met the tanker about south of Greenland . A second U - boat joined the pair of German vessels , then a third . That evening three explosions were heard from the tanker ' s position . It seemed the cruisers had found what they were looking for . Steaming in the relatively calm waters between the city of Halifax , Nova Scotia and St . John ' s , Newfoundland , " U - 557 " had a lucky escape when three torpedoes , fired by a " Thames " - class submarine passed under or astern of the boat . Using its superior speed , the British vessel escaped a counterattack . It was not until 24 June that " U - 557 " made contact with another convoy and that was only after an arduous hunt . Three torpedoes were fired , scoring two hits . But " U - 557 " was trapped on the surface by the swift response of the escorts who converged on the U - boat from all directions . The only means of escape lay in diving , which she did . The inevitable barrage of depth charges followed the rapidly sinking boat . The submarine surfaced two hours after the last detonation . The crew took stock of the damage which was serious enough to curtail the patrol , and forced her passage to Lorient in France , where she arrived on 10 July 1941 . Second patrol . " U - 557 " ' s second patrol began in early August 1941 . Her crew had been increased by including " Kapitänleutenant " Kelbing , who had joined the boat to gain experience before getting his own command . The submarine , with orders to attack shipping in the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland , carried out her first trim - dive in an unusually quiet Bay of Biscay . She was allocated a new patrol zone due to the paucity of targets in her original area . It was not long before a convoy was sighted and stalked . Five torpedoes were fired from the submerged boat , resulting in three hits . The escorts responded , but " U - 557 " was untroubled ; so much so that coffee and sandwiches were distributed . The submarine surfaced and pursued the convoy , but had to dive again to get a hydrophone fix on her quarry . The escorts dropped several depth charges , forcing the boat to crash - dive , only levelling off at . More than 14 hours passed before it was deemed safe enough to surface . " U - 557 " moved further west . After many days of fruitless searching , a destroyer was sighted ; the boat had brushed the side of an unknown convoy . Having dived to avoid the warship , the submarine now surfaced and attempted to shadow the convoy . She soon dived once more to verify the convoy ' s position . She continued the pursuit on the surface ( the boat ' s speed there was far better than that when she was submerged ) . Her tenacity was rewarded when she " pushed into the herd from astern " . Eluding the escorts , all torpedo tubes were fired ; three explosions quickly followed . There was no serious escort reaction . " U - 557 " risked re - loading her last two torpedoes on the surface . These were soon fired , without result . She then acted as a signal - beacon , attracting other U - boats to the convoy . Once this was accomplished , she set course for the Bay of Biscay , Lorient and a re - fit . Third patrol . Her third patrol commenced on 8 October , again in the North Atlantic . After six days steaming in worsening weather , " U - 557 " was about west - southwest of the North Channel . Once again , initial contact with a convoy was made when an escort ship was sighted , but it was disregarded as a potential target . The U - boat was after the merchant ships , not the escorts . Many hours of observation followed until the faint beam of a searchlight was seen . At least 17 ships were counted as the U - boat moved into an attack position . Torpedoes were fired and three explosions were heard . However , contact with the convoy was lost and not re - established until another U - boat attacked . " U - 557 " fired a single torpedo at a freighter but it missed . Another attack was almost immediately carried out . Two ships were sunk , but in the excitement " U - 557 " sailed too close to an armed merchantman which fired several shells at the U - boat ; no hits were inflicted . The boat withdrew to re - load her torpedo tubes and returned to the convoy . Two ships were singled out , but this time the submarine was unsuccessful . She was chased between other ships by a destroyer . At one time only of ocean separated the two vessels , but the U - boat escaped . Another convoy was sighted and tracked ; two torpedoes were fired , both hit their targets . Two more ships were sunk . The boat then fell astern of the convoy to re - load her tubes with the last of her torpedoes . Sighting a destroyer , she cautiously followed the escort until the convoy was spotted once again . One more freighter was sent to the bottom , the U - boat was close enough to see the stricken ship ' s propeller still rotating as she slipped below the waves . Her last ( stern ) torpedo was fired at a " 10 , 000 ton monster " , but missed . On this patrol , " U - 557 " had sunk six ships and " possibly destroyed " two more . She returned to Lorient on 27 October . Fourth patrol . Her fourth and last patrol began with her departure from Lorient on 19 November 1941 ; her destination : the Mediterranean . She managed to slip past the heavily fortified British base at Gibraltar and reached Messina in Sicily on 7 December . On the way , she sank the Norwegian ship " Fjord " on 2 December . Two days later she left Messina bound for Alexandria . She sank the British light cruiser west of the city on 15 December 1941 . News of this sinking even reached the Submarine Tracking Room in London . Fate . At 1806hrs on 16 December , " U - 557 " sent a short radio signal indicating that she was 18 hours from port . At 1800hrs on the same day , the Italian torpedo boat " Orione " left the Cretan port of Suda . The commander had no knowledge that a German U - boat was in the area of Crete . When the Italian commander saw a submarine at 2144hrs , heading in a northerly direction , he decided to ram it , supposing it to be British . " U - 557 " sank immediately with all hands ; the damaged Italian torpedo boat headed back to base . The position of the incident was given by the Italian commander as .