German submarine U - 96 ( 1940 ) German submarine " U - 96 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . Her keel was laid down on 16 September 1939 , by Germaniawerft , of Kiel as ' werk ' 601 . She was commissioned on 14 September 1940 , with " Kapitänleutnant " Heinrich Lehmann - Willenbrock in command . Lehmann - Willenbrock was relieved in March 1942 by " Oberleutnant zur See " Hans - Jürgen Hellriegel . He was relieved in turn in March 1943 by " Oblt " . Wilhelm Peters . In February 1944 , " Oblt . " Horst Willner took command , turning the boat over to " Oblt . " Robert Rix in June of that year . Rix commanded the boat until February 1945 . As part of the 7th U - boat Flotilla , stationed in Saint Nazaire , on the French Atlantic coast , " U - 96 " conducted 11 patrols , sinking 27 ships totalling and damaging four others totalling 33 , 043 GRT . She also caused one vessel of 8 , 888 GRT to be declared a total loss . The boat was a member of eleven wolfpack s . On 30 March 1945 , " U - 96 " was sunk by US bombs while in the submarine pens in Wilhelmshaven . In her entire career , she suffered no casualties to her crew . The boat was also known for its emblem , a green laughing sawfish . It became the symbol of the 9th Flotilla after Lehmann - Willenbrock took command in March 1942 . During 1941 , war correspondent Lothar - Günther Buchheim joined " U - 96 " for a single patrol . His orders were to photograph and describe the U - boat in action for propaganda purposes . Over 5 , 000 photographs , mostly taken by Buchheim , survived the war . From his experiences , he wrote a short story , " " Die Eichenlaubfahrt " " ( " The Oak - Leaves Patrol " ) and a 1973 novel which was to become an international best - seller , " Das Boot " , followed in 1976 by " U - Boot - Krieg " ( " U - Boat War " ) , a nonfiction chronicle of the voyage . In 1981 Wolfgang Petersen brought the novel to the big screen with the critically acclaimed , " Das Boot " . Operational career . 1st patrol . " U - 96 " departed Kiel on 4 December 1940 on her first patrol . Her route took her across the North Sea , through the ' gap ' between the Faroe and Shetland Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean . She was soon in the thick of the action ; sinking the " Rotoura " and the " Towra " on the 11th and the " Macedonier " on the 12th . She then damaged the " Empire Razorbill " with six rounds from her deck gun on the 14th and sank the " Western Prince " , also on the 14th . She damaged the " Pendrecht " on the 18th before sailing to Lorient in occupied France , arriving there on 29 December . 2nd patrol . For her second foray , " U - 96 " departed Lorient on 9 January 1941 and returned to the waters west of Scotland , sinking the " Oropesa " on 16 January and the a day later . The " Almeda Star " was lost with all hands and passengers , a total of 360 people . " U - 96 " docked once more in Lorient on the 22nd . 3rd patrol . " U - 96 " sortied from Lorient on 30 January 1941 , sinking the " Clea " and the " Arthur F . Corwin " near Iceland on 13 February . Five more ships went to the bottom on this patrol : the on 18 February , the " Scottish Standard " on the 22nd , ( which had already been bombed by a Focke Wulf ' Kondor ' and abandoned by her crew ) , the " Anglo - Peruvian " on the 23rd , the " Linaria " and the " Sirishna " a day later . The boat returned to St . Nazaire in France on 28 February . 4th patrol . The carnage continued , in one attack the boat sank the " Oilfield " , the " Port Hardy " and the " Caledonia " south of Iceland on 28 April 1941 and in turn was depth charge d by the Flower class corvette HMS " Gladiolus " . It was originally thought that the British ship had sunk , but " U - 96 " escaped unscathed . She went on to sink the " Empire Ridge " west of Bloody Foreland ( Ireland ) , before returning to St . Nazaire on 22 May . 5th patrol . The boat was about north of the Azores on 5 July 1941 , when she came across a survey vessel , HMS " Challenger " , leading an Armed Merchant Cruiser ( AMC ) HMS " Cathay " and the " Anselm " , a vessel which had been pressed into service as a troop ship . The little convoy was boosted by the presence of three corvettes ; HMS " Petunia " , " Lavender " and " Starwort " . " U - 96 " was under the impression that she had hit the survey ship and the AMC ; instead , she had struck the " Anselm " twice . All three corvettes counter - attacked , even though " Starwort " s ASDIC ( sonar ) was not functioning . The U - boat was damaged and forced to curtail her patrol . 6th and 7th patrols . Patrol number six was relatively uneventful ; the boat left St . Nazaire on 2 August 1941 . She returned to the same port on 12 September , having scoured the North Atlantic , with nothing to show for her efforts . " U - 96 " s seventh patrol was almost as barren , except the submarine did sink the " Bennekom " on 31 October 1941 . As a consequence she was attacked with 37 depth charges by the sloop HMS " Lulworth " . The U - boat escaped the barrage , returning to St . Nazaire on 6 December . 8th patrol . The boat ' s eighth patrol saw success when she operated off the Canadian east coast . She sank the " Lake Osweya " near Halifax on 20 February 1942 . She was only from her target when the torpedo was launched . She sank the " Torungen " off Nova Scotia on 22 February and attacked the " Kars " later the same day . The latter ship broke in two following the torpedo ' s impact . The bow section quickly sank , but the stern section was beached and declared a total loss . The submarine ' s final victory this time out came on 9 March when she sank the " Tyr " about from Halifax . 9th and 10th patrols . " U - 96 " left St . Nazaire on 23 April 1942 and returned 73 days later , on 1 July without attacking anything . The boat ' s luck returned with a vengeance on her tenth patrol , damaging the " F . J . Wolfe " on 10 September 1942 ( although this ship was able to keep up with her convoy ) , sinking the " Sveve " on the same day , as was the " Elisabeth van Belgie " . She also sank the " Deläes " on the 11th . 11th patrol and fate . The boat ' s final operational patrol commenced with her departure from St . Nazaire on 26 December 1942 . Crossing the Atlantic for the last time , she then came back to the eastern side and after transferring a sick crew - member to on 3 January 1943 , arrived at Konigsberg ( now Kaliningrad ) on 8 February . She spent most of the rest of the war as a training vessel . She was sunk at Wilhelmshaven by US bombs on 31 March 1945 . Summary of Raiding Career . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Sailing ship < br > < nowiki > * * < / nowiki > Sunk the next day by with all hands lost .