German submarine U - 195 German submarine " U - 195 " was a Type IXD1 transport U - boat which served in World War II . The submarine was laid down on 15 May 1941 at the AG Weser yard in Bremen as ' werk ' 1041 , launched on 8 April 1942 , and commissioned on 5 September 1942 under the command of " Korvettenkapitän " Heinz Buchholz . " U - 195 " was one of two IX - D1 transport U - boats that had their forward torpedo tube s removed and the compartment converted into a cargo hold . The other IX - D1 was , which was lost in the Bay of Biscay in 1944 whilst setting out for a voyage to Japan . ( " U - 180 " had been trialled originally with six diesel engines driving two propeller shafts , but overheating proved such a problem that these engines were removed and replaced with a pair of 2 , 200 hp MAN diesel engines ) . It is unclear if " U - 195 " underwent the same engine history as " U - 180 " , but it seems likely . Operational history . 1st patrol . " U - 195 " departed Kiel on 20 March 1943 and sailed to the waters off South Africa where she sank two ships and damaged another . On 11 April she torpedoed the American 7 , 200 ton liberty ship " James W . Denver " about west of Las Palmas , Canary Islands . The ship , a straggler from Convoy UGS - 7 en route from Baltimore to Casablanca , was loaded with sugar , acid , flour , aircraft parts , vehicles , bulldozers and had twelve P - 38 Lightning aircraft as deck cargo . The crew of 69 abandoned ship in five lifeboats . The U - boat then fired two more torpedoes which sank the vessel . Another unescorted liberty ship , the " Samuel Jordan Kirkwood " was torpedoed on 7 May about southeast of Ascension Island . The crew of 71 abandoned ship in four lifeboats and a raft before the U - boat sank the ship with another torpedo . On 12 May , the unescorted 6 , 797 ton American merchant ship " Cape Neddick " was hit by two torpedoes . One failed to explode , while the other tore a hole by in the side . Still under way , the ship ' s armed guards opened fire at the U - boat with their , , and 20 mm guns . The vessel began to sink , and most of the crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats and three rafts . After more than an hour the master and six volunteers re - boarded the ship and got her under way , just as " U - 195 " fired another torpedo , which missed . The next day , the ship returned to pick up the men in the boats and rafts , and on 16 May arrived safely at Walvis Bay , South Africa . " U - 195 " arrived at Bordeaux on 23 July after a patrol lasting 126 days . 2nd patrol . Now under the command of " Oblt . " Friedrich Steinfeldt , " U - 195 " left Bordeaux in occupied France on 24 August 1944 and arrived at Batavia ( now part of Indonesia ) , 127 days later on 28 December . Amongst her cargo were parts of 12 dismantled V - 2 rocket s for the Japanese military . also carried part of the same V - 2 rocket consignment . Both U - boats arrived at Batavia in December 1944 . These two U - boats are also thought to have carried Uranium oxide requested for Japan ' s atomic bomb project by General Toranouke Kawashima in July 1943 . The signals requesting Uranium were part of the PURPLE decrypts which have since been declassified by the United States . 3rd patrol . " U - 195 " s final patrol involved an abortive attempt by several U - boats to sail back to Europe . Leaving Batavia on 19 January 1945 she sailed out into the Indian Ocean , south of Madagascar . There she refuelled U - boats of the " Monsun Gruppe " and then returned to Batavia on 4 March . Imperial Japanese Navy . After Germany ' s surrender in early May 1945 , " U - 195 " was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Navy and was commissioned as " I - 506 " on 15 July . The U - boat surrendered to the Allies at Batavia in August 1945 , she was scuttled later that month and was broken up in 1947 .