German submarine U - 50 ( 1939 ) German submarine " U - 50 " was a Type VIIB U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . Ordered on 21 November 1936 in violation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , she was laid down as " Werk 585 " at the yards of Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft AG in Kiel on 3 November 1938 . She was launched on 1 November 1939 and commissioned on 12 December 1939 by " Kapitänleutnant " ( " Kptlt . " ) Max - Hermann Bauer , who was the sole commander of the boat . In her short career she conducted only two patrols , both as part of the 7th U - boat Flotilla . In this time she succeeded in sinking four ships , totalling . Service History . First patrol . Departing the German - administered island of Helgoland ( sometimes known as Heligoland ) , on 6 February 1940 , " U - 50 " proceeded north of the British Isles . It was here that she sighted her first victim at 22 . 40 hours on 11 February . The neutral Swedish steam merchant ship " Orania " ( 1 , 854 GRT ) was homeward bound from Argentina with a load of maize , bran and oil cakes . Despite running fully illuminated , the U - Boat was unable to identify her as neutral but attacked with a single torpedo at 23 . 54 hours about 65 miles north - northeast of the Shetland Islands . All 24 souls aboard abandoned ship in two lifeboats , but one , with fourteen occupants , was never seen again . The remaining ten survivors were picked up the next day by , transferred to , and landed at Lerwick in Scotland . In the early morning hours of 15 February , " U - 50 " crossed paths with her second victim , the 4 , 895 GRT Danish steam merchantman " Maryland " , which was travelling unescorted . The first torpedo , fired at 01 . 54 hours , detonated prematurely ( a common problem early in the war ) . A second shot at 02 . 07 hours broke the ship ' s back and she sank in seven minutes . All 34 aboard perished ; only a wrecked lifeboat was found later , at North Uist . " U - 50 " travelled south after this encounter and found her third victim , the neutral Dutch steam merchant ship " Tara " ( 4 , 760 GRT ) west of Cape Finisterre . Despite her neutral affiliation , she was travelling without neutrality markings ( according to the U - Boat captain ' s log ) . The submarine had spotted her at midnight and attacked with a single torpedo at 01 . 38 hours , which missed . A second torpedo at 02 . 54 hours found its mark . All hands abandoned ship in two lifeboats as " U - 50 " moved in to deliver the " coup de grâce " at 03 . 12 hours . The vessel sank twenty minutes later . One lifeboat made landfall on the Spanish coast . The other was picked up by the Spanish fishing trawler " Milin " ; its occupants were landed at La Coruna . At 00 . 20 hours on 22 February , " U - 50 " located convoy OGF - 19 and torpedoed the 4 , 580 GRT British tanker " British Endeavour " about 100 miles west of Vigo . Five were killed in the attack , the remaining thirty - three ( including the ship ' s master ) , abandoned ship and were picked up by the British merchantman " Bodnant " . The survivors were landed at Funchal in Portugal on 26 February . The U - Boat terminated this successful patrol at Kiel on 4 March after 28 days at sea . Second patrol . " U - 50 " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > second and final patrol begain 5 April 1940 . She departed Kiel and was never heard from again . Fate . " U - 50 " ran afoul of a minefield and sank on 6 April in the North Sea north of Terschelling . Her exact position is not known . All 44 sailors were killed . Mine s laid by the Allied destroyer s , , , and in the North Sea on 3 March 1940 , were probably responsible for the destruction of " U - 50 " as well as several other U - boats as they returned to port .