German submarine U - 596 German submarine " U - 596 " was a Type VIIC U - boat built for the Nazi German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II . She was laid down on 4 January 1941 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as ' werk ' 572 , launched on 17 September 1941 and commissioned on 13 November under " Kapitänleutnant " Gunter Jahn . He was replaced on 28 July 1943 by " Oberleutnant " Victor - Whilhelm Noon who was superseded by " Oblt . " Hans Kolbus in July 1944 . The boat ' s service began on 13 November 1941 with training as part of the 8th U - boat Flotilla . She was transferred to the 3rd flotilla on 1 July 1942 and moved on to the 29th flotilla on 19 November . Operational career . In 12 patrols she sank 12 ships , including one warship for a total of 41 , 411 GRT . Her initial sortie from Kiel was cut short by a battery explosion on 28 June 1942 . She was obliged to put into Bergen in Norway . 1st patrol . Her first patrol saw her depart Bergen on 8 August 1942 , cross the North Sea and move through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands into the Atlantic . There she sank the " Suecia " with a torpedo on 16 August , having first checked the ships ' papers . She also sank the " Empire Hartebeeste " on 20 September , but was attacked by HNoMS " Potentilla " and HMS " Viscount " on 24 August . No damage was sustained . " U - 596 " lost a man overboard on 30 August in mid - Atlantic . The boat then docked at St . Nazaire in occupied France on 3 October . 2nd patrol . Her next foray from St . Nazaire took the U - boat as part of group ' Delphin ' to La Spezia in northern Italy . Her route involved passing the heavily defended Strait of Gibraltar , which she successfully accomplished in the darkness during the period of the new moon from 8 – 10 November 1942 . 3rd and 4th patrols . " U - 596 " s third patrol took her past the Balearic Islands to the Algerian coast near Oran . It was unsuccessful . Her fourth foray yielded some reward . Between Algiers and Oran she damaged the " Fort Norman " and the " Empire Standard " , both on 9 March 1943 . 5th and 6th patrols . Her fifth outing , in the same area as her third and fourth patrols , was rewarded with the sinking of the " Fort a la Corne " west of Algiers on 30 March 1943 . Her home port was moved from La Spezia to Pola in Croatia ; she sailed from there on her sixth patrol , but it was uneventful . 7th and 8th patrols . Patrol number seven was marked by the sinking of several Egyptian , a Palestinian and British - registered sailing ships off the Lebanon coast with her deck gun in August and September 1943 . During her eighth patrol , she sank the " Marit " off the Libyan coast on 4 October , but was attacked by the British corvette HMS " Gloxina " . Although slightly damaged , the U - boat escaped . 9th , 10th and 11th patrols . " U - 596 " departed Pola on 30 November but it was not until many days later that she sank the Troop Transport " Cap Padaran " off Cape Spartivento in Italy on 9 December . She returned to Pola on 28 December 1943 . Another unsuccessful patrol passed between 12 February and 11 March 1944 . The boat barely left the Adriatic for patrol number eleven . 12th patrol . What turned out to be the last complete patrol by a U - boat in the Mediterranean began with " U - 596 " s departure from Pola on 29 July 1944 . Her route was to the Gulf of Sirte on the Libyan coast . Her arrival at Salmis in Greece was followed by the USAAF ( United States Army Air Forces ) bombing the port on 29 September ( USAAF records say the 25th ) . The boat was sufficiently damaged that the crew were forced to abandon her and join the general retreat through Athens . Fate . The submarine was scuttled on 24 September 1944 in Skaramanga Bay , near Salamis in position . 1 person died ; the number of survivors is unknown .