German submarine U - 504 German submarine " U - 504 " was a Type IXC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . The submarine was laid down on 29 April 1940 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as ' werk ' 294 , launched on 24 April 1941 and commissioned on 30 July 1941 under the command of " Korvettenkapitän " Hans - Georg Friedrich " Fritz " Poske . Initially attached to the 4th U - boat Flotilla for training , the U - boat was transferred to the 2nd flotilla on 1 January 1942 for front - line service . She was a member of six wolfpack s . Service history . 1st patrol . " U - 504 " s first war patrol took her from Kiel in Germany , to her home port of Lorient , in occupied France , between 6 and 20 January 1942 without incident . 2nd patrol . On 25 January 1942 " U - 504 " sailed from Lorient , and headed across the Atlantic to the Florida coast . There , at 04 : 55 on 22 February , she attacked the unescorted and unarmed American 5 , 287 ton tanker " Republic " about north - east of Jupiter Inlet Light , Florida . Struck by two torpedoes , the ship settled by the stern , and the crew abandoned ship and rowed to shore . The badly damaged ship eventually drifted onto reefs about five miles ( 8 km ) due east of Hobe Sound , Florida and finally sank on the afternoon of 23 February . Meanwhile , the U - boat sank another ship , torpedoing the unescorted and unarmed American 10 , 227 ton tanker " W . D . Anderson " at 01 : 32 on 23 February , about north - east of Jupiter Inlet Light . Loaded with of crude oil , the ship burst into flames , killing all but one of the crew of 36 , and later sank . " U - 504 " struck again on 26 February sinking the unescorted Dutch 8 , 245 ton tanker " Mamura " about off the coast of Florida . The ship , loaded with gasoline , was hit by two torpedoes , setting it on fire and breaking it in two . The ship sank within eight minutes , killing all 49 of the crew . " U - 504 " s final victim was the unescorted British 5 , 966 ton merchant ship " Stangarth " , sunk on 16 March , by a single torpedo , north - east of San Juan , Puerto Rico . There were no survivors from her crew of 46 . " U - 504 " arrived back at Lorient on 1 April after 67 days at sea . 3rd patrol . The U - boat then sailed for a patrol in the Caribbean Sea , departing Lorient on 2 May 1942 . Her first success came on 29 May when she sank the unescorted British 1 , 597 ton cargo ship " Allister " , en route from Kingston , Jamaica , to Tampa , Florida , with a cargo of 500 tons of bananas . The ship was torpedoed south of Grand Cayman Island , losing 15 of her crew of 23 . On 8 June " U - 504 " struck twice , east of the Yucatán Peninsula . At 06 : 59 she sank the unescorted 3 , 901 ton Honduran merchant ship " Tela " with two torpedoes , sinking her within five minutes . At 18 : 06 the U - boat opened fire with her deck gun on the unescorted British 1 , 512 ton merchant ship " Rosenborg " , after missing the ship with two torpedoes . She fired 60 shells , of which about 30 hit . Four of the crew were killed , the remaining 23 were later picked up and landed in Panama . The U - boat struck again twice in a single day , 11 June , off Honduras . She sank the unescorted Dutch 4 , 282 ton passenger ship " Crijnssen " at 02 : 10 with three torpedoes , then the unescorted and unarmed American 4 , 846 ton merchant ship " American " at 18 : 01 . The ship , carrying 6 , 500 tons of manganese ore , coffee , gunny sack s , jute and oil , from Santos , Brazil , to New Orleans , was hit by two torpedoes , and then a third eleven minutes later . The ship sank in 25 minutes . The crew of eight officers and 30 men abandoned ship . Finally , on 14 June , she torpedoed and sank the Latvian 3 , 280 ton cargo ship " Regent " . " U - 504 " arrived back at Lorient on 7 July after 67 days at sea . 4th patrol . " U - 504 " left Lorient again on 19 August 1942 and sailed south to the waters off South Africa as part of Wolf pack Eisbär . There , on 17 October , about south of Cape Town , she torpedoed and sank the unescorted British 5 , 970 ton " Empire Chaucer " . On the 23rd she sank the British 5 , 669 ton , and on the 26th she attacked the unescorted American 7 , 176 ton Liberty ship " Anne Hutchinson " . The crew abandoned their vessel after she was hit by two torpedoes and fatally damaged . However the ship remained afloat , and on the 29th was taken in tow by the South African armed trawler HMSAS " David Haigh " ( T13 ) and a harbour tug . Lacking sufficient power to tow the ship to port explosive charges were set , cutting the ship in two . The aft section sank , and the fore section was towed into Port Elizabeth . Part of the crew were picked up at sea , while the rest made it to land in their lifeboats . " U - 504 " sank two more British merchant ships on 31 October , about east of Durban . First the unescorted 7 , 041 ton " Empire Guidon " , then the unescorted 5 , 113 ton " Reynolds " , which , hit amidships and in the stern , capsized and sank within seconds . Finally on 3 November she sank the unescorted and unarmed Brazilian 5 , 187 ton cargo ship " Porto Alegre " en route from Rio de Janeiro to Durban , off Port Elizabeth . Hit by a single torpedo , the crew abandoned ship before the U - boat delivered the coup de grâce . Only one crew member was lost . The survivors were questioned by the Germans , and later made landfall about from Port Elizabeth on 7 November . " U - 504 " arrived back at Lorient on 11 December 1942 after a patrol lasting 115 days . 5th and 6th patrol . " U - 504 " left Lorient on 19 January 1943 , now under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Wilhelm Luis , and headed out into the Atlantic waters south of the Azores . She was subjected to attacks by unidentified Allied aircraft outbound on 21 January and inbound on 12 March , but was not damaged by either . She returned to Lorient on 24 March after 65 days at sea , without making any successful attacks . Her next patrol took her to the waters south of Greenland between 21 April and 29 May 1943 , again without result . 7th patrol . " U - 504 " s final patrol began on 27 July 1943 under the newly promoted " Korvettenkapitän " Wilhelm Luis . However , on 30 July the U - boat was sunk with all 53 hands , north - west of Cape Ortegal , Spain , in position , by depth charge s from the British s HMS " Kite " , " Woodpecker " , " Wren " and " Wild Goose " .