German submarine U - 74 ( 1940 ) German submarine " U - 74 " was a Type VIIB U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . Her keel was laid down on 5 November 1939 , by Bremer Vulkan of Bremen - Vegesack , Germany as ' werk ' 2 . She was launched on 31 August 1940 and commissioned on 31 October , with " Kapitänleutnant " ( " Kptlt . " ) Eitel - Friedrich Kentrat in command until March 1942 , when he was succeeded by " Oberleutnant zur See " ( " Oblt . z . S . " ) Karl Friederich , who remained in charge until the U - boat ' s loss . Operational history . " U - 74 " conducted eight patrols , sinking four ships totalling 25 , 619 tons and damaging two others , totalling 11 , 525 tons . She was a member of three wolfpack s . 1st patrol . Having first moved from Kiel to the German controlled island of Helgoland ( sometimes called ' Heligoland ' ) and Bergen in Norway , " U - 74 " departed for her first patrol on 5 March 1941 . Her route took her through the ' gap ' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean , although one source - Uboat . net - gives her position as off the Belgian coast on 21 March . She sank the " Leonidas Z . Canbamis " on 3 April southwest of Iceland , followed by damage to the armed merchant cruiser HMS " Worcestershire " close - by on the same day . The auxiliary warship was fortunate because Kentrat , in " U - 74 " , had run out of torpedoes . " U - 74 " docked in St . Nazaire in occupied France on 11 April . 2nd patrol . The boat ' s second foray was in a northwesterly direction , toward Greenland . She was attacked by two British warships on 21 May 1941 ; the vessels were the corvette and the destroyer . A mix of gunfire and depth charges ( about 125 of them ) , were used . The damage inflicted was such that " U - 74 " was obliged to return to France , but to Lorient , on the 30th . " U - 74 " s involvement with the " Bismarck " . On 24 May 1941 , the German battleship and the heavy cruiser sank the British battlecruiser and damaged the accompanying battleship , beginning a three - day hunt that would involve nearly a hundred ships . That concentration of ships was a very attractive set of targets ; Kentrat was ordered to attack the British forces in this area . In the evening " U - 74 " dived in order to listen for contact and detected another U - boat . She surfaced ; a hundred meters away , another U - boat appeared — , commanded by " Kapitänleutnant " Wohlfarth . Earlier , " Flottenchef " Admiral Lütjens requested that " Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote " ( Commander - in - Chief for Submarines , Karl Dönitz ) provide a U - boat to recover " Bismarck " s war diary . BdU had given the order to Wohlfarth , but " U - 556 " was both out of torpedoes and very low on fuel . Using a megaphone , Wohlfarth now passed the order on to Kentrat . He accepted and proceeded toward " Bismarck " s last known position . By dawn on 27 May , " Bismarck " was crippled and under fire from the battleships and and the cruisers and . It was clear to her crew that she would not survive . At 10 : 36 " U - 74 " heard sinking sounds but Kentrat could not determine whether it was " Bismarck " or a British ship . He came to periscope depth and saw battleships and cruisers directly in front of him . He tried to maneuver into an attack position , but the weather was too bad and the seas too high to remain at periscope depth or to fire a torpedo . Wreckage and yellow life - jackets were visible . After the British ships left , Kentrat surfaced amid debris and dead bodies . The sounds they had heard that morning was " Bismarck " s destruction . They searched but they could find no one alive until that evening when they came across a raft carrying three sailors , Georg Herzog , Otto Höntzsch , and Herbert Manthey . " U - 74 " searched for another day but found no one else alive and was ordered to return to Lorient . On the return trip , the three survivors recovered from their shock and gave the first statements of " Bismarck " s loss . 3rd patrol . For her third sortie , " U - 74 " sank the " Kumasian " on 5 August 1941 west of Ireland . She returned to St . Nazaire on the 12th . 4th patrol . Departing St . Nazaire on 8 September 1941 , the boat about east of Cape Farewell ( Greenland ) on 19 September 1941 . This success was followed the next day when she sank the Catapult Armed Merchantman SS " Empire Burton " . 5th patrol . On 7 November 1941 " U - 74 " sank the MV " Nottingham " southeast of Cape Farewell . This ship was on her maiden voyage , which was from Glasgow to New York . There were no survivors . The U - boat returned to St . Nazaire for the last time on 12 November 1941 . 6th patrol . " U - 74 " s next patrol was into the Mediterranean . Leaving St . Nazaire on 9 December 1941 , she had slipped past the heavily defended Straits of Gibraltar by the 16th . She entered La Spezia in Italy on 24 December . 7th patrol . The German submarine ' s first patrol in new surroundings was between Sicily and the Italian mainland and toward the British controlled port of Alexandria , which was reached on 3 January 1942 . She returned to La Spezia on the 8th . 8th patrol and loss . Having been ordered to operate against Allied aircraft carriers at the western end of the Mediterranean , " U - 74 " was diverted to search for ( which had been damaged in an air attack ) , when she was bombed by a Lockheed Hudson of No . 233 Squadron RAF on 1 May 1942 . That evening , she also had torpedoes fired at her by the British submarine off the southeastern Spanish coast . Both attacks were unsuccessful . " U - 74 " was detected and sunk by depth charges and ' Hedgehog ' from the British destroyers and east southeast of Cartegena in Spain on 2 May 1942 . 47 men died ; there were no survivors . Previously recorded fate . " U - 74 " was sunk by the British destroyers HMS " Wishart " and HMS " Wrestler " and a PBY Catalina of 202 Squadron east southeast of Cartegena in Spain on 2 May 1942 .