German submarine U-591
German submarine "U-591" was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" for service during World War II. She was laid down on 30 October 1940 by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as yard number 567, launched on 20 August 1941 and commissioned on 9 October 1941 under "Kapitänleutnant" Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche. Design. German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-591" had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a  draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . "U-591" was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at  the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty. Service history. The boat's service began on 9 October 1941 with training, followed by active service as part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla. She was transferred to the 11th Flotilla on 1 July 1942 for active service in the North Atlantic operating out of Bergen. The following year, on 1 June 1943, she transferred to 9th Flotilla operating of Brest, France. In 8 patrols she  sank four merchant ships, for a total of , plus one merchant ship damaged. Convoy ONS 154. The first victim of Convoy ONS 154 was the 5,701-GRT Norwegian freighter "Norse King", the second in column eleven, on 28 December 1942. "U-591" torpedo hit her at 20:04. Badly damaged, "Norse King" attempted to limp to the Azores but was found by and sent to the bottom. "U-591"’s second success was the badly damaged and abandoned 4,871-GRT United Africa Company freighter "Zarian" with a single torpedo, although she missed the "Baron Cochrane" Convoy SC 121. Having recently returned to sea  after a long recovery from gunshot wounds, Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche was on target with Convoy SC 121 when he sighted the "Empire Impala", hove-to picking up survivors from the torpedoed "Egyptian", on 7 March 1943. Of the combined crew of 80 men, from both "Egyptian" and "Empire Impala", only 3 survived. Fate. "U-591" was sunk on 30 July 1943 in the South Atlantic near Pernambuco in position ; depth charged by a US Lockheed Ventura aircraft of VB-127. There were 19 dead and 28 survivors. Wolfpacks. U-591 took part in nine wolfpacks, namely: