German submarine U-575
German submarine U-575 was a Type VIIC U-boat in service of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She carried out ten patrols, sailing for 472 days and sinking eight ships totalling and damaged one other of . She was a member of 18 separate wolfpacks and was sunk north of the Azores by Allied ships and aircraft on 13 March 1944. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-575 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-575 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 submarine was laid down on 1 August 1940 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, as yard number 551. She was launched on 30 April 1941 and commissioned on 19 June under the command of Kapitänleutnant Günther Heydemann. She served with the 7th U-boat Flotilla until her loss (from 1 September 1941 until 13 March 1944). First patrol U-575s first patrol was from Trondheim in Norway; she headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She swept an area southeast of Greenland and sank the Tuva on 2 October 1941. The ship's crew abandoned their vessel in a pair of lifeboats and two rafts, but had to leave one of their number who had been trapped underneath debris. The neutral US destroyer , escorting convoy ON 20, came to help Tuva. As Winslow reached the area, she closed in on U-575 and began the tracing with depth charges, but U-575 escaped without any damage. The submarine was the target of an air attack on 7 October, but received minimal damage. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France, on 9 October. Statistics Days on sea: 32 Overall distance travelled: 5,059.5 nmi Distance travelled surfaced: 4,776.70 nmi (94.4%) Distance travelled submerged: 282.8 nmi (5.6%) Most distance travelled in 24 hours surfaced: 292 nmi (on 08.10.1941) Most distance travelled in 24 hours submerged: 36.3 nmi (on 12.09.1941) Total diving time: 7,029 minutes; 117.15 hours; 4.88 days (15.3%) Second patrol Having left St. Nazaire on 9 November 1941, U-575 headed for the