text: german submarine u - 43 ( 1939 ) german submarine u - 43 was a type ixa u - boat of nazi germany 's kriegsmarine during world war ii . the keel for u - 43 was laid down in august 1938 at bremen ; she was launched in may 1939 and commissioned in august . between november 1939 and july 1943 , the u - boat conducted 14 combat patrols , sinking 21 merchant ships for a total of 117 , 036 gross register tons ( grt ) , damaging one ship of 10 , 350 grt and another of 9 , 131 grt - enough for it to be declared a total loss . u - 43 was sunk on 30 july 1943 southwest of the azores by a torpedo dropped by a united states navy aircraft ; all 55 hands were lost . construction u - 43 was ordered for the kriegsmarine on 21 november 1936 ( as part of plan z and in violation of the treaty of versailles ) . her keel was laid down on 15 august 1938 by ag weser , bremen as yard number 946 . she was launched on 23 may 1939 and commissioned on 26 august of that same year under the command of korvettenkapitän wilhelm ambrosius . design as one of the eight original german type ix submarines , later designated ixa , u - 43 had a displacement of 1 , 032 tonnes ( 1 , 016 long tons ) when at the surface and 1 , 153 tonnes ( 1 , 135 long tons ) while submerged . the u - boat had a total length of 76 . 50 m ( 251 ft ) , a pressure hull length of 58 . 75 m ( 192 ft 9 in ) , a beam of 6 . 51 m ( 21 ft 4 in ) , a height of 9 . 40 m ( 30 ft 10 in ) , and a draught of 4 . 70 m ( 15 ft 5 in ) . the submarine was powered by two man m 9 v 40 / 46 supercharged four - stroke , nine - cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4 , 400 metric horsepower ( 3 , 240 kw ; 4 , 340 shp ) for use while surfaced , two siemens - schuckert 2 gu 345 / 34 double - acting electric motors producing a total of 1 , 000 metric horsepower ( 740 kw ; 990 shp ) for use while submerged . she had two shafts and two 1 . 92 m ( 6 ft ) propellers . the boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres ( 750 ft ) . the submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18 . 2 knots ( 33 . 7 km / h ; 20 . 9 mph ) and a maximum submerged speed of 7 . 7 knots ( 14 . 3 km / h ; 8 . 9 mph ) . when submerged , the boat could operate for 65 – 78 nautical miles ( 120 – 144 km ; 75 – 90 mi ) at 4 knots ( 7 . 4 km / h ; 4 . 6 mph ) ; when surfaced , she could travel 10 , 500 nautical miles ( 19 , 400 km ; 12 , 100 mi ) at 10 knots ( 19 km / h ; 12 mph ) . u - 43 was fitted with six 53 . 3 cm ( 21 in ) torpedo tubes ( four fitted at the bow and two at the stern ) , 22 torpedoes , one 10 . 5 cm ( 4 . 13 in ) sk c / 32 naval gun , 180 rounds , and a 3 . 7 cm ( 1 . 5 in ) as well as a 2 cm ( 0 . 79 in ) anti - aircraft gun . the boat had a complement of forty - eight . service history 1st patrol commissioned into the 6th u - boat flotilla , based at kiel , u - 43 left for her first combat patrol of the war on 6 november 1939 , sailing around the british isles and into the atlantic . there , on 16 november , she attacked the 4 , 915 ton british merchant ship arlington court , a straggler from convoy sl - 7a , en route from rosario , argentina to hull with a cargo of 7 , 340 tons of maize . the ship was hit by a single torpedo 320 nautical miles ( 590 km ; 370 mi ) west - south - west of start point in devon . the crew abandoned ship , the u - boat fired another torpedo , which sank the ship within 30 minutes . seven of the crew were lost , the survivors were picked up by dutch and norwegian freighters . after the attack , u - 43 was hunted by convoy escorts for 20 hours , sustaining some damage from depth charges . continuing with her patrol , u - 43 attacked convoy 14 - bs in the bay of biscay , and sank the 4 , 374 ton french merchant ship on 22 november . convoy escorts counter - attacked with 23 depth charges , but u - 43 escaped without damage . late on 25 november 1939 , about 120 nautical miles ( 220 km ; 140 mi ) west - north - west of cape finisterre ( northwest spain ) , u - 43 attacked the unescorted 2 , 483 ton british collier uskmouth . both g7a torpedoes malfunctioned ( a common problem in the early years of the war ) , so the u - boat opened fire with her deck gun . after a while she fired another torpedo , but missed , so recommenced shelling . after firing 149 rounds , u - 43 left the ship on fire and slowly sinking . two crewmen were killed , while 23 survivors were picked up by an italian merchant ship . on the morning of 8 december u - 43 was attacked by an unidentified aircraft and severely damaged . she returned to wilhelmshaven six days later , on the 14th . 2nd patrol after the 6th u - boat flotilla was disbanded in december 1939 , u - 43 was assigned to the 2nd u - boat flotilla based in wilhelmshaven . u - 43 departed from there on 13 march 1940 and sailed along the coast of norway , north of scotland , and into the waters west of ireland , but had no success . the first watch officer ( second - in - command of the u - boat ) oberleutnant zur see hans - wilhelm behrens fell overboard and was lost on 31 march . u - 43 returned to wilhelmshaven , after 25 days at sea , on 6 april . 3rd patrol u - 43 's third voyage began on 12 april 1940 . she patrolled the north sea and along the norwegian coast , supporting the invasion of that country . on 22 april she was bombed by two british hudson aircraft and suffered slight damage . she returned to wilhelmshaven the next day . 4th patrol u - 43 sailed from wilhelmshaven on 13 may 1940 and out into the atlantic . her first attack took place on 28 may , south - west of land 's end , when she fired a torpedo at the british merchant ship alca . she missed , and then opened fire with her deck gun . the armed ship returned fire , but neither vessel made any hits ; the u - boat broke off the attack . u - 43 finally found success on 21 june when she attacked convoy 65 - x south - west of figueira da foz , portugal , hitting the 8 , 627 ton british tanker with a single torpedo . the ship caught fire and sank . five crew members were killed , the 45 survivors were picked up by a french trawler . late on 30 june u - 43 hit the 13 , 376 ton british merchant ship ss star with a single torpedo 220 nautical miles ( 410 km ; 250 mi ) northwest of cape finisterre . the ship , part of convoy sl - 36 , was en route from buenos aires to london with a cargo of 5 , 630 tons of frozen meat and 1 , 000 tons of oranges . the crew abandoned the ship , which foundered the next day . one crewman was killed in the attack , the 84 survivors were picked up by the british merchant ship , which was subsequently torpedoed and sunk by u - 30 on 1 july . three survivors from star were killed . on the evening of 9 july u - 43 sank the unescorted 3 , 944 ton british merchant ship aylesbury about 200 nautical miles ( 370 km ; 230 mi ) southeast of ireland . hit by two torpedoes , the ship sank in 15 minutes . all 35 crew survived . u - 43 's fourth and final success on her fourth patrol took place on the morning of 17 july when she sank the 3 , 509 - ton british merchant ship , a straggler from convoy oa - 184 , about 135 nautical miles ( 250 km ; 155 mi ) north - west of bloody foreland ( cnoc ) , donegal . the u - boat 's first torpedo passed under the vessel , but the second struck the ship and caused her to sink within five minutes . twelve of the crew were killed , 21 survivors were rescued . u - 43 arrived back at wilhelmshaven on 22 july after 71 days at sea . 5th patrol u - 43 sailed from wilhelmshaven on 9 september 1940 , stopping at bergen , norway for three days before sailing on the 15th for another atlantic patrol . she sank only one ship , the 5 , 802 ton british merchantman , separated from convoy ob - 217 , on 25 september . the u - boat hit the ship with a single torpedo causing her to sink 356 nautical miles ( 659 km ; 410 mi ) west of achill head , county mayo . one man was lost , the remaining 56 crewmen were picked up by hmcs ottawa . u - 43 then made for her new home port at lorient in france , where the 2nd u - boat flotilla had relocated in june after the fall of that country , arriving there on 18 october . her commander , wilhelm ambrosius , was promoted to korvettenkapitän on 1 november , and left u - 43 , going on to take command of the 22nd u - boat flotilla in january 1941 . command of the u - boat passed to oberleutnant zur see wolfgang lüth , who would go on to become the second most successful german submarine commander of the war . 6th patrol under her new captain , u - 43 left lorient on 10 november 1940 and returned to the waters west of ireland , where she sank three more merchant ships and damaged a fourth . on the morning of 2 december she attacked convoy ob - 251 west - south - west of rockall and sank two ships . her first victim was the 7 , 113 ton british merchant ship pacific president , which was hit by two torpedoes and quickly sank with the loss of her crew of 50 men . forty - five minutes later u - 43 hit the 12 , 247 ton british oil tanker victor ross with two torpedoes . a third torpedo was fired five minutes later , but missed , the u - boat evaded a ramming attempt by crash - diving shortly afterwards . however , she persisted and hit the ship with a fourth torpedo 20 minutes later , sinking her . there were no survivors from her 44 crew . in the evening of 6 december , u - 43 spotted a ship and pursued her for three and a half hours before firing a single torpedo , which missed . the u - boat fired another torpedo 20 minutes later , hitting the unknown ship and sinking her in 63 seconds . the vessel is believed to be the 1 , 902 ton norwegian merchant ship , which had lost contact with convoy ob - 252 two days before in heavy weather and was never seen again . finally , on 13 december , u - 43 fired two torpedoes at the unescorted 10 , 350 ton british merchant ship orari about 450 nautical miles ( 830 km ; 520 mi ) southwest of ireland . one torpedo hit the ship in the stern . however , u - 43 had no torpedoes left , and the sea was too rough for her to use her deck gun . the crew of the ship managed to plug the hole with tarpaulins , and the ship made it under her own power to the clyde . u - 43 returned to lorient on 17 december 1940 after a patrol of 38 days . on 4 february 1941 , while at lorient docks , u - 43 was sunk after a valve was accidentally left open , putting the u - boat out of action for the next three months . 7th patrol after this enforced absence u - 43 began her next patrol on 11 may 1941 , still under the command of wolfgang lüth , who had been promoted to kapitänleutnant on 1 january . once again she sailed out into the mid - atlantic , where she sank three ships . early on the morning of 15 may u - 43 opened fire with her deck gun and anti - aircraft guns on the 488 ton french three - masted sailing ship notre dame du châtelet , en route from st. malo to the grand banks of newfoundland to fish . after being hit by 45 shells the ship sank . lüth suspected that the vessel was reporting the positions of u - boats to allied forces , while the 10 survivors thought they had been attacked by a british submarine . they , from her crew of 38 , abandoned ship in two lifeboats . two were picked up by the italian submarine on 23 may . on the evening of 6 june u - 43 put two torpedoes into the 4 , 802 ton dutch merchant ship about 600 nautical miles ( 1 , 100 km ; 690 mi ) east of newfoundland . the ship , separated from convoy ob - 328 , sank within two minutes . only 10 of her crew of 34 survived to be rescued by the finnish merchantman on 15 june . in the early hours of 17 june , u - 43 torpedoed and sank the 2 , 727 ton british merchant ship cathrine , part of convoy sl - 76 , which was loaded with 3 , 700 tons of manganese ore , about 250 nautical miles ( 460 km ; 290 mi ) south - west of cape clear ( southern ireland ) . only three men survived from her crew of 27 ; they spent 33 days in a lifeboat before being found by a british trawler . u - 43 returned to lorient on 1 july after a patrol lasting 52 days . 8th and 9th patrols u - 43 's next patrol , beginning on 2 august 1941 , took her back out into the mid - atlantic for 53 days , but she had no success before returning to lorient on 23 september . u - 43 went to sea again on 10 november 1941 , this time she was more successful , sinking three ships near the azores . early on the morning of 29 november , u - 43 fired two torpedoes at the 5 , 569 ton british merchant ship thornliebank , part of convoy os - 12 , and loaded with general cargo and munitions , about 240 nautical miles ( 440 km ; 280 mi ) north - north - west of the azores . both torpedoes struck the ship , which exploded violently . there were no survivors from the crew of 75 men . despite being about 1 , 200 metres ( 0 . 75 mi ) distant , debris from the explosion struck the surfaced u - boat , slightly injuring a crewman ; the next day an 10 cm ( 3 . 9 in ) shell was found lodged in the conning tower . on the evening of 30 november , the 4 , 868 - ton british merchant ship ashby , a straggler from convoy os - 12 , was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by u - 43 , 170 nautical miles ( 310 km ; 200 mi ) south - south - east of flores in the azores . the ship sank within four minutes with the loss of 17 of her crew of 50 . the survivors were picked up by the portuguese destroyer lima . after the attack the u - boat was depth charged for several hours by convoy escorts , but managed to escape unharmed . at about 17 : 00 on 1 december 1941 , u - 43 and u - 575 spotted the 7 , 542 ton unescorted and unarmed tanker astral . both u - boats gave chase , but after four hours u - 575 , commanded by kapitänleutnant günther , observed the large american flag painted on her side and abandoned the pursuit . u - 43 continued to follow the neutral ship , firing a torpedo at her around midnight , which missed . the ship immediately began to sail a zigzag evasive course at full speed , but the u - boat had no problem following her in the light of the full moon . the next morning u - 43 hit the astral with two torpedoes . the ship , loaded with 78 , 200 barrels ( 12 , 430 m3 ) of gasoline and kerosene , exploded and sank within minutes . there were no survivors from her crew of 37 . the astral was the third of four american merchant ships sunk by u - boats prior to america 's entry into the war . u - 43 returned to lorient on 16 december . 10th patrol lüth 's last patrol with the boat began on 30 december 1941 , when u - 43 sailed from lorient into the mid - atlantic , where she sank three more ships . the first was the 5 , 246 ton swedish cargo ship , straggling from convoy hx - 168 due to bad weather , about 600 nautical miles ( 1 , 100 km ; 690 mi ) west of ireland . on the morning of 12 january 1942 the ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank within a minute . six british passengers and 32 crewmen were lost , the only two survivors were spotted on a raft on 10 february by a british patrol aircraft , which directed a fishing trawler to their position the next day . early in the morning of 14 january , u - 43 attacked convoy on - 55 south of iceland and sank the 6 , 641 ton british merchant ship empire surf . only six of the crew of 53 survived to be picked up by hms . about two hours later u - 43 attacked the convoy again and sank the 5 , 707 ton panama - registered american merchant ship . there were 21 survivors from her 38 crew . the u - boat then sailed to kiel , arriving on 22 january . command of the u - boat passed to her , oberleutnant zur see hans - joachim , as lüth left to commission u - 181 . 11th patrol u - 43 's first patrol under her new commander began on 4 july 1942 , as she sailed from kiel via the ' gap ' between iceland and the faroe islands into the mid - atlantic . however , she achieved no success , and arrived back at lorient on 15 august after 43 days at sea . 12th patrol u - 43 's next patrol was more successful , departing from lorient on 23 september 1942 , sailing across the atlantic and into the gulf of saint lawrence . on the morning of 18 november , u - 43 fired four torpedoes at convoy sc - 109 and hit the 9 , 131 ton american tanker brilliant , loaded with 90 , 704 barrels ( 14 , 420 . 8 m3 ) of fuel oil . a 40 - foot ( 12 m ) diameter hole was made in her side , and the cargo caught fire . while some of the crew abandoned ship , those remaining aboard managed to put the fires out ; making only three knots , the ship limped the 300 nautical miles ( 560 km ; 350 mi ) to bonavista bay , newfoundland , arriving on 24 november . brilliant eventually left newfoundland on 18 january 1943 under tow , but after two days the ship broke in half . the fore section sank immediately , while the aft section drifted for some days before it was found and the 44 crew rescued . the aft section was taken in tow , but sank the next day . u - 43 arrived back at lorient on 9 december after a patrol of 78 days . 13th patrol u - 43 's first patrol of 1943 began on 9 january , patrolling the waters between the azores and the west african coast . on 3 march she spotted a vessel , identified it as a british blue star line merchant ship , and hit it with three torpedoes , it sank it within two minutes . only later did u - 43 learn that it was the 5 , 154 ton german blockade runner , formerly the british that had been captured by the auxiliary cruiser atlantis in january 1941 . the ship was carrying 7 , 000 tons of rubber , fats , fish oil , and other raw materials from yokohama to france ; she was several days ahead of her scheduled arrival date . u - 43 returned to lorient on 31 march after 82 days at sea . 14th patrol u - 43 's final patrol began when she sailed from lorient on 13 july 1943 and headed southwest into the atlantic . on the evening of 19 july , in company with u - 403 in the bay of biscay , the two u - boats were attacked by a british liberator mk.v bomber of no. 86 squadron raf . u - 403 crash - dived immediately , covered by the aa fire of u - 43 , which then dived . the liberator was slightly damaged and a crewman wounded , but dropped two homing torpedoes . neither u - boat was damaged and both escaped . sinking on 30 july 1943 , u - 43 was attacked again , this time by a grumman tbf avenger torpedo bomber from the american escort carrier uss santee . the aircraft dropped a mark 24 fido torpedo and sank the u - boat southwest of the azores , in position 34 ° 57 ′ n 35 ° 11 ′ w. all 55 crew members went down with the submarine . wolfpacks u - 43 took part in 10 wolfpacks , namely . ( 12 – 15 june 1940 ) west ( 17 may – 16 june 1941 ) kurfürst ( 16 – 20 june 1941 ) grönland ( 10 – 27 august 1941 ) markgraf ( 27 august – 12 september 1941 ) steuben ( 14 november – 2 december 1941 ) wolf ( 13 – 30 july 1942 ) ( 31 july – 3 august 1942 ) ( 27 january – 28 february 1943 ) ( 1 – 19 march 1943 ) summary of raiding history during her service in the kriegsmarine , u - 43 sank 21 merchant ships for a total of 117 , 036 grt , damaged one vessel of 10 , 350 grt , and another of 9 , 131 grt - enough for it to be declared a total loss .