German submarine U-438

German submarine U-438 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Commissioned in late 1941, she conducted five war patrols, operating primarily in the North Atlantic as part of several wolfpacks. Her career was marked by the sinking of three Allied merchant ships before she was herself destroyed by Allied forces in May 1943.

Design and description

The Type VIIC was the workhorse of the Kriegsmarine's U-boat fleet, an evolution of the earlier Type VII submarine. U-438 was constructed at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig. She had a displacement of 769 tonnes when surfaced and 871 tonnes submerged, with an overall length of 67.1 meters. Powered by two Germaniawerft MAN diesel engines for surface running and two Siemens electric motors for submerged travel, she could reach speeds of over 17 knots on the surface. Her armament consisted of five 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) and she carried fourteen torpedoes or could deploy 26 TMA mines. For anti-aircraft defense, she was equipped with an 8.8 cm deck gun and a 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft gun.

Service history

U-438 was commissioned on 22 November 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Franzius. After completing training with the 5th U-boat Flotilla in Kiel, she was assigned to the 9th U-boat Flotilla based in Brest for front-line service. Her first patrol began in March 1942, departing from Kiel and transiting through the Iceland-Faroes gap into the North Atlantic. She operated as part of wolfpacks such as ''Hecht'' and ''Draufgänger'', attacking Convoy SC-94 and Convoy ON-127. Subsequent patrols took her to the waters off Newfoundland and back into the mid-Atlantic. Her final patrol commenced in April 1943 from La Pallice, joining the wolfpack ''Meise'' to intercept Allied convoys.

Summary of raiding history

During her service, U-438 sank three Allied merchant vessels for a total of 19,060 gross register tons (GRT) and damaged one other. {| |- ! Date !! Ship Name !! Nationality !! Tonnage (GRT) !! Fate |- | 5 August 1942 || Kelso || || 3,956 || Sunk |- | 10 September 1942 || Empire Moonbeam || || 6,849 || Sunk |- | 11 September 1942 || Hektoria || || 13,797 || Damaged |- | 13 September 1942 || Athelsultan || || 8,882 || Sunk |}

Fate

On 6 May 1943, while attacking Convoy ONS-5 in the North Atlantic northeast of Newfoundland, U-438 was depth-charged and sunk by the Royal Navy corvette HMS ''Pink'' and the frigate HMS ''Loosestrife''. All 47 members of her crew were lost. Her sinking occurred during the pivotal May 1943 crisis for the U-boat arm, a period of devastating losses now known as Black May.

Category:World War II submarines of Germany Category:Type VIIC submarines Category:Ships built in Danzig Category:1941 ships