German submarine U-437

German submarine U-437 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out eleven patrols, but sank no ships.

She was a member of sixteen wolfpacks.

She was damaged by British bombs in Norway in October 1944 and stricken; she was broken up in 1946.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 16 April 1940 at F. Schicau GmbH in Danzig (now Gdansk) as 'werk' 1479, launched on 26 July 1941 and commissioned on 25 October under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner-Karl Schultze.

She served with the 6th U-boat Flotilla from 25 October 1941 for training and stayed with that organization from 1 April 1942 until 5 October 1944.

1st patrol
U-436's first patrol was from Kiel in Germany and took in the Atlantic Ocean, which she reached via the 'gap' separating the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France on 16 April 1942. (She would continue to use this port for almost the rest of her career).

2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th patrols
The boat's second sortie was as far as northwest of the Azores, but produced no results.

Her third foray took her to the Caribbean Sea and at 68 days, was her longest.

Patrol number four was relatively uneventful. It terminated at St. Nazaire on 15 November 1942.

U-436's fifth patrol was north of the Azores.

6th patrol
Her sixth effort was marked by an attack by a Leigh Light equipped Vickers Wellington of No. 172 Squadron RAF in the Bay of Biscay on 23 April 1943. Damage was extensive enough that U-437 was assisted back to base by U-455.

7th patrol
U-437's seventh patrol was divided into a series of short voyages, with the exception of the last part; but success continued to elude her.

8th patrol
It was a similar story for her eighth outing.

9th and 10th patrols
For the boat's ninth patrol, she did not leave the Bay of Biscay.

Following the Allied advance after D-Day, U-437 moved to Bordeaux after her tenth sortie.

11th patrol
Reversing the course of her first patrol, including the Iceland/Faroes 'gap', the submarine arrived at Bergen in Norway on 21 September 1944.

Fate
U-437 was damaged by British bombs in Bergen on 4 October 1944; she was stricken a day later. She was broken up in 1946.