German submarine U-387

German submarine U-387 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out ten patrols. She sank no ships.

She was a member of eleven wolf packs.

She was sunk by a British warship in the Barents Sea in December 1944.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 5 September 1941 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Kiel as 'werk' 18, launched on 1 October 1942 and commissioned on 24 November under the command of Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Büchler.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 24 November 1942 and the 7th flotilla from 1 July 1943. She was reassigned to the 13th flotilla from 1 November until her loss.

1st patrol
U-387's first patrol was preceded by short trips from Kiel to Marviken, then to Bergen in June 1943. The boat's patrol proper commenced with her departure from Bergen on 3 July. She followed the Norwegian coast as far as Bodø and then headed due north as far as a point a few miles short of Svalbard. She then sailed south, passing to the west of Bear Island, docking in Narvik on 21 August. At 50 days, it was her longest patrol, but sighting the enemy did not happen.

2nd and 3rd patrols
The boat's second and third sorties were both divided into two parts. Her crew got to know the northern Norwegian, Greenland and Barents Seas particularly well.

4th, 5th and 6th patrols
The monotony of her fourth, fifth and sixth forays was not relieved by success.

7th patrol
By now based in Narvik, the submarine was carrying out her seventh patrol when she was attacked by a Norwegian-crewed Sunderland flying boat of No. 330 Squadron RAF. Enough damage was inflicted to oblige the U-boat to put into Trondheim for repairs.

8th and 9th patrols
U-387's eighth patrol was uneventful as was her ninth, which took her to the waters around the North Cape.

10th patrol and loss
The boat left Narvik for the last time on 24 November 1944. On 9 December, she was sunk in the Barents Sea near Murmansk by depth charges dropped by the British corvette HMS Bamborough Castle.

Fifty-one men died in the U-boat; there were no survivors.