German submarine U-472

German submarine U-472 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out one patrol. She sank no ships.

She was sunk by a British aircraft and a British warship, southeast of Bear Island, in March 1943.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 15 November 1941 at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel as 'werk' 303, launched on 6 March 1943 and commissioned on 26 May under the command of Oberleutnant Freiherr Wolfgang Friedrich von Forstner.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 26 May 1943 for training and the 11th flotilla from 1 January 1944 for operations.

Patrol and loss
U-472's only patrol was preceded by short voyages from Kiel in Germany to Hammerfest then Narvik in Norway. Her only sortie began with her departure from Narvik on 24 February 1944. She sailed out into the Norwegian Sea, then northeast towards the Barents Sea. On 4 March, when southeast of Bear Island, she was attacked and sunk (one source says she might have been scuttled) by gunfire and rockets from a Fairey Swordfish of 816 Naval Air Squadron FAA and the destroyer HMS Onslaught. The aircraft had come from HMS Chaser. Twenty-three men died with U-472; there were thirty survivors.