German submarine U-386

German submarine U-386 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out four patrols. She sank one ship.

She was a member of five wolf packs.

She was sunk by a British warship in mid-Atlantic in February 1944.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 16 May 1941 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Kiel as 'werk' 17, launched on 19 August 1942 and commissioned on 10 October under the command of Oberleutnant Hans-Albrecht Kandler.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 10 October 1942 and the 6th flotilla from 1 May 1943 until her loss.

1st patrol
U-386's first patrol took her from Kiel in Germany to St. Nazaire in occupied France via the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She sank the Rosenborg which went down in 30 seconds. Two survivors were picked up. The boat was attacked by the escorts of Convoy ON (S) 5 on 28 April 1943. Severe damage was caused.

2nd and 3rd patrols
The submarine's second sortie was relatively uneventful, but her third, which commenced on 29 August 1943, included a surprise attack by an unidentified aircraft off Cape Finisterre on 6 September. The boat was caught unaware due to the malfunctioning of the Wanze detector. Wanze means 'bug' in German. She was also attacked by a British B-24 Liberator of No. 120 Squadron RAF on the 20th. The aircraft dropped a homing torpedo which caused no damage.

U-386 was forced into breaking off an attack a day later after being heavily depth charged.

4th patrol and loss


The boat had departed St. Nazaire on 26 December 1943. Exactly a month later (26 January 1944), she was off the west coast of Scotland, north of the island of Islay. She was sunk by depth charges dropped by the British frigate HMS Spey on 19 February 1944.

Thirty-three men died from the U-boat; there were 16 survivors.