German submarine U-549

German submarine U-549 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 28 September 1942 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg, launched on 28 April 1943, and commissioned on 14 July 1943 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Detlev Krankenhagen. After training with the 4th U-boat Flotilla at Stettin, the U-boat was transferred to the 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 January 1944.

1st patrol
U-549 departed Kiel on 11 January 1944, and sailed out into the mid-Atlantic, via the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, but had no successes. The U-boat arrived at Lorient in occupied France on 26 March after 76 days at sea.

2nd patrol and loss
The U-boat left Lorient on 14 May 1944 and sailed to the waters north-west of the Canary Islands. At 20:13 on 29 May 1944, U-549 slipped through the anti-submarine screen of the hunter-killer group TG 21.11, and fired three T-3 torpedoes at the escort carrier USS Block Island (CVE-21), hitting her with two, and severely damaging the ship which was later sunk by her escorts. At 20.40 hours the U-boat fired a salvo of T-5 acoustic torpedoes, badly damaging the destroyer escort USS Barr (DE-576), and missing the USS Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686). A counter-attack with depth charges was launched by USS Ahrens (DE-575) and Eugene E. Elmore which sank the U-boat, in position 31.21667°N, -23.05°W. All 57 hands were lost.