German submarine U-569

German submarine U-569 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out nine patrols, sank one ship of 984 GRT and damaged one other of 4,458 GRT.

She was a member of 15 wolfpacks.

She was scuttled following damage inflicted by US carrier-borne aircraft in mid-Atlantic, in May 1943.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 21 May 1940 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as 'werk' 545, launched on 20 March 1941 and commissioned on 8 May under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Peter Hinsch.

She served with the 3rd U-boat Flotilla from 1 August 1941 for training and stayed with that organization for operations until her loss from 1 August 1941 to 22 May 1943.

1st and 2nd patrols
U-432's first patrol was from Trondheim in Norway, she headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France, on 21 September 1941.

Having left St. Nazaire on 12 October 1941, U-569 made for the Newfoundland and Labrador coast. She returned to her French base on 12 November.

3rd patrol
The submarine was attacked by a Fairey Swordfish west of Gibraltar on 16 December 1941. She, along with four other U-boats, was to have operated in the Mediterranean, but the damage was such that she had to return to St. Nazaire.

4th and 5th patrols
U-569 sank the Hengist on 8 March 1942 northwest of Cape Wrath (Scotland) and returned to France (La Pallice), on 2 April 1943.

On her fifth sortie, she damaged the Pontypridd northeast of St. Johns, Newfoundland, on 11 June 1942 and took the master prisoner. She returned to La Pallice on the 28th.

6th and 7th patrols
The boat was attacked by the Norwegian corvette HNoMS Potentilla on 25 August 1942. The warship lost the element of surprise and her intention to ram when her 4 in gun opened fire prematurely. Several hits were scored on the conning tower by 20mm AA guns, but the larger weapon failed to register in the encounter in mid-Atlantic.

The boat's seventh patrol was relatively peaceful with no contacts.

8th patrol
U-569 was attacked by the escorts of Convoy UC-1 on 23 February 1943 and seriously damaged. She had departed La Pallice on 7 February 1943 and returned there on 13 March.

9th patrol and loss
The boat was badly damaged by depth charges dropped by two TBM Avengers from the escort carrier USS Bogue on 22 May 1943. She was scuttled in mid-Atlantic on 22 May 1943.

Twenty-one men died with U-569; there were 25 survivors.