German submarine U-358

German submarine U-358 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out five patrols before being sunk north of the Azores by British warships in March 1944.

She was a member of 11 wolfpacks.

She sank four ships and one warship.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 25 June 1940 at the Flensburger Schiffsbau yard at Flensburg as 'werk' 477, launched on 30 April 1942 and commissioned on 15 August under the command of Oberleutnant Rolf Manke.

1st patrol
The boat's first patrol was in two parts; it began with her departure from Kiel on 12 January 1943. During the second part, which began with her departure from Kristiansand in Norway on the 16th, she negotiated the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and sank the Neva 200 mi west of these islands on the 22nd. On the 26th, she sank the Nortind east of Cape Farewell, (Greenland). She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France on 8 March.

2nd patrol
Having left St. Nazaire (which would be her base for the rest of her career) on 11 April 1943, U-357 sank the Bristol City and the Wentworth; she was attacked south of Cape Farewell by the British corvette HMS Pink and badly damaged. (This attack had originally credited Pink with the destruction of U-192.

3rd patrol
The submarine's third foray took her south, as far as the Gulf of Guinea, off the west African coast. At 84 days, it was her longest patrol.

4th patrol
Sortie number four saw the boat northeast of the Azores.

5th patrol and loss
U-357 had left St. Nazaire on 14 February 1944. From the 29th, she was hunted by the British frigates HMS Gould, Affleck, Gore and Garlies'' north of the Azores. Gore and Garlies had to break off the assault and sail to Gibraltar to re-fuel. The U-boat sank Gould on 1 March, but Affleck persisted with the attack, sinking U-357 with gunfire after the submarine was forced to the surface.

50 men died in the U-boat; there was one survivor.