German submarine U-449

German submarine U-449 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 British warships northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain in June 1943.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 17 July 1941 at F. Schicau GmbH in Danzig (now Gdansk) as 'werk' 1520, launched on 13 June 1942 and commissioned on 22 August under the command of Oberleutnant Hermann Otto.

She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 22 August 1942 for training and the 7th flotilla from 1 May 1943 for operations.

Patrol and loss
U-432's only patrol began with her departure from Kiel in Germany on 1 June 1942. She headed for the Atlantic Ocean, via the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands. On the 14th, she was attacked in mid-Atlantic by a British B-24 Liberator of No. 120 Squadron RAF. The damage caused was slight.

On 24 June, no less than four British sloops were responsible for her doom. HMS Wren, Woodpecker, Kite and Wild Goose dropped a relentless wave of depth charges which sealed the U-boat's fate.

Forty-nine men went down with U-449; there were no survivors.