German submarine U-589

German submarine U-589 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out seven patrols, was a member of ten wolfpacks, sank one ship of 417 GRT and damaged one other of 2,847 GRT.

The boat was sunk by depth charges from a British warship assisted by a British aircraft, in September 1942.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 31 October 1940 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as 'werk' 565, launched on 6 August 1941 and commissioned on 25 September under the command of Korvettenkapitän Hans-Joachim Horrer.

She served with the 6th U-boat Flotilla from 26 June 1941 for training and stayed with that organization for operations from 1 February 1942. She was reassigned to the 11th flotilla on 1 July.

1st and 2nd patrols
U-589's first patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel to the German-controlled island of Helgoland, (also known as Heligoland), in February 1942. The patrol itself commenced on the 28th. She steamed through the Norwegian Sea and arrived at Kirkenes in the far north of Norway on 21 March.

For her second foray, she was involved in firing four torpedoes at the minesweeper HMS Niger; but the tracks were seen, evasive action was carried out, followed by an unsuccessful depth charge attack which caused no damage to the U-boat.

3rd patrol
She left Kirkenes on 8 April 1942 and covered the Barents Sea. She returned to her start point on the 20th.

4th patrol
U-589 damaged the Soviet merchant vessel Tsiolkovskij on 1 May 1942. This ship was later sunk by the German destroyers Z-24 and Z-25.

5th patrol
After more short voyages from Kirkenes to Skjomenfjord (south of Narvik), then Narvik itself and Bergen in May 1942, she carried out a relatively uneventful patrol which culminated in her arrival at Skjomenfjord on 12 August.

6th patrol
The boat set out for her sixth sortie on 23 August 1942. She travelled as far east as Nova Zemlya and returned to Narvik on 1 September.

7th patrol and loss
U-589 set out from Narvik on 9 September 1942. On the 14th, she was sunk by depth charges, first from a Fairey Swordfish of 825 Naval Air Squadron from HMS Avenger, then the British destroyer HMS Onslow.

Forty-four men died with U-589; there were no survivors.