German submarine U-801

German submarine U-801 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

U-801 was ordered in December 1940 from DeSchiMAG Seebeckwerft in Geestemünde under the yard number 710. Her keel was laid down on 1 October 1941 and after eleven months of construction the U-boat was launched the following year on 31 October 1942. About six months later she was commissioned into service under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim Brans (Crew 35) in the 4th U-boat Flotilla.

Service History
After a collision in the Baltic during work-up for deployment, U-801, now part of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla, left Swinemünde together with GS U-421 and GS U-734 on 7 November 1943 for Norway. Via Kristiansand and Stavanger, the U-boats reached Bergen two days later. Leaving Bergen the next week, U-801 joined wolfpack Coronel operating against convoy ONS 24 in the North Atlantic on 2 December 1943. For the rest of the month she patrolled in her assigned operation area and joined two more wolf-packs, Coronel 2 and Borkum until technical problems forced her to make for port. U-801 reached Lorient on 8 January 1944.

Her second patrol would have led her into the Indian Ocean as part of Monsun group, however U-801 was detected by a submarine hunter group three weeks into her journey and attacked by aircraft from USS Block Island (CVE-21). Trying to evade her pursuers for two days, U-801 was so badly damaged that she had to surface. On the surface she was immediately attacked by a US destroyer in the vicinity. Nine crew members lost their lives in the attack. After scuttling the boat, the rest of the crew was picked up by the destroyer and later transferred to Block Island. The 47 survivors were brought to Norfolk, Virginia and spent the rest of the war in captivity.

Wolf Packs
U-801 took part in 4 wolfpacks, namely.
 * Coronel (4 Dec 1943 - 8 Dec 1943)
 * Coronel 2 (8 Dec 1943 - 14 Dec 1943)
 * Coronel 3 (14 Dec 1943 - 17 Dec 1943)
 * Borkum (18 Dec 1943 - 3 Jan 1944)