German submarine U-378

German submarine U-378 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out eight patrols before being sunk by US aircraft in October 1943 in mid-Atlantic.

She was a member of 16 wolfpacks.

She sank one warship.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 3 May 1940 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Kiel as 'werk' 9, launched on 13 September 1941 and commissioned on 30 October under the command of Kapitänleutnant Alfred Hoschatt.

1st patrol
The boat's first patrol was in two parts and commenced with her departure from Kiel on 11 March 1942. The second part began from the German island of Helgoland (sometimes spelt 'Heligoland'). She was attacked northeast of Norway's North Cape by the British destroyer HMS Fury. No damage was sustained.

2nd - 6th patrols
U-378 continued to operate in northern waters such as the Barents, Greenland and Norwegian seas until April 1943 when her sphere of operations changed to the Atlantic Ocean.

7th patrol
This sortie saw the boat leave Trondheim on 12 April 1943, negotiate the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands and sail as far eastward as Newfoundland and Labrador. She then re-crossed the Atlantic, docking at La Pallice in occupied France on 4 June. At 54 days, this was easily the submarine's longest patrol.

8th patrol and loss
U-378 sank the Polish destroyer ORP Orkan on 8 October 1943. The Commander, ten officers, 166 ratings and seven British crew members were lost.

On the 13th, the boat was the target of a FIDO homing torpedo that had been dropped from a TBF Avenger, but the weapon missed.

The submarine was sunk by an Avenger / F4F Wildcat pair on 20 October in mid-Atlantic. The aircraft had flown from USS Core.

48 men died in the depth charge attack; there were no survivors.