German submarine U-359

German submarine U-359 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out three patrols. She did not sink or damage any ships.

She was sunk by an American aircraft in the Caribbean Sea in July 1943.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 19 June 1941 at the Flensburger Schiffsbau-Ges yard at Flensburg as 'werk' 478, launched on 11 June 1942 and commissioned on 5 October under the command of Oberleutnant Heinz Förster.

She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 5 October 1942 and the 7th flotilla from 1 March 1943.

1st patrol
U-359's first patrol took her from Kiel on 4 February 1943, through the Iceland / Faroe Islands 'gap' and south of Greenland. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France, on 18 March.

2nd patrol
During her second foray she crossed the Bay of Biscay and then turned in a southwesterly direction. The boat accordingly headed south before sailing northwest across the Atlantic.

3rd patrol and loss
U-359 left St. Nazaire for the last time on 29 June 1943. On 26 July, she was sunk by depth charges dropped from a US Navy PBM Mariner aircraft in the Caribbean off Santo Domingo, Haiti.

47 men died; there were no survivors.

Previously recorded fate
U-359 was originally noted as sunk on 28 July 1943 by a Mariner aircraft P-1 of USN Squadron VP-32. (Postwar assessment). This attack sank U-159.