German submarine U-162 (1941)

German submarine U-162 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She was ordered on 25 September 1939 and was laid down on 19 April 1940 at Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG, at Seebeck Yard in Bremerhaven, Germany, as "werk 701". She was launched on 1 March 1941 and commissioned under the command of Korvettenkapitän Jürgen Wattenberg on 9 September of that year.

During three war patrols, U-162 sank 14 vessels. However, on 3 September, three British destroyers hunted U-162 down and sank her. Of a crew of fifty-one, only two died. The remainder were taken prisoner and sent to camps in the United States, where they were to remain for the rest of the war.

1st Patrol
Following training exercises with the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 9 September 1941 to 31 January 1942, U-162 began her first war patrol as the lead boat of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla on 1 February 1942. She left her home port of Kiel on 7 February and ventured into the North Sea without stopping in occupied Norway. During 40 days at sea, U-162 sailed north of the British Isles and entered the North Atlantic, where she sank her first vessel, the White Crest, on 24 February 1942.

2nd Patrol
U-162 returned to sea on 7 April 1942. For this patrol, she cruised south into the Caribbean Sea and the northern coast of South America. During her 63 days at sea, U-162 sank nine ships: the Athelempress, the Parnahyba, the Eastern Sword, the Florence M. Douglas, the Frank Seamans, the Mont Louis, the Esso Houston, the British Colony and the Beth. Following these victories, U-162 returned to her new home port of Lorient on 8 June 1942.

3rd Patrol and sinking
U-162 ' s third and final sortie began on 7 July 1942, when she left Lorient for the last time. Much like her second foray, U-162 spent her third patrol in the Caribbean Sea and off the coast of South America. From the 19th to 30 August, she sank four more vessels: the West Celina, the Moena, the Thelma and the Star of Oregon. Nonetheless, just four days after sinking the Star of Oregon, she was detected northeast of Trinidad. Three British destroyers, HMS Vimy, Pathfinder and Quentin, attacked and sank U-162 with depth charges. Two crewmen were killed, 49 others survived.

Following the sinking of U-162, the surviving crew members were picked up by the three destroyers and sent to the United States where they gave US interrogators information about U-162 's history, including where and when she was laid down, how many ships she sank and details about her home port and the design and layout of submarines that were in her class. They were then sent to POW camps in the United States. In December 1944, the captain, Jürgen Wattenberg, escaped captivity but was recaptured a month later.