German submarine U-436

German submarine U-436 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out eight patrols.

She sank six ships, total 36,208 GRT; and one warship of 291 tons. Two ships were damaged, totalling 15,575 GRT.

She was a member of ten wolfpacks.

She was sunk by Allied warships in mid-Atlantic, in May 1943.

Service history
The submarine was laid down on 25 April 1940 at F. Schicau GmbH in Danzig (now Gdansk) as 'werk' 1478, launched on 21 June 1941 and commissioned on 27 September 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Günther Seibicke.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 27 September 1941 for training and the 7th flotilla from 1 February 1942 for operations. She was reassigned, first to the 11th flotilla on 1 July, then the 6th flotilla on 1 September.

1st patrol
U-432's first patrol was from Kiel in Germany and took in the Norwegian and Barents Seas. She docked at Kirkenes, not far from the border between Norway and the Soviet Union on 17 February 1942.

2nd and 3rd patrols
The boat's initial success came when she sank the Soviet trawler RT-19 Komitern on 1 March 1942 east of Murmansk.

The submarine's third sortie commenced with her departure from Kirkenes on 7 April 1942. On the 13th, she sank the Soviet Kiev north of the North Cape. The vessel went down in seven minutes.

4th and 5th patrols
U-436 carried out her fourth and fifth patrols from Kirkenes and Trondheim. They were followed by a series of journeys which were not recognized as patrols. At their end, she was back in Kiel.

6th patrol
The U-boat left Kiel once more on 6 October 1942, but this time she was headed for the Atlantic Ocean, via the 'gap' separating the Faroe and Shetland Islands.

On the 27th, she torpedoed, but did not sink, the Norwegian Frontenac in mid-Atlantic. The ship's bow section was badly damaged, so much so that her propeller was raised out of the water. The accompanying fire was extinguished by a large wave; the ship was pumped out and she was capable of moving under her own power. During the same attack, she sank the Sourbaya. Also lost was the landing craft HMS LCT-2281 which had been carried on deck. Two days later, the boat sank the Barrwhinn.

She arrived at Lorient in occupied France on 12 November.

7th patrol
Patrol number seven saw U-436 sink the Albert L. Ellsworth south of the Azores on 8 January 1943. The ship had been abandoned after being hit by a torpedo but remained afloat. The wreck was sunk by gunfire from the U-boat the following evening.

8th patrol and loss
By now based at St. Nazaire, she left the French port on 25 April 1943. A day later she was attacked and sunk west of Cape Ortegal in northwest Spain by depth charges from the frigate HMS Test and the corvette Hyderabad.

Forty-seven men went down with U-436; there were no survivors.

Summary of raiding history
* Carried by Sourabaya