German submarine U-174

German submarine U-174 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She was laid down at the AG Weser yard in Bremen as 'werk' 1014 on 2 January 1941, launched on 21 August and commissioned on 26 November with Fregattenkapitän Ulrich Thilo in command.

U-174 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She was re-assigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 August 1942.

She was sunk by an American Lockheed Ventura in April 1943.

1st patrol
The boat departed Kiel on 30 July 1942, moved through the North Sea and negotiated the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She encountered, in mid-Atlantic Ocean, the corvette HNoMS Potentilla. The Norwegian ship attacked; at one point, she was so close that a depth charge projected towards the U-boat, fell on the far side of the German vessel. The submarine escaped; nevertheless, the damage inflicted was sufficient to cause U-174 to leave a tell-tale trail of oil, thus obliging Thilo to abort the patrol. She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 6 September.

2nd patrol
For her second sortie, she sailed to the waters off Brazil. There she sank four ships between 31 October and 2 November 1942. She sank a fifth vessel on 15 December but was twice unsuccessfully attacked by American Catalina aircraft on the same day. She returned to Lorient on 9 January 1943.

3rd patrol and loss
U-174 had departed her French base on 18 March 1943, bound for the eastern seaboard of North America. On 27 April, she was attacked and sunk by an American Lockheed Ventura aircraft southwest of Newfoundland. Fifty-three men died; there were no survivors.