Unterseeboot 736

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Unterseeboot 736 was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down on 29 November 1941 by F. Schichau of Danzig. She was commissioned on 16 January 1943 with Oberleutnant Reinhard Reff in command.

She conducted 2 patrols

16 January 1943 to 31 March 1944 8th Flottille (training)
1 April 1944 to 6 August 1944 1st Flottille (front boat)

On 24 May 1944 she severely damaged a B-24 Liberator from 224/C and then shot down a British Vickers Wellington aircraft.

On 6 August 1944 she was sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of St. Nazaire, in position 47.19N, 04.16W, by Squid depth charges from HMS Loch Killin, there were 19 survivors and 28 dead. The U-boat captain,O.Lt Reinhard Reff, had fired a torpedo at HMS Loch Killin and the periscope was spotted by a port lookout. Action stations rang out through the ship and depth charges shot out in record time. The torpedo was destroyed by the explosion, which was so violent that it forced the damaged U-736 to surface under the stern of the frigate. For a few minutes both vessel were locked together and the survivors of the crew scrambled onto the quarter-deck of Loch Killin to the bewilderment of the frigate's crew. Then U-736 slipped away taking the other crew members to the bottom. The prisoners were disembarked to another warship returning tp England and Loch Killin continued on patrol.