Unterseeboot 427

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Career
Ordered:
Laid down:	July 27, 1942
Launched:
Commissioned:	June 2, 1943
Fate:	Sunk as part of Operation Deadlight
Homeport:
Stricken:
General characteristics
Displacement:	769 tonnes surfaced 871 tonnes submerged 1070 tonnes total
Length:	67.1 m total 50.5 m pressure hull
Beam:	6.2 m total 4.7 m pressure hull
Draft:	4.74 m
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric 3200 hp (2,400 kW) surfaced 750 hp (560 kW) submerged
Diving depth:	220 m (722 ft)
Speed:	17.7 knots (33 km/h) surfaced 7.6 knots (14 km/h) submerged
Range:	13,700 km (8200 miles) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced 125 km (80 miles) at 4 knots (7 km/h) submerged
Complement:	44-52 men
Armament:	88 mm/45 deck gun with 220 rounds 4 bow and 1 aft torpedo tubes 14 torpedoes

Unterseeboot 427 or U-427 was a German Type VII U-Boat that served during World War II. It was first launched on February 6th, 1943, with a crew of 53 under the command of Graf Karl Gabriel von Gudenus. It survived until the end of the war. Ironically, most U-Boats achieved notoriety for the number of kills they achieved, or the total tonnage of the vessels they sank, but in the case of U-427 fame was achieved of a different sort. [1]

From its first voyage, on June 20th, 1944, until the end of the war, U-427 never destroyed any of its targets. It fired torpedoes on two vessels, the HMCS Haida on April 29th, 1945, and the HMCS Iroquois also on April 29th, 1945, missing both, but it was for its ability to survive under unusual circumstances that U-427 became known. In April 1945, leading up to, during, and after those two attacks, U-427 survived 678 depth charge attempts. On May 2nd, 1945, U-427 returned to its base at Kilbotn, where it remained for the remaining weeks between then and Germany's surrender a few weeks later. [2] [3] [4]