German submarine U-208

German submarine U-208 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 5 August 1940 by the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 637, launched on 21 May 1941 and commissioned on 5 July under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper.

She was sunk on 7 December 1941 by ships of the British Royal Navy.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-208 had a displacement of 769 t when at the surface and 871 t while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m, a pressure hull length of 50.50 m, a beam of 6.20 m, a height of 9.60 m, and a draught of 4.74 m. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2800 to 3200 PS for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 PS for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 m.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 kn. When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nmi at 4 kn; when surfaced, she could travel 8500 nmi at 10 kn. U-208 was fitted with five 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history
Part of the 1st U-boat Flotilla, U-208 carried out two patrols in the North Atlantic.

First patrol
U-208's first patrol began when she left Kiel on 29 September 1941. She travelled to the Barents Sea before turning about and headed for the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Labrador and followed the coast south to Newfoundland. She sank the Larpool about 250 nmi east southeast of Cape Race (Newfoundland). Turning east, she sailed for the Bay of Biscay, arriving at Brest in occupied France, on 12 November.

Second patrol and loss
The boat's second patrol took her south of Spain. She was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped by the British destroyers HMS Hesperus (H57) and HMS Harvester (H19) west of Gibraltar on 7 December 1941. Forty-five men died; there were no survivors.

Afternote
U-208 was previously thought to have been sunk by the corvette HMS Bluebell (K80) on 11 December 1941, west of Gibraltar.

Wolfpacks
U-208 took part in one wolfpack, namely:
 * Mordbrenner (16 October – 2 November 1941)