German submarine U-308

German submarine U-308 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The U-boat was laid down on 5 November 1941 at the Flender Werke in Lübeck as yard number 308, launched on 31 October 1942 and commissioned on 23 December 1942 under the command of Leutnant zur See Karl Mühlenpfordt.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-308 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 Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c 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-308 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 two twin 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history
With a crew of forty-four, U-308 carried out one patrol and did not sink or damage any ships. She was sunk with all hands on this patrol in the Norwegian Sea north-east of the Faroe Islands by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Truculent (P315) on 4 June 1943.