German submarine U-360

German submarine U-360 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out five patrols before being sunk in the Norwegian Sea by a British warship on 2 April 1944.

She was a member of five wolfpacks.

She damaged one ship and one warship.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-360 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-360 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
The submarine was laid down on 9 August 1941 at the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft yard at Flensburg as yard number 479, launched on 28 July 1942 and commissioned on 12 November under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Jügen Bühring.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 12 November 1942 and the 13th flotilla from 1 July 1943.

First patrol
The boat's first patrol was preceded by trips from Kiel in Germany to Bergen and then Narvik in Norway, from where she departed on 16 August 1943. She sailed southwest of Svalbard and west of Bear Island. She docked in Hammerfest on 24 September.

Second and third patrols
Her second foray was a repeat of her first – finishing in Narvik on 19 November 1943.

The submarine's third patrol took her around Bear Island.

Fourth patrol
Sortie number four saw the boat damaging HMS Obdurate (G39) southeast of Bear Island on 25 January 1944. She also damaged the Fort Bellingham the next day. This ship was subsequently sunk by GS U-957.

Fifth patrol and loss
Having moved from Hammerfest to Trondheim, U-360 started her fifth patrol on 29 March 1944. On 2 April, she was sunk southwest of Bear Island by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Keppel (D84).

51 men died in the U-boat; there were no survivors.

Wolfpacks
U-360 took part in five wolfpacks, namely:
 * Monsun (8 – 21 October 1943)
 * Eisenbart (22 October – 17 November 1943)
 * Eisenbart (25 – 28 November 1943)
 * Isegrim (1 – 27 January 1944)
 * Blitz (30 March – 2 April 1944)