German submarine U-439

German submarine U-439 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out four patrols. She sank no ships.

She was a member of six wolfpacks.

She was sunk after a collision with another U-boat on 4 May 1943.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-439 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-439 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
The submarine was laid down on 1 October 1940 at Schichau-Werke in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) as yard number 1490, launched on 11 October 1941 and commissioned on 20 December under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Sporn.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 20 December 1941 for training and the 1st flotilla from 1 November 1942 for operations.

First patrol
U-439's first patrol was from Kiel in Germany. She headed for the Atlantic Ocean, via the gap separating the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She arrived at Brest in occupied France on 24 December.

Second and third patrols
For her second sortie, she barely got out of the Bay of Biscay.

Her third foray took her into the middle of the North Atlantic.

Fourth patrol and loss
Having left Brest on 27 April 1943, she, along with GS U-659, were both shadowing a southbound convoy on 4 May in preparation for an attack on the surface when the two U-boats collided. Both boats sank.

Forty men went down with U-439; there were nine survivors.

Wolfpacks
U-439 took part in six wolfpacks, namely:
 * Panzer (23 November – 11 December 1942)
 * Raufbold (11 – 15 December 1942)
 * Neuland (4 – 6 March 1943)
 * Ostmark (6 – 11 March 1943)
 * Stürmer (11 – 19 March 1943)
 * Drossel (29 April – 4 May 1943)