German submarine U-450

German submarine U-450 was a Type VIIC U-boat in the service of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-450 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-450 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 22 July 1941 in Danzig, Germany (now Poland). She was launched on 4 July 1942 and commissioned on 12 September that year. During her career with the Kriegsmarine, U-450 never sank any ships.

Patrols
On 27 May 1943, three days after she was redesignated from a training vessel to a front-line service boat, U-450 set out for her first patrol from Kiel, the home base of the 9th U-boat Flotilla under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Kurt Böhme. As the boat surfaced off the coast of Iceland on 6 June, she came under attack from a British B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, which wounded seven men. 16 days later, (with assistance from other boats due to the damage caused by the attack), she arrived at Brest in France. The patrol lasted 27 days, the longest of her career.

On 17 October 1943, U-450 left Brest for Toulon. She arrived at the port city 23 days later.

On 10 February 1944, ten days after a fire in her engine room had swept one man overboard and forced her to return to base, U-450 left Toulon for the Italian coast, presumably to attack support ships coming to reinforce Allied troops which had just landed at Anzio.

Fate
On 10 March 1944, exactly one month later, she came under depth charge attack by the British escort destroyers HMS Blankney (L30), HMS Blencathra (L24), HMS Brecon (L76) and HMS Exmoor (L08) and the American escort destroyer USS Madison (DD-425). The submarine sank, at position 41.18333°N, 12.45°W, but all 51 crew members were rescued by the destroyers and became prisoners of war.