German submarine U-478

German submarine U-478 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out one patrol. She sank no ships.

She was sunk by a Canadian and a British aircraft northeast of the Faroe Islands on 30 June 1944.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-478 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 Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 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-478 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), one 3.7 cm Flak M42 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 28 October 1942 at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel as yard number 309, launched on 17 July 1943 and commissioned on 8 September under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Rademacher.

She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 8 September 1943 for training and the 3rd flotilla from 1 June 1944 for operations.

Patrol and loss
U-478's only patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel in Germany to Kristiansand in Norway. The patrol itself began with the boat's departure from Kristiansand on 25 June 1944.

On 30 June she was attacked and sunk by a Canadian Canso (the Canadian version of the PBY Catalina) flying boat of No. 162 Squadron RCAF and a British B-24 Liberator of No. 86 Squadron RAF northeast of the Faroe Islands.

Fifty-two men went down with U-478; there were no survivors.