German submarine U-479

German submarine U-479 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel on 19 November 1942 as yard number 310, launched on 14 August 1943 and was commissioned on 27 October 1943 with Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Joachim Förster, a Knights Cross winner, in command. He was replaced shortly afterwards by Oberleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Sons.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-479 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-479 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 boat began her service career as part of the 5th U-boat Flotilla for training, before moving to the 8th flotilla for operations. She sank no ships during her career, but on 18 July 1944 U-479 torpedoed and damaged the Soviet submarine-chaser MO-304 in Vyborg bay.

The U-boat's first patrol was preceded by short voyages from Kiel to Arendal (on the southern Norwegian coast near Kristiansand), back to Kiel and then on to Helsinki in Finland.

First patrol
Her first foray proper saw her depart Helsinki on 13 July 1944, arrive at Esplanade (on the southern Finnish coast) on 25 July and move back to Helsinki on 1 August.

Second and third patrols
Her second and third sorties were both launched from Helsinki in August and were uneventful.

Fourth patrol
The submarine's fourth patrol was only different from her second and third efforts in that it terminated at Danzig, (now Gdansk).

Loss
The U-boat was sunk by a Soviet naval mine in the Gulf of Finland on 27 November 1944. She was found in 2009, explored in the summer of 2014 and 2018, sonar surveys by Estonian vessel VLT-089 on July 24, 2018; and filmed on 8–9 September 2018 by Finnish vessel Deep Explorer and on October 10, 2018, by Estonian vessel VLT-089 in position 59.33333°N, 23.16667°W in Estonian waters.