German submarine U-759

German submarine U-759 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 15 November 1940 at the Kriegsmarinewerft yard at Wilhelmshaven, launched on 30 May 1942, and commissioned on 15 August 1942 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Friedrich.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-759 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 Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c 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-759 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
After training with 5th U-boat Flotilla at Kiel, Germany, on 1 February 1943 U-759 was transferred to 9th U-boat Flotilla, based in Brest, France, for front-line service. She sailed on two combat patrols and sank two ships totalling. U-759 was sunk east of Jamaica on 15 July 1943 by depth charges from a US Navy Mariner patrol bomber. All hands were lost.

First patrol
U-759 first sailed from Kiel on 2 February 1943, and out into the Atlantic, south of Greenland. She had no successes, and arrived at Lorient, France on 14 March after 41 days.

Second patrol
U-759 left Lorient on 7 June 1943 and sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea. There on 5 July, about 70 nmi west of Port-Salut, Haiti, she torpedoed the 3,513 GRT American merchant ship Maltran, part of Convoy GTMO-134. The ship sank in 15 minutes, but all 47 aboard escaped in lifeboats, and were picked up by USS SC-1279.

Two days later, on 7 July, the U-boat torpedoed and sank the 9,251 GRT Dutch cargo ship Poelau Roebiah, in convoy TAG-70, east of Jamaica. All but two of the 68 crew, along with 24 armed guards and 31 US passengers abandoned ship in four lifeboats and were later rescued. After sinking the Dutch ship the U-boat was pursued and attacked by the United States destroyer USS Tattnall (DD-125), but escaped. The next day, 8 July, U-759 was spotted and attacked by a United States Navy scout aircraft. Allied surface ships attacked for seven hours, but the U-boat evaded them and escaped unharmed.

Fate
U-759 was sunk on 15 July 1943 by depth charges from a US Navy Mariner aircraft from Squadron VP-32 in the Caribbean, in approximate position 15.96667°N, -73.73333°W. All 47 crew were lost.

Wolfpacks
U-759 took part in one wolfpack, namely:
 * Neptun (18 February – 3 March 1943)