German submarine U-844

German submarine U-844 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, built for service during the Second World War. An extremely short-lived boat, U-844 served just ten days on her only patrol and was sunk with two other boats whilst preparing for a failed attack on a well-defended convoy within range of allied air support.

Design
German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-844 had a displacement of 1144 t when at the surface and 1257 t while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of 76.76 m, a pressure hull length of 58.75 m, a beam of 6.86 m, a height of 9.60 m, and a draught of 4.67 m. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4400 PS for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1000 shp for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 m.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 kn. When submerged, the boat could operate for 63 nmi at 4 kn; when surfaced, she could travel 13850 nmi at 10 kn. U-844 was fitted with six 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a 3.7 cm SK C/30 as well as a 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.

Service history
Built by the large DeSchiMAG AG Weser shipyards in Bremen, U-844 was rapidly completed and readied for service, her entire building program taking just under a year. Given to Oberleutnant zur See Günther Möller, she passed her initial working-up and training schedule well, and was dispatched to her first patrol in the Atlantic Ocean in the first week of October 1943 to try to stem the terrible losses being incurred by U-boats at this time.

War Patrol
Ten days after her departure whilst she sailed south of Iceland she received orders to attach herself to GS U-470 and GS U-964 and to proceed southwards to attack Convoy ON 206 in the North Atlantic. The boats had to travel on the surface to have any hope of reaching their target, and it was this which caused disaster, as the three submarines were spotted in broad daylight by a RAF B-24 Liberator aircraft, which rapidly called allies in the form of more Liberators from 59 Squadron and 86 Squadron Royal Air Force amongst other forces.

Fate
On 16 October 1943, during the day-long battle which followed, the anti-aircraft weapons of the boats were brought into use, downing two Liberators and killing a number of crewmen. It was not however enough to stave off the inevitable, and one by one the boats were separated and sunk, having been prevented from diving by constant attention from Allied aircraft. U-844 was eventually lost to a direct hit from a bomb dropped by a Liberator, the boat blowing to pieces and killing all 53 of her crew.

Wolfpacks
U-844 took part in one wolfpack, namely:
 * Schlieffen (16 October 1943)