German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-758 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.^[2] She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).^[2]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).^[2] When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-758 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.^[2]

Built at the Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, U-758 served on seven patrols with the 6th U-boat Flotilla.

First patrol edit

The submarine's first patrol of 41 days between 14 November until 24 December 1942 from Kiel to St. Nazaire was uneventful.

Second patrol edit

Her second patrol from 14 February until 30 March 1943 was not. Midway across the Atlantic Ocean on 17 March, U-758 joined Wolfpack Raubgraf and attacked convoy HX 229 which was eastbound, delivering goods from the United States to the United Kingdom. U-758 destroyed two ships from the 37-ship convoy: The Dutch ship Zaanland (6,813 GRT) and the US Liberty Ship James Oglethorpe (7,176 GRT). Torpedoes fired at the Dutch motor tanker Magdala missed their mark.

Subsequent patrols edit

U-758 undertook five more combat patrols but did not sink or damage any further ships.

Wolfpacks edit

U-758 took part in nine wolfpacks, namely:

• Panzer (23 November – 11 December 1942)
• Sturmbock (21 – 24 February 1943)
• Burggraf (24 – 26 February 1943)
• Wildfang (26 February – 5 March 1943)
• Raubgraf (7 – 20 March 1943)
• Leuthen (15 – 24 September 1943)
• Rossbach (24 September – 9 October 1943)
• Borkum (24 December 1943 – 3 January 1944)
• Borkum 2 (3 – 13 January 1944)

The veteran submarine was caught in the open during a British raid on the port of Kiel. Badly damaged on 11 March 1945, she was stricken from the navy list on 16 March 1945. At the cessation of hostilities, she was surrendered to the Allies in May 1945. Deemed too badly damaged to be sunk as part of Operation Deadlight, she was instead broken up for scrap beginning in 1946 or 1947.

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-758". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.