German submarine U-438

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-438
Ordered	16 October 1939
Builder	Schichau-Werke, Danzig
Yard number	1480
Laid down	25 April 1940
Launched	6 September 1941
Commissioned	22 November 1941
Fate	Sunk on 6 May 1943[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) 14 × torpedoes 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) 1 x 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 AA gun
Service record[2][3]
Part of:	8th U-boat Flotilla 22 November 1941 – 31 July 1942 9th U-boat Flotilla 1 August 1942 – 6 May 1943
Identification codes:	M 42 302
Commanders:	Kptlt. Rudolf Franzius 22 November 1941 – 29 March 1943 K.Kapt. Heinrich Heinsohn 30 March – 6 May 1943
Operations:	4 patrols: 1st patrol: 1 August – 3 September 1942 2nd patrol: 6 October – 19 November 1942 3rd patrol: 31 December 1942 – 16 February 1943 4th patrol: 31 March – 6 May 1943
Victories:	3 merchant ships sunk (12,045 GRT) 1 merchant ship damaged (5,496 GRT)

German submarine U-438 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The submarine was laid down on 25 April 1940 at the Schichau-Werke yard as yard number 1480 in Danzig, launched on 6 September 1941 and commissioned on 22 November 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Franzius.

The city of Berlin adopted the submarine within the popular sponsorship programme (Patenschaftsprogramm), organising gifts and holidays for the crew and earning her the honorary name of U-438 Berlin. The U-boat served with the 8th U-Boat Flotilla for her training and later with the 9th Flotilla from 1 August 1942 to her loss on 6 May 1943. U-438 completed four patrols, sinking three ships, totalling 12,045 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging one ship totalling 5,496 GRT.

She was a member of ten wolfpacks.