German submarine U-559

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-559
Ordered	16 October 1939
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number	535
Laid down	1 February 1940
Launched	8 January 1941
Commissioned	27 February 1941
Fate	Sunk by depth charges on 30 October 1942[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 or 26 TMA mines 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:	1st U-boat Flotilla 27 February – 31 October 1941 23rd U-boat Flotilla 1 November 1941 – 14 April 1942 29th U-boat Flotilla 15 April – 30 October 1942
Identification codes:	M 38 782
Commanders:	Kptlt. Hans Heidtmann 27 February 1941 – 30 October 1942
Operations:	10 patrols: 1st patrol: 4 June – 5 July 1941 2nd patrol: 26 July – 22 August 1941 3rd patrol: 20 September – 20 October 1941 4th patrol: 24 November – 4 December 1941 5th patrol: 8 – 31 December 1941 6th patrol: 16 – 26 February 1942 7th patrol: a. 4 – 21 March 1942 b. 24 – 27 March 1942 c. 10 – 12 May 1942 8th patrol: a. 18 May – 22 June 1942 b. 15 – 21 August 1942 9th patrol: 29 August – 21 September 1942 10th patrol: 29 September – 30 October 1942
Victories:	4 merchant ships sunk (11,811 GRT) 1 warship sunk (1,060 tons) 2 merchant ships total loss (6,117 GRT)

German submarine U-559 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.

Laid down on 1 February 1940 at the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg as "Baunummer 535" ("Yard number 535"), she was launched on 8 January 1941 and commissioned on 27 February under Kapitänleutnant Hans Heidtmann.

She began her service career with the 1st U-boat Flotilla, undergoing training before being declared operational on 1 June 1941. She moved to the 29th U-boat Flotilla on 15 April 1942. She sank five ships but is perhaps best remembered for an incident during her sinking in the Mediterranean Sea in 1942, in which British sailors seized cryptographic material from her. This material was extremely valuable in breaking the U-boat Enigma machine cipher.