German submarine U-571

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-571
Ordered	24 October 1939
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number	547
Laid down	8 June 1940
Launched	4 April 1941
Commissioned	22 May 1941
Fate	Sunk west of Ireland on 28 January 1944. 52 dead (all hands lost).
General characteristics
Class and type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged 1,070 tonnes (1,050 long tons) total
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
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	220 m (720 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–52 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[1]
Part of:	3rd U-boat Flotilla 22 May 1941 – 28 January 1944
Identification codes:	M 42 483
Commanders:	Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann 22 May 1941 – 31 May 1943 Oblt.z.S. Gustav Lüssow 31 May 1943 – 28 January 1944
Operations:	11 patrols: 1st patrol: a. 18 – 27 August 1941 b. 28 August – 5 September 1941 c. 18 – 19 October 1941 2nd patrol: 22 October – 26 November 1941 3rd patrol: 21 December 1941 – 27 January 1942 4th patrol: 10 March – 7 May 1942 5th patrol: 11 June – 7 August 1942 6th patrol: 3 October – 14 November 1942 7th patrol: 22 December 1942 – 19 February 1943 8th patrol: a. 22 – 23 March 1943 b. 25 March – 1 May 1943 9th patrol: 8 June – 1 September 1943 10th patrol: 26 – 28 December 1943 11th patrol: 8–28 January 1944
Victories:	5 merchant ships sunk (33,511 GRT) 1 merchant ship total loss (9,788 GRT) 1 auxiliary warship total loss (3,870 GRT) 1 merchant ship damaged (11,394 GRT)

German submarine U-571 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany for service during World War II. U-571 conducted eleven war patrols, sinking five ships totalling 33,511 gross register tons (GRT), and damaging one other for 11,394 GRT. On 28 January 1944 she was attacked by an Australian-crewed Sunderland aircraft from No. 461 Squadron RAAF west of Ireland and was destroyed by depth charges. All hands were lost.

The fictional 2000 U.S. war film U-571 has no relation to this U-boat, but is very loosely based on the British capture of U-110 and her Enigma and cipher keys.