- German submarine U-427
Unterseeboot 427 or U-427 was a German Type VII
U-Boat that served duringWorld War II . It was first launched on February 6th, 1943, with a crew of 53 under the command of Graf Karl Gabriel von Gudenus. It survived until the end of the war. Ironically, most U-Boats achieved notoriety for the number of kills they achieved, or the total tonnage of the vessels they sank, but in the case of U-427 fame was achieved of a different sort. [http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=427]From its first voyage, on June 20th, 1944, until the end of the war, U-427 never destroyed any of its targets. It fired
torpedoes on two vessels, the "HMCS Haida " on April 29th, 1945, and the "HMCS Iroquois" also on April 29th, 1945, missing both, but it was for its ability to survive under unusual circumstances that U-427 became known. In April 1945, leading up to, during, and after those two attacks, U-427 survived 678depth charge attempts. On May 2nd, 1945, U-427 returned to its base atKilbotn , where it remained for the remaining weeks between then and Germany's surrender a few weeks later. [http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=427;nr=1] [http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/ships.cgi?boat=427;nr=2] [http://ubootwaffe.net/ops/boat.cgi?boat=427]
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