German submarine U-427

Unterseeboot 427 or U-427 was a German Type VII U-Boat that served during World 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 678 depth charge attempts. On May 2nd, 1945, U-427 returned to its base at Kilbotn, 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]