German submarine U-178 was a Type IXD2 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. Ordered on 28 May 1940, the U-boat was laid down on 24 December 1940 at the AG Weser yard in Bremen as yard number 1018. She was launched on 25 October 1941 and commissioned on 14 February 1942, under the command of Fregattenkapitän Hans Ibekken. Design German Type IXD2 submarines were considerably larger than the original Type IXs. U-178 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines plus two MWM RS34.5S six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines for cruising, producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-178 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 24 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 150 rounds, and a SK C/30 with 2575 rounds as well as two C/30 anti-aircraft guns with 8100 rounds. The boat had a complement of fifty-five. First patrol U-178 sailed from Kiel on 8 September 1942 into the Atlantic, passing north of Scotland and then turned south. She made her first kill on 10 October, putting three torpedoes into the unescorted passenger ship Duchess of Atholl, a Canadian Pacific Steamship Co. liner chartered as a troop transport, about ENE of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The vessel sank slowly and only five crew members were lost. The master, 267 crew members, 25 gunners and all 534 passengers were later rescued by a British vessel. U-178 then sailed around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean south and east of South Africa, sinking the British troopship Mendoza on 1 November, killing the master, 19 crew members, three gunners and three passengers, while 127 of the crew, three gunners