German submarine U-380 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. Her wartime career consisted of 11 patrols and resulted in two ships sunk for 14,063 GRT, one ship damaged, and another of 7,178 GRT that was later declared a total loss. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-380 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She 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 Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 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-380 was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty. Service history U-380 was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 16 October 1939. She was laid down just short of a year later at the Howaldtswerke yard in Kiel, on 1 October 1940. About thirteen months later, U-380 was launched in Kiel on 5 November 1941. She was formally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine later that year, on 22 December. First patrol U-380 experienced her first taste of war on her first patrol. While stalking convoy ON-127 on 12 September 1942 in the central Atlantic, the submarine was detected and attacked by the convoy's escorts resulting in the failure of one of her diesel engines. The damage was not severe enough to warrant aborting the patrol, but the U-boat broke off her attack. Her first strike against allied shipping would come less than a week later when she torpedoed and sank the unescorted Norwegian motor merchant Olaf Fostenes (2,994 GRT). All 36 men aboard the merchant survived this attack. The U-boat crew questioned the crew, asking for the ship's master; the mariners lied to