German submarine U-450

The German submarine "U-450" was a Type VIIC U-boat in the service of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Design.
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-450" 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-450" 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.
The submarine was laid down in July 1941 in Danzig, Germany (now Poland). She was launched in July 1942 and commissioned in September that year. During her career with the "Kriegsmarine", "U-450" never sank any ships.
Patrols.
On 27 May 1943, three days after she was redesignated from a training vessel to a front-line service boat, "U-450" set out for her first patrol from Kiel, the home base of the 9th U-boat Flotilla under the command of "Oberleutnant zur See" Kurt Böhme. As the boat surfaced off the coast of Iceland on 6 June, she came under attack from a British B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, which wounded seven men. 16 days later, (with assistance from other boats due to the damage caused by the attack), she arrived at Brest in France. The patrol lasted 27 days, the longest of her career.
On 17 October 1943, "U-450" left Brest for Toulon. She arrived at the port city 23 days later.
On 10 February 1944, ten days after a fire in her engine room had swept one man overboard and forced her to return to base, "U-450" left Toulon for the Italian coast, presumably to attack support ships coming to reinforce Allied troops which had just landed at Anzio.
Fate.
In March 1944, exactly one month later, she came under depth charge attack by the British escort destroyers , , and and the American escort destroyer . The submarine sank, at position , but all 51 crew members were rescued by the destroyers and became prisoners of war.