German submarine U-566

German submarine U-566 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 30 March 1940 at the Blohm & Voss yard in Hamburg as yard number 542, launched on 20 February 1941 and commissioned on 17 April under the command of Kapitänleutnant Dietrich Borchert. She was scuttled by her crew on 24 October 1943 after being damaged by six depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft in the North Atlantic west of Portugal, in position . There were no casualties. German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-566 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 Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 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-566 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. In the eleven combat patrols of her career the U-boat sank seven vessels; six merchant ships totalling between February and November 1942, and the 2,265 tons patrol gunboat on 5 August 1943. She was initially involved in a short journey from Trondheim to Kirkenes, both in Norway in July 1941. The submarine's first and second patrols were marked by no more than an unsuccessful attack by a Soviet submarine off Kildin Island which caused no damage. Before her third patrol, she moved between Kirkenes, Bergen and Kristiansand from September to December 1941.