German submarine U-510

U-510 departed Kiel on 7 July 1942, negotiated the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and sailed across the Atlantic to the northern coast of South America.[5] There she attacked three ships and sank the 5,285 ton Uruguayan merchant ship Maldonado on 2 August.[6] She also damaged the 8,016 ton British tanker Alexia on 10 August,[7] and sank the 4,971 ton British merchant ship Cressington Court on 19 August.[8] The U-boat docked at Lorient on 13 September.[2]

U-510 departed Lorient on 14 October 1942 and patrolled the waters west of the Canary Islands.[9] On 31 October she torpedoed and damaged the 5,681 ton Norwegian merchant ship Alaska of Convoy SL 125 while the ship was rescuing men from the troopship Président Doumer, which had been sunk by U-604.[10] After "Operation Torch" began on 8 November, The boat was ordered to patrol the coast of Morocco, but was bombed by an unidentified aircraft, causing a serious oil leak. She returned to Lorient on 12 December.[9]

The U-boat sailed from Lorient once more on 16 January 1943 and headed across the Atlantic to the northern coast of South America.[11] On 9 March at 03:00, U-510 attacked Convoy BT-6 about 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) north-east of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, sinking the 3,872 ton British merchant ship Kelvinbank,[12] and damaging the 7,176 ton American Liberty ships George G. Meade, Tabitha Brown and Joseph Rodman Drake. She attacked the same convoy again three hours later and this time damaged the Liberty ships Mark Hanna,[13] James Smith, Thomas Ruffin and James K. Polk, the latter two so badly that they were later declared total losses. The U-boat returned to Lorient on 16 April.[2]

Now under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Eick, U-510 sailed from Lorient on 3 June 1943 and once again headed for the northern South American coast.[14] On 8 July she made a series of attacks on Convoy TJ-1, sinking the 10,324 ton Norwegian tanker B.P. Newton[15] and the 6,900 ton American merchant ship Eldena,[16] and damaging the 3,702 ton Latvian merchant ship Everagra.[17] Two days later, on 10 May, she sank the 1,641 ton Swedish merchant ship Scandinavia.[18] The U-boat returned to Lorient on 29 August.[2]

U-510 left Lorient on 3 November 1943, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean to operate off the Arabian Peninsula.[19]

On 22 February 1944, she made two attacks on Convoy PA-69 about 200 miles off Aden, sinking the 9,181 ton American tanker E.G. Seubert[20] and the 7,385 ton British tanker San Alvaro;[21] she also damaged the 9,970 ton Norwegian tanker Erling Brøvig.[22]

The U-boat then shaped a course for Penang in Malaya (now Malaysia), making three more attacks en route. On 7 March she torpedoed and sank the unescorted 7,229 ton Norwegian merchant ship Tarifa about 250 miles east of Socotra in the Indian Ocean.[23] On 19 March she sank the American 7,176 ton Liberty ship John A. Poor in the Arabian Sea,[24] and on 27 March the 249 ton British naval trawler HMS Maaløy (J136) off Ceylon (now Sri Lanka),[25] killing Prince Hassan Farid Didi, the son of HRH Abdul Majeed Didi, Sultan Elect of the Maldives, who was aboard as a passenger. Prince Hassan was Minister of the Interior and de facto head of the Government of the Sultanate of the Maldives.[26] U-510 arrived at Penang on 5 April after a voyage of 155 days, her longest patrol.[2]

Operating as part of the Monsun Gruppe U-510 sailed to Singapore and then to Kobe, Japan, before returning to Batavia (now Jakarta).[2] From there, on 26 November 1944, she sailed on her only combat patrol, returning to Batavia on 3 December having had no successes.[27]

U-510 left Batavia on 11 January 1945 for the voyage back to Europe.[28] U-510 carried with her a load of tungsten, tin, quinine, etc. from the Far East.

On 23 February she sank the unescorted 7,136 ton Canadian merchant ship SS Point Pleasant Park about 500 nautical miles (930 km; 580 mi) north-west of Cape Town.[29]

After being supplied with oil southeast of Madagascar by KKpt Oesten's U-861, which was short of fuel herself, U-510 ran out of fuel in the North Atlantic, but somehow managed to reach base at Saint-Nazaire, in France, on 23 April after 103 days at sea.[2]

American forces captured U-510 at Saint-Nazaire on 10 May 1945. Awarded to the French in 1946, she was commissioned into the French Navy, and renamed Bouan (S.612) on 24 June 1947. She served until struck on 1 May 1959, renamed hull Q.176 on 23 November 1959, and was broken up in 1960.[3]

U-510 took part in two wolfpacks, namely.

• Streitaxt (20 October - 2 November 1942)
• Schlagetot (9–21 November 1942)