German submarine U-877 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 built for and operated by the Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 during the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The ship was ordered on 2 April 1942, laid down on 22 May 1943, and launched on 10 December 1943. She was commissioned into the Kriegsmarine under the command of Kapitänleutnant Eberhard Findeisen on 24 March 1944. Initially assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla, she was transferred to the 33rd U-boat Flotilla on 1 December 1944.

She carried out a single war patrol, departing Horten

Horten

is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....

 on 25 November 1944. Two days later she was attacked by Bristol Beaufighter

Bristol Beaufighter

The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design...

s of No. 489 Squadron, which launched two depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s at her. She crash dived, escaping the attackers, but losing her radar antenna.

U-877 was attacked on 27 December 1944 in the North Atlantic, north-west of the Azores, by the Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

's Castle-class

Castle class corvette

The Castle-class corvettes were an updated version of the much more numerous Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy, and started appearing during late 1943...

 corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 . She was badly damaged by St. Thomass squid mortar

Squid (weapon)

Squid was a British World War II ship-mounted anti-submarine weapon. It consisted of a three-barrelled mortar which launched depth charges. It replaced the Hedgehog system, and was in turn replaced by the Limbo system....

and sank at position 46°25′N 36°38′W, after her crew had abandoned ship. All 56 were picked up by St. Thomas.