German submarine U-432 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II that carried out eight patrols, sinking 20 enemy ships and one warship. Two other vessels were damaged. U-432 was a member of seven wolfpacks and was eventually sunk by a Free French Navy escort in mid-Atlantic on 11 March 1943.

Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-432 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-432 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 on 14 January 1940 at Schichau-Werke in Danzig (now Gdansk) as yard number 1473, launched on 3 February 1941 and commissioned on 26 April 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinz-Otto Schultze.

She served with the 3rd U-boat Flotilla from 26 April 1941 for training and stayed with that unit from 1 August for operations until her loss.

First patrol U-432s first patrol was preceded by short 'hops' from Kiel in Germany to Horten Naval Base then Trondheim in Norway. Her first patrol proper began with her departure from Trondheim on 25 August 1941 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

The boat sank the Winterwijk on 10 September east of Greenland. She went on to sink the Stargad close by on the same date. The next day she sank the Garm northeast of the previous successes.

She docked at Brest in occupied France on 19 September.

Second and third patrols On her second foray, she sank the Ulea on 28 October 1941 east-northeast of the Azores. She finished the patrol in St. Nazaire on 2 November 1941.

The boat's third sortie commenced with her departure from St. Nazaire on 10 December 1941. This was not only the shortest patrol of her career but the only time she returned to France, (this time to La Pallice where she would be based for the rest of her time), without success, on the 23rd.

Fourth patrol Her fourth patrol was carried out on the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States, where she sank a number of ships, including the-then neutral Brazilian vessels Buarque and the Olinda on 15 and 18 February 1942 respectively. She also sent the and the Azolea City to the bottom on the 19th and 21st.

Fifth patrol U-432 had departed La Pallice on 30 April 1942. On 2 May, she was slightly damaged in an air attack on 2 May west of the Bay of Biscay. She returned to her earlier hunting grounds across the Atlantic where she sank ships such as the Zurichmoor (on the 23rd) and the Malayan Prince on 9 June.

On 30 May, she torpedoed and sank the Liverpool Packet off the south-eastern tip of Nova Scotia. Of her 21 crew, two were killed when the torpedo struck. U-432 approached the 19 survivors, who had taken to lifeboats, and Schultze gave them directions to the nearest land. After 20 hours rowing, they succeeded in reaching Seal Island, off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia.

Sixth patrol The submarine encountered some resistance when she came across the Pennmar off Cape Farewell (Greenland) on 24 September 1942. A torpedo fired from the starboard quarter was avoided by evasive action. On surfacing, the U-boat was engaged by Pennmars 4 in gun. U-432 submerged again and fired a spread of four torpedoes, one of which hit and sank the American freighter.

Seventh patrol For her seventh journey, the boat headed towards North Africa. She sank the Free-French trawler Poitou off Morocco on 17 December 1942.

Eighth patrol and loss U-432 sank on 11 March 1943 after the British destroyer was badly damaged while ramming . The came to Harvesters assistance. She depth charged and sank the U-boat in mid-Atlantic.

Twenty-six men went down with U-432; there were 20 survivors.

Wolfpacks U-432 took part in seven wolfpacks, namely: Markgraf (28 August – 14 September 1941) Reissewolf (21 – 28 October 1941) Pfadfinder (21 – 27 May 1942) Lohs (23 August – 22 September 1942) Sturmbock (23 – 26 February 1943) Wildfang (26 February – 5 March 1943) Westmark (6 – 11 March 1943)

Summary of raiding history Date Ship Name Nationality TonnageMerchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement. Fate10 September 1941Muneric5,229Sunk10 September 1941Stargard1,113Sunk10 September 1941Winterswijk3,205Sunk11 September 1941Garm1,231Sunk17 October 1941Barfonn9,739Sunk17 October 1941Bold Venture3,222Sunk17 October 1941Evros5,283Sunk28 October 1941Ulea1,574Sunk15 February 1942Buarque5,152Sunk18 February 1942Olinda4,053Sunk19 February 19422,158Sunk21 February 1942Azalea City5,529Sunk27 February 1942Marore8,215Sunk17 May 1942Foam324Sunk23 May 1942Zurichmoor4,455Sunk31 May 1942Liverpool Packet1,188Sunk3 June 1942Aeolus41Sunk3 June 1942Ben and Josephine102Sunk9 June 1942Kronprinsen7,073Damaged9 June 1942Malayan Prince8,593Damaged24 September 1942Pennmar5,868Sunk17 December 1942Poitou310Sunk11 March 19431,340Sunk

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