| abstract | - German submarine U-656 was a German World War II Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was ordered on 9 October 1939 and the keel laid on 4 September 1940. Construction on U-656 was carried out by Hamburg company Howaldtswerke in Yard 805. She was launched on 8 July 1941 and commissioned on 17 September 1941. U-656 went into service initially with 5th U-boat Flotilla for training from September 1941 until December 1941. She moved into operational service with 1st U-boat Flotilla on 1 January 1942, and was commanded by Ernst Kröning. U-656 made two patrols, but did not sink any ships. Her first patrol lasted almost two weeks: after departing Kiel on 15 January 1942, she put in at Brest, France on 28 January. The submarine departed Brest on 4 February, but never completed her second patrol. She was sunk with all hands by depth charges dropped by a United States Navy Lockheed Hudson of patrol squadron VP-82 on 1 March 1942 south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. U-656 became the first U-boat to be sunk by the U.S. Navy in World War II.
|
