German submarine U-69 was the first Type VIIC U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. This meant that compared to previous U-boats, she could travel further afield for longer, with a payload of fourteen torpedoes, an 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun for smaller vessels and a flak gun for use against aircraft. U-69 was very successful, sinking over 72,000 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in a career lasting two years, making her one of the longest surviving, continuously serving, U-boats. Her most notable attack was on the civilian ferry SS Caribou, which sank off the coast of Newfoundland five minutes after being torpedoed in October 1942, killing 137 men, women and children. She was rammed and sunk by HMS Fame on 17 February 1943.
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-69 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). While on the surface the submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp); while two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) were use when the submarine was submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph). When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-69 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty sailors.
She was built at the Germaniawerft in Kiel during 1940, and was ready for service in November. After her warm up in the Baltic Sea (designed to give her an opportunity to train and repair minor faults), she was deployed into the Atlantic Ocean in February 1941.
U-69 departed Kiel for her first patrol on 10 February 1941. Her route took her across the North Sea, through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean.
She encountered the MV Siamese Prince southwest of the Faroe Islands on 17 February and sank her. No survivors were picked up, even though the crew were seen to reach the lifeboats.
The boat was attacked twice by a Sunderland flying boat on the 22nd – no damage was sustained.
U-69's next victim was Empire Blanda, sunk on the 19th.
Four days later (on the 23rd), Marslew was similarly destroyed, 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) north northwest of Rockall. 13 men died, there were 23 survivors.
The submarine was depth charged for three hours by the escorts of convoy OB 288 on 24 February. She escaped without any damage and docked at Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on 1 March.
The boat's second foray was to the mid-Atlantic. She sank Coultarn southwest of Iceland on 30 March. She then attacked and damaged Thirlby, which had been en route from St. Johns, Newfoundland to Hull. The ship had also probably been hit by a torpedo fired by German submarine U-46. This weapon was a dud. (The ship was further damaged by a bomb from a German aircraft on 10 April).
U-69 returned to Lorient on 11 April.
The boat's next sortie was to the West African coast. She laid mines off Lagos and Takoradi and made full use of the failure of the allies to enforce convoy systems.
One of her victims was the neutral American ship SS Robin Moor operating 750 miles (1,210 km) off the British port of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The sinking of Robin Moor caused President Roosevelt to brand Germany an "international outlaw" and to require Germany and Italy to close all of their consulates in the United States except for their embassies. Before the sinking, Robin Moor's passengers and crew were allowed thirty minutes to board lifeboats, then the submarine torpedoed, shelled and sank the ship. The survivors then drifted without rescue or detection for up to eighteen days. When news of the sinking reached the US, few shipping companies felt truly safe anywhere. As Time magazine noted in June 1941, "if such sinkings continue, US ships bound for other places remote from fighting fronts, will be in danger. Henceforth the US would either have to recall its ships from the ocean or enforce its right to the free use of the seas." In October 1941, federal prosecutors in the espionage case against a group of 33 defendants known as the "Duquesne Spy Ring" adduced testimony that Leo Waalen had submitted the sailing date of Robin Moor for radio transmission to Germany, five days before the ship began her final voyage. Waalen was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in prison for espionage and a concurrent 2-year term for violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
U-69 also sank Tewkesbury about 540 nautical miles (1,000 km; 620 mi) south of the Cape Verde Islands on the same date (21 May). Her master was awarded the OBE for his actions, but never knew about it; he was lost when Newbury went to the bottom on 15 September.
She then sank Sangara in Accra harbour on 31 May 1941. The ship went down in 33 ft (10 m) of water, her bow was still visible. (The vessel was salvaged in 1943 and her cargo sold, she was broken up in 1947).
Robert Hughes was lost to a mine laid by U-69 on 4 June.
The submarine sank River Lugar 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) southeast of the Azores on 27 June 1941 and Empire Ability on that same day.