were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-354 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-354 was fitted with five torpedo tubes, 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 15 April 1940 at the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft yard at Flensburg as yard number 473, launched on 10 January 1942 and commissioned on 22 April under the command of Kapitänleutnant Karl-Heinz Herbschleb. U-354 served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla, for training and then with the 1st flotilla for operations from 1 October 1942. She came under the command of the 11th flotilla on 15 October and was reassigned to the 13th flotilla on 1 June 1943; she stayed with that organization until her sinking. U-348 made short trips from Kiel in Germany to Bergen and Skjomenfjord in Norway between April and October 1942.
1st and 2nd patrols
Her first patrol began with her departure from Skjomenfjord on 29 October 1942. On 4 November she sank the William Clark off Jan Mayen Island. This ship had already possibly been damaged by bombs from Ju 88 aircraft. A crewman was lost overboard on the 11th. The boat put into Narvik on the 30th. The submarine's second foray over Christmas and New year's Eve took her from Narvik, as far as Bear Island and back to Narvik.
3rd and 4th patrols
U-354s third patrol was marred by the suicide of Maschinenmaat Helmut Richter on 12 March 1943. Her fourth sortie took the boat north of Bear Island; she returned to Narvik on 12 June 1943.
5th patrol
It was during this patrol that she attacked and damaged the Soviet Petrovskij in the eastern Kara Sea on 27 August 1943.
6th patrol
This patrol was split in two: the first part, which was rather brief, was over 22 and 23 October 1943. The second part was longer; between 25 October and 6 December. The boat finished up in Hammerfest in the far north of Norway.
7th, 8th and 9th patrols
U-354 continued to patrol northern waters, without success.
10th patrol
By now moored in Bogenbucht, the next sally was also divided in two. The boat sailed west of Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, but targets continued to elude her.
11th patrol and loss
U-354 sank with a torpedo intended as a 'coup de grâce' for the escort carrier , northwest of the North Cape on 22 August 1944. The U-boat was sunk on 24 August by the British sloops and, the frigate and the destroyer.
