Patrol info for U-487
| Departure | Arrival / Fate | Duration | ||
| 15 Jun 1943 | Bordeaux | 13 Jul 1943 | Lost | 29 days |
Commander | Officers * |
 Oblt. Helmut Metz |
Daily positions, sinkings and allied attacks during the patrol of U-487
Legend
indicates an Allied attack on the boat.
shows the loss of the U-boat.
The route is shown in a red line. You may have to zoom out to see all data.
In some cases missing data may make the route appear go overland which U-boats of course never did on patrols.
Left click to zoom-in and right-click to zoom out.
We have 28 daily positions for the 29 days U-487 was at sea.
Departure from Bordeaux on 15 Jun 1943.
16 Jun 1943 - 17 Jun 1943 - 18 Jun 1943 - 19 Jun 1943 - 20 Jun 1943 - 21 Jun 1943 - 22 Jun 1943 - 23 Jun 1943 - 24 Jun 1943 - 25 Jun 1943 - 26 Jun 1943 - 27 Jun 1943 - 28 Jun 1943 - 29 Jun 1943 - 30 Jun 1943 - 1 Jul 1943 - 2 Jul 1943 - 3 Jul 1943 - 4 Jul 1943 - 5 Jul 1943 - 6 Jul 1943 - 7 Jul 1943 - 8 Jul 1943 - 9 Jul 1943 - 10 Jul 1943 - 11 Jul 1943 - 12 Jul 1943 -
Sunk on 13 Jul 1943.
Ships hit by U-487 during this patrol
No entries found.
General Events during this patrol
We have no events listed for this patrol.
Add more events! If you know of an interesting event either missing from this date or an upcoming event that you'd like to share please contact us. We continuously update these databases.
Attacks on U-487 during this patrol
13 Jul 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
American Wildcat (VC-13 USN, pilot Lt(jg) Earl H. Steiger)
The sinking of U-487
At 19.21 hours, the milk cow was attacked by carrier aircraft (VC-13 USN) from USS Core southwest of the Azores after a planned refuelling was reported by ULTRA. An Avenger/Wildcat team, piloted by Lt R.P. Williams and Lt(jg) E.H. Steiger, completely surprised U-487 as some crewmen were seen sun-bathing on deck and no AA fire was experienced during the first attack run. Four depth charges straddled the boat, which stopped in a large oil patch. The Wildcat attempted a second strafing run, but was hit by AA fire and crashed off the port bow, killing the pilot. Two other Wildcats, piloted by LtCdr C.W. Brewer and Lt J.R. Brownstein, arrived at the scene and their strafing attacks made it possible for a second Avenger (Lt(jg) J.F. Schoby) to place four depth charges direct on target. Its explosions lifted U-487 out of the water, broke her back and caused it to sink within a few seconds. 33 survivors were later rescued by USS Barker.
About this data
If you believe we have missed an attack on a German U-boat in this listing please let us know.
See all patrols for U-487
* These are officers that later became commanders themselves.
Return to U-boat Patrols main page