The Type IXC U-boat U-506 was launched on June 20, 1941 at Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg. She was commissioned on September 15, 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Erich Würdemann. Like most of the U-boats operating in the Gulf of Mexico, she was assigned to the 10th U-boat Flotilla, operating out of Lorient, France. Her first combat patrol, a 16-day run in the North Atlantic, produced no successful attacks.

On April 6, 1942 U-506 sailed from Lorient on her second war patrol. Her patrol in the Gulf of Mexico proved to be an astonishing success, with seven ships destroyed (six sunk and one written off as a complete loss), and three more damaged, for a total of 63,260 tons sunk or damaged. The victims of U-506 in the Gulf of Mexico included:

Erich Würdemann, commander of U-506. U-Boot Archiv.

It was an extraordinary record, even given the phenomenal successes being recorded by other U-boats in U.S. waters. Upon his return to Lorient in June 1942, after 70 days at sea, Kapitänleutnant Würdemann was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class.

On her next patrol, U-506 assisted in rescuing survivors of the infamous Laconia Incident. In September 1942, U-156 torpedoed and sank a large British ocean liner, Laconia. After the sinking it was discovered that the ship had been carrying nearly 2,000 Italian prisoners captured in the North African campaign. U-156 immediately began rescue operations and called two other U-boats in the area, U-506 and U-507, to assist. The commander of U-156 also sent out a clear, uncoded message that he was conducting rescue operations and would not attack any vessel so long as he was not attacked himself. Four days later, as the three U-boats towed Laconia's lifeboats toward the African coast, they were attacked by an American Liberator aircraft. The U-boats were forced to cut their tow lines and dive to escape the aircraft. The German commander-in-chief of U-boats, Karl Dönitz, subsequently issued what became known as the "Laconia Order," which forbade U-boat captains from attempting to rescue or provide any assistance to survivors of ships they'd torpedoed. After the war Dönitz was charged with war crimes, and the Laconia Order was specifically mentioned as an example of this. Dönitz successfully defended himself on this charge when he pointed out that U.S. submarines operating in the Pacific followed exactly the same procedures.

U-506 was officially credited with sinking fifteen Allied ships for a total of 76,714 tons, and Würdemann was awarded the coveted Knight's Cross in early 1943. Würdemann and his boat patrolled as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. U-506 was sunk on July 12, 1943 between the Azores and the Spanish coast by an American Liberator aircraft from Antisubmarine Squadron 1. Würdemann and 47 of his crew perished; six survivors were later picked up by a British destroyer.

The crew of U-506 chose as their emblem a caricature of water carrier, a traditional symbol of the city of Hamburg -- the birthplace of both Kapitänleutnant Würdemann and his boat.

Sources: Uboat.net; U-Boat Emblems of World War II, 1939-1945 by Georg Högel.