April 27, 1940-The keel of the U568 is laid in the Blohm & Voss Shipyards of Hamburg, Germany.
May 1, 1941-The U568 is commissioned as part of the 3rd Flotilla. From here, the boat spent 3 months on shakedown and training cruises.
August 1, 1941-The U568 is placed on active duty as a front boat, and prepares for the first war cruise.
August 3, 1941-The U568 departs Drontheim on its first war cruise.
August 12, 1941-The U568 spots the British corvette Picotee, sinking the ship near Iceland.
September 1941-The U568 enters St. Nazaire for repairs with the Kurfürst Group, which formed up September 1 outside of the North Channel.
October 10, 1941-The U568 departs on its second war cruise, dispatched to join several U-Boats operating in the vicinity, with a planned intercept of convoys ON(S)23, ON24, and SC48.
October 16, 1941-The U568 is one of several U-Boats spotting convoy SC48, with U568 sinking the British Empire Heron. The U-Boat is then driven off by the British corvette Gladiolus that evening.
October 17, 1941-The U568 again attacks, damaging the American destroyer Kearny with torpedoes, at the time assumed to be a British Tribal-Class destroyer. With the arrival of aircraft in the area, the operation is broken off in the daytime.
October 22, 1941-The U568 joins the Reissewolf Group and prepares for an attack on October 27 against convoy ON28. However, repeated air attacks drive the U-Boats, and much of Reissewolf Group is forced to break off the attack as fuel is depleted.
October 31, 1941-The U568 is ordered to search briefly for convoy OS10 and EG40, with contact being made on November 1, but lost again the next day. The submarine continues its voyage back to port for refueling and refitting.
November 7, 1941-The U568 arrives in St Nazaire for repairs and refitting.
December 4, 1941-The U568 departs on the third career war patrol, bound for the Mediterranean Sea.
December 11, 1941-The U568 passes Gibralter.
December 24, 1941-The U568 engages the British corvette Salvia in the Eastern Mediterranean, sinking the ship with torpedoes.
January 18, 1942-The U568 enters La Spezia, joining the 29th Flotilla.
March 13, 1942-The U568 departs for the fourth war patrol. This patrol is cut short when the submarine is damaged by aircraft bombs and forced to return to port.
May 24, 1942-The U568 embarks on the fifth and final war patrol, departing in time with Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's attack on Tobruk, unsuccessfully attempting to interdict British traffic.
May 27, 1942-The U568 comes under depth charge attack from British destroyers Hero, Hurworth, Eridge after being attacked unsuccessfully by British aircraft.
May 28, 1942-The U568 is sunk after 16 hours of depth charge attacks, all aboard survived.
Armament:
