First and second 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.

Third and fourth patrols

U-354's 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.

Fifth patrol

It was during this patrol that she attacked and damaged the Soviet Petrovskij in the eastern Kara Sea on 27 August 1943.

Sixth 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.

Seventh, eighth and ninth patrols

U-354 continued to patrol northern waters, without success.

Tenth patrol

By now moored in Bogenbucht (west of Narvik), the next sally was also divided in two. The boat sailed west of Svalbard and Franz Josef Land,^[5] but targets continued to elude her.

Eleventh patrol and loss

In August 1944 U-354 was deployed to search for Murmansk convoy JW 59. On 22 August, northwest of the North Cape, she encountered a carrier group involved in Operation Goodwood, an air attack on the battleship Tirpitz. U-354 damaged the escort carrier Nabob with a FAT torpedo, but a second shot, intended as a 'coup de grâce', hit the frigate Bickerton which was subsequently abandoned and scuttled. Nabob was recovered to Scapa Flow, but declared to be a total loss.

Two days later, on 24 August, U-354 found the convoy but was sunk by its escort group, comprising the sloops Mermaid and Peacock, the frigate Loch Dunvegan and the destroyer Keppel.

Wolfpacks

U-354 took part in nine wolfpacks, namely:

• Eisbär (27 March – 1 April 1943)
• Wiking (4 August – 15 September 1943)
• Eisenbart (1 November – 4 December 1943)
• Eisenbart (8 – 28 December 1943)
• Boreas (9 – 10 March 1944)
• Hammer (10 March – 5 April 1944)
• Donner (5 – 11 April 1944)
• Donner & Keil (20 April – 2 May 1944)
• Trutz (22 – 24 August 1944)

Previously recorded fate

U-354 was originally thought to have been sunk by a Fairey Swordfish of No. 825 Naval Air Squadron from the escort carrier HMS Vindex on 22 August 1944. This was U-344.