Editing German submarine U-573 (section)

==German service==
''U-573'' conducted four war patrols, sinking just one ship.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_1455.html 
|title=Patrol info for U-573 (Second patrol)
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=31 March 2010
}}</ref>

===First, second and third patrols===
Her operational career began with her departure from [[Kiel]] on 15 September 1941. She entered the Atlantic via the [[North Sea]] and the [[GIUK gap|gap]] between [[Iceland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]]. She almost reached the [[Labrador]] coast before heading for [[St. Nazaire]] in occupied France, docking on 15 November.

''U-573''{{'}}s second patrol involved the boat slipping past the heavily defended [[Strait of Gibraltar]] into the Mediterranean,<ref>Paterson, Lawrence – ''U-Boats in the Mediterranean 1941–1944'', 2007, Chatham Publishing, {{ISBN|9781861762900}}, p. 51.</ref> where she sank the Norwegian ''Hellen'' (5,289 GRT) with two torpedoes on 21 December 1941. She arrived at [[Pula|Pola]] in Croatia on 30 December.

Her third sortie was relatively uneventful, starting and finishing in Pola between 2 February and 6 March 1942.

===Fourth patrol and internment===
On 29 April 1942, ''U-573'' was attacked with [[depth charge]]s by [[Lockheed Hudson]]s of [[No. 233 Squadron RAF]], northwest of [[Algiers]]. Seriously damaged, she limped north to Spain, arriving in [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]] on 2 May. International agreements allowed ships in neutral ports 24 hours to make emergency repairs before they were to be interned. The Spanish authorities granted ''U-573'' a three-month period for repairs, which prompted several strong protests from the British Embassy in [[Madrid]]. On 19 May Heinsohn flew from Madrid to Stuttgart, then travelled on to Berlin, in order to discuss the situation with the ''Kriegsmarine''. He returned by train via [[Hendaye]] (in southwest France) on 28 May. Realizing that even three months would not be enough to repair the boat, the ''Kriegsmarine'' sold the vessel to Spain for {{Reichsmark|1.5&nbsp;million|link=yes}}. On 2 August 1942, at 10&nbsp;am, (one day before the three-month period was due to expire), the Spanish navy commissioned the boat as the ''G-7''.<ref>Paterson, pp. 66–67</ref>

''U-573''{{'}}s crew suffered no casualties during her career in the ''Kriegsmarine''. The men had been interned in Cartagena and were gradually released in groups of two or three. The last five members of the crew left with ''[[Kapitänleutnant]]'' Heinsohn on 13 February 1943. He returned to the ''Kriegsmarinearsenal'' in [[Gotenhafen]] (Gdynia, Poland), then [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia|German-annexed Poland]], In March he was ordered to [[Brest, France|Brest]], then in [[Military Administration in Belgium and North France|German-occupied France]] to take command of {{GS|U-438||2}}, and died with all his crew two months later.