Editing German submarine U-573 (section)

===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.