I can share with you some information on this vessel that might be interesting. My father who is from Germany had a cousin named Walter Wengerfeld (Spelling may be off by a letter) who was one of the 4 surviviors. During sea trials in Danzig, Langfeld drove the sub into the harbor floor getting stuck. When the vessel was rammed by the British ship, it ripped off the Brits prop which then went dead in the water. As the U-444 started to go down, Walter thinking ahead took a salami and stuck it under his life vest.At first there was 5 surviviors but one later died. When Walter was taken on the French vessel he was lying on the deck face down, when he was turned over the salami fell out,much to the laughter and delight of the French sailors. The 4 men were locked in a paint closet and one of the men used a can of paint to relieve himself and then resealed the can. After everything that had happened to them they all laughed about the French sailor who would find a surprise when he went to paint. Walter was sent to a POW camp in Canada and after the war came to the U.S.