Unterseeboot 852

U-852 (Unterseeboot 852) was a German U-boat (submarine) used during World War II. It was notorius for machine-gunning survivors of the 4,700-ton merchant vessel Peleus in the Indian Ocean on March 13, 1944. Two crew members survived to give testimony at the Nuremburg trials. Kapitanluetnant Eck, his navigator, and watch officer were executed after the war for these war crimes.

U-852 was under orders to attack shipping in the Indian Ocean and then make for Penang Island off Malaya's north west coast. Following the Peleus sinking, she was hunted by the British. RAF Wellington bombers of 8 and 621 Squadrons found her and drove U-852 into shallow Somali waters where she was wrecked on coral.

As several U-boats and Japanese I-boats carried uranium oxide to Asia from France, it is worth noting that following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Somalians living along the coast near U-852's wreck developed radiation poisoning.