She was laid down on 6 May 1943 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned on 7 June 1944, the day after the Allied landings in Normandy, with Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim Ernst in command.

The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged.

In this time span she managed to sink two enemy vessels, the Panamanian steam merchant Alcedo for a loss of 1,392 GRT and the British vessel, HMT Southern Flower for a loss of 328 GRT.

U-1022 arrived back in Bergen on 1 April 1945 and remained in port for the remainder of the war.

Following Germany's defeat in the war, U-1022 along with most of the remaining German submarine fleet were sunk in Operation Deadlight.