German submarine U-59 was a Type IIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that served in the Second World War.

The submarine was powered by two MWM RS 127 S four-stroke, six-cylinder diesel engines of 700 metric horsepower (510 kW; 690 shp) for cruising, two Siemens-Schuckert PG VV 322/36 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 410 metric horsepower (300 kW; 400 shp) for use while submerged.

For her first patrol, U-59 departed Helgoland, (the German island in the North Sea), on 29 August 1939, before war was declared.

Her second sortie saw her first success, sinking the British trawler Lynx II west of the Shetland Islands on 28 October 1939.

The boat departed Wilhelmshaven on 14 December 1939 and sank Lister 130 nautical miles (240 km; 150 mi) off Newcastle on the 16th.

She then sank the neutral Glitfriejell on the same day; the ship broke in two 75 nautical miles (139 km; 86 mi) off St. Abbs Head.

Her next victim was the neutral Bogø which also broke in two, 75 nautical miles (139 km; 86 mi) east of May Island.

On her eleventh patrol, the boat damaged two ships, San Gabriel and Anadara, both on 30 August 1940 and both west of Scotland.

Her thirteenth and last operational patrol was a fairly straightforward affair: from Bergen, down the Norwegian coast arriving in Kiel on 20 October 1940.