German submarine U-242 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 30 September 1942 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 676, launched on 20 July 1943 and commissioned on 14 August under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Karl-Wilhelm Pancke. In seven patrols, U-242 sank two ships totalling 2,095 gross register tons (GRT) and an auxiliary warship of 500 GRT. She was sunk by a mine in the St. George's Channel on 5 April 1945.