U-462 conducted eight patrols. As a supply boat, she avoided combat.
On June 21, 1943 Matrosengefreiter Ferdinand Brunnbaur was killed and four others were wounded during an attack from Mosquito aircraft.
On July 30, 1943, U-462 was sunk by a British Handley-Page Halifax aircraft (Sqdn 502/S) and gunfire from the British sloops HMS Wren, Kite, Woodpecker, Wild Goose, and Woodcock in the Bay of Biscay. One crewman was killed, the other 64 survived.