U 1203
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U 1203 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | M-50 595 |
| Shipyard: | F. Schichau GmbH , Danzig |
| Construction contract: | October 14, 1941 |
| Build number: | 1577 |
| Keel laying: | May 15, 1943 |
| Launch: | December 9, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | February 10, 1944 |
| Commanders: | |
| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 1 patrol |
| Sinkings: |
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| Whereabouts: | Capitulated on May 9, 1945 in the Lofjord near Trondheim . After Britain transferred and when on December 8, 1945 Operation Deadlight sunk |
The U 1203 was a German type VII C submarine from the Danzig Schichau shipyard , which was used by the navy during the last year of the war as part of the submarine war in the North Atlantic , the Biscay and the English Channel . At the time, a VII C-boat had an average life expectancy of 44 days.
Construction and commissioning of U 1203
U 1203's history began with its construction contract on October 14, 1941, which also included three other Type VII C submarines ( U 1200 , U 1201 , U 1202 and U 1204 ) for the Schichau works. The submarine was on 15 May 1943, the hull number 1577 laid the keel and on December 9 this year launched in . The commissioning took place on February 10, 1944 under Oberleutnant zur See Erich Steinbrink, who was to command the submarine only during training. The boat carried a tower emblem: an eagle attacking a snake with the British flag on a cylinder. The mark was on a red shield. After he had handed U 1203 over to Oberleutnant zur See Sigurd Seeger in July 1944, Steinbrink became a training officer in the 1st submarine training department. Later he commanded the Type VII C / 41 boat U 293 on behalf of Kapitänleutnant Leonhard Klingspor on a company, and later he took over the Type VII C boat U 953 from Oberleutnant zur See Herbert A. Werner, which he commanded until the end of the war.
Operations of the submarine
Relocation trip
U 1203 left the port of Kiel on January 4, 1945, under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Sigurd Seeger , and moved to Horten , where it arrived three days later without incident.
1. Company
The boat left Horten on January 15 and entered Kristiansand on January 16 at 6:00 am , where some additions were made. It left there at 2:00 a.m. the next day and was at sea for 72 days. The operating areas of the boat were the North Atlantic , the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel . On February 24 at 11:40 p.m. Commander Seeger sighted the British A / S trawler HMS Ellesmere (FY 204) 60 nautical miles northwest of Brest and fired a TV Wren . The trawler was hit in the bow on the port side and disappeared in a huge explosion. Despite an immediate search, no survivors could be found. All 37 crew members of the Ellesmere were killed. U 1203 returned to Trondheim on March 30th, but there was no eagle and snake emblem on the tower, as it had detached from its holder during the journey and was therefore lost. The boat stayed in Trondheim until the end of the war.
Transfer trip
After the surrender, on May 29, U 1203 and all submarines that were currently in Trondheim moved to Scapa Flow and from there either to Loch Ryan, Scotland, or to the port of Londonderry in Lisahally , Northern Ireland , to join theirs Waiting for scuttling during Operation Deadlight .
Sinking
The last hour struck for U 1203 on December 6th . It was towed by the British destroyer HMS Mendip to position 55 ° 50 'N - 10 ° 05' W in naval grid square AM 5169 and sunk on December 8th at 9:00 a.m. by two Barracuda torpedo bombers of Squadron 816 of the escort aircraft carrier HMS Nairana .
literature
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 169.