U 203
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U 203 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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 Commissioning of U 203 at Krupp-Germania shipyard in Kiel |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | M 36 449 |
| Shipyard: | Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | September 23, 1939 |
| Build number: | 632 |
| Keel laying: | March 28, 1940 |
| Launch: | January 4, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | February 18, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
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| Flotilla: |
1st U-Flotilla ( Kiel ) training boat |
| Calls: | 11 activities |
| Sinkings: |
21 ships (90,270 GRT ) |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk on April 25, 1943 in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farvel (10 dead, 39 prisoners of war). |
U 203 was a German type VII C submarine , also known as the "Atlantic boat ". It was used by the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War in the North, West and Central Atlantic. It sank 21 ships with 90,270 GRT. On April 25, 1943, it was sunk in the North Atlantic by the US destroyer HMS Pathfinder , which also took 39 crew members on board as prisoners of war , while ten of the submarine drivers perished.
history
The construction contract for U 203 was awarded to the Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel on September 23, 1939. The keel was laid on March 28, 1940 and launched on January 4, 1941. On February 18, 1941, it was put into service under Lieutenant Rolf Mützelburg. Until May 1, 1941, U 203 was assigned to the 1st U-Flotilla ( Kiel ) as a training boat. After that it was part of the 1st U-Flotilla ( Brest ) as a front boat until it was sunk .
U 203 made seven enemy voyages under Mützelburg's leadership by the summer of 1942. On the eighth mission, Mützelburg had a fatal accident on September 11, 1942 while diving by jumping from the tower. I.WO Seidel brought the boat back to Brest . Then Lieutenant Hermann Kottmann took over command of U 203 , which he held until the boat sank.
As a boat badge, U 203 carried the coat of arms of its sponsored city Essen on the front of the tower. At the time of Mützelburg's command, this coat of arms also adorned an unofficial commander's pennant of the boat - under the picture there were the letters MÜBU . Under Kottmann's command, a turtle was also painted on the right side of the tower.
Calls
The two commanders of U 203 sank a total of 21 ships with 90,270 GRT on their eleven patrols with this boat. Among them was the British passenger steamer Avoceta ( Lage ) of the Yeoward Line. When it was sunk on September 26, 1941, 123 crew members and passengers, including numerous women and children, were killed.
Downfall
On April 25, 1943 U 203 attacked the convoy ONS 4 southeast of Cape Farvel . A Fairey Swordfish from the aircraft carrier HMS Biter sighted the boat and reported it to the US destroyer HMS Pathfinder . This attacked U 203 with depth charges and forced it to surface. 39 crew members were able to save themselves, while ten men were killed. The survivors from U 203 - the commander Hermann Kottmann, two other officers, three ensigns and 33 men - were taken on board by the destroyer Pathfinder and were taken prisoner of war by the United States . U 203 dropped to the position 55 ° 5 ' N , 42 ° 25' W .
memory
A Wehrmacht camp in Flensburg - Mürwik was named after the commander Rolf Mützelburg . The Mützelburg camp was inhabited by refugees after the war and ultimately demolished in the mid-1950s. The former location of the camp is now in a nature reserve.
Notes and individual references
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 4th edition. 2001, p. 73.
literature
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
- 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 .
- Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Maling's German submarines 1939–1945. 4th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0826-9 .
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes-Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
Web links
- German submarines 1935–1945, U 203
- U-203, Uboat.net
- U-203, Uboatarchive.net: Navy Department Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Washington, ONI 250 - G / Serial 11, Report on the Interrogation of Survivors From U-203 Sunk on April 25, 1943
Map with all coordinates: