German submarine U-103 (1940)

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-103.

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name:	U-103
Ordered:	24 May 1938
Builder:	AG Weser, Bremen
Yard number:	966
Laid down:	September 6, 1939
Launched:	12 April 1940
Commissioned:	5 July 1940
Fate:	Sunk 15 April 1945 at Kiel. 1 dead.
Class and type:	Type IXB U-boat Maximum Surface Speed: 18.2 Knots Maximum Submerged Speed: 7.3 Knots Maximum Surfaced Range At 12 Knots: 8,700 nm Maximum Submerged Range At 4 Knots: 64 nm Main Armanent: 6x 53.3 cm Torpedo Tubes (4 Bow 2 Stern) Secondary Armanent: 1x Utof 105mm/45 110 Deck gun Anti-Aircraft Armanent: 2x Twin 20mm automatic cannon, 1x 37mm Semi-Automatic cannon Displacement: 1,034 long tons surfaced, 1,159 long tons submerged Length: 76.5 Metres Beam: 6.8 Metres Height: 9.6 Metres Draft: 4.7 Metres Propulsion:2x MAN M9V40 Supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines of 4,400 hp and 2x SSW GU345/34 Double acting electric engines of 1,000 hp Test Depth: 230 metres (750 feet) Crew: 48 to 56 officers and ratings

Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine: 2nd U-boat Flotilla 24th U-boat Flotilla
Identification codes:	M 05 635
Commanders:	Viktor Schütze Werner Winter Gustav-Adolf Janssen Heinz Murl Hans-Norbert Schunck
Operations:	11
Victories:	45 ships sunk for a total of 237,596 gross register tons (GRT) 3 ships damaged for a total of 28,158 GRT

German submarine U-103 was a Type IXB U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. U-103 was one of the most successful boats in the entire war, succeeding in sinking over 237,000 tons of Allied shipping in 11 patrols, a career lasting more than four years.

U-103 was built at the AG Weser in Bremen during 1939, and was ready for service in 1940. After her warm up, designed to give her an opportunity to train and repair minor faults, she was deployed into the Atlantic Ocean in July, 1940 and saw overwhelming success damaging 3 and sinking 45 ships.

Fate

In March 1944 U-103 was taken out of service and used as a Schulboot (training boat). In January 1945 she went from Gotenhafen to Hamburg and in April 1945 from Hamburg to Kiel. On April 15, 1945 she was sunk by bombs at Kiel with 1 dead and an unknown number of survivors.

References

• uboat.net webpage for U-103
• ubootwaffe.net webpage for U-103
• uboataces.com webpage with insignia for U-103

See also

• List of German U-boats
• List of successful U-boats