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German submarineU-703

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German World War II submarine

History
Korvettenkapitän Hans Cohausz, Commander 11th U-Boat Flotilla, greetsKapitänleutnant Heinz Bielfeld, commander of U-703, on the submarine's gangway, at Bergen, Norway.
Nazi Germany
Name	U-703
Ordered	9 October 1939
Builder	HC Stülcken & Sohn,Hamburg
Yard number	762
Laid down	9 August 1940
Launched	18 July 1941
Commissioned	16 October 1941
Fate	Missing since 16 September 1944
General characteristics
Class & type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769tonnes (757long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in)o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in)pressure hull
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 ×diesel engines 2 ×electric motors
Speed	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in)torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) 14 ×torpedoes 1 ×8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) 1 x2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 AA gun
Service record
Part of:	6th U-boat Flotilla 16 October 1941 – 30 June 1942 11th U-boat Flotilla 1 July 1942 – 31 May 1943 13th U-boat Flotilla 1 June 1943 – 16 September 1944
Identification codes:	M 25 617
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. /Kptlt.Heinz Bielfeld 16 October 1941 – 5 July 1943 Oblt.z.S. Joachim Brümmer 6 July 1943 – 16 September 1944
Operations:	13 patrols: 1st patrol: a. 26 April – 7 May 1942 b. 10 – 13 May 1942 2nd patrol: a. 16 – 30 May 1942 b. 1 – 4 June 1942 3rd patrol: a. 29 June – 15 July 1942 b. 2 – 4 August 1942 4th patrol: a. 9 August – 11 September 1942 b. 11 September 1942 5th patrol: a. 14 – 26 September 1942 b. 28 – 30 September 1942 c. 28 – 31 December 1942 6th patrol: 7 March – 5 April 1943 7th patrol: a. 17 April – 15 May 1943 b. 18 May – 19 May 1943 c. 19 May – 21 May 1943 8th patrol: a. 19 July – 3 August 1943 b. 14 – 16 August 1943 9th patrol: a. 17 August – 9 October 1943 b. 10 October 1943 c. 12 – 14 October 1943 d. 18 – 19 October 1943 e. 13 – 17 January 1944 f. 24 – 28 February 1944 10th patrol: 29 February – 8 March 1944 11th patrol: a. 8 April – 5 May 1944 b. 29 July – 1 August 1944 12th patrol: 20 August – 12 September 1944 13th patrol: 16 September 1944
Victories:	5 merchant ships sunk (29,523 GRT) 1 warship sunk (1,870 tons) 1 auxiliary warship sunk (559 GRT)

German submarineU-703 was aType VIIC U-boat ofNazi Germany'sKriegsmarine deployed during theSecond World War against allied shipping in theArctic Ocean. She was a successful boat, which had a far longer service life than most otherU-boats, primarily due to the restricted zone of operations in which she fought. Her main mission during the war was to target theArctic Convoys which carried supplies to theSoviet Union from Britain. At this she was quite successful in her three years of raiding until her presumed demise in 1944.

U-703 was built atHamburg in Northern Germany on theNorth Sea. She was completed in the autumn of 1941, and given to the experiencedKapitänleutnantHeinz Bielfeld to command. He took her on her working-up period in which the boat was tested and the crew trained in theBaltic Sea and around the German held coastlines, before being dispatched toNarvik in Norway for her first war patrol in April 1942.

Design

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German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorterType VIIB submarines.U-381 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged.^[1] She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), apressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), abeam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and adraught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by twoGermaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylindersupercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, twoGarbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/cdouble-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft)propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).^[1]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).^[1] When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).U-702 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in)torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteentorpedoes, one8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and a2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had acomplement of between forty-four and sixty.^[1]

Service history

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Enjoying the improving Arctic weather,U-703 had an unsuccessful patrol in terms of victims, but the boat began to work better as a team, and the second patrol in May reaped dividends, with the sinking of the 6,191 GRT American freighterSyros. This ship sank with eleven lives after a torpedo touched off her ammunition.^[2] The same patrol scored greater success during the disastrous end toConvoy PQ 17 on the 5 May, when she managed to sink two lone cargo ships, one of them damaged by long range German bombers beforehand. Returning to port at Narvik,U-703 was cheered by her victory but she struggled to make further impressions during the year, as her next two patrols yielded only one victim, the Britishdestroyer HMS Somali, which was fatally crippled by a torpedo nearConvoy PQ 18 in September.

Following her lay-over in the winter as her home ports of Narvik,Trondheim,Hammerfest,Harstad andBergen were all frozen,U-703 returned to the offensive, again attacking allied convoys in the Arctic Sea. Her first two patrols, in January and April were short and barren but on the next two in July and August 1943 under her new commander Joachim Brünner, she cruised in Soviet waters in theBarents Sea and further east, catching a small Sovietarmed trawler on 1 August, and larger Sovietmerchant ship the next day, sinking theSergj Kirov nearIstvestij Island.^[3]^[4] These patrols had shown the vulnerability of older U-boats to newer Allied countermeasures and protection, forcing the submarines to divert into backwaters of theBattle of the Atlantic to gain victories.U-703 continued operating in the spring of 1944, but she was obviously less efficient and was given duties deploying weather balloons in the Arctic Sea to test weather conditions for reports to other shipping. This was in part a result of terrible damage she received off Narvik during her first patrol of the season, when Allied aircraft strafed her, killing three crew and wounding three more. Just a few days before she had claimed her only victim of the year, theEmpire Tourist, which was sunk whilst part ofConvoy RA 57.

Relegated to her new duties,U-703 suddenly disappeared around the 16 September 1944. She had left Narvik on her thirteenth war patrol on 14 September, to deploy a weather balloon in the Arctic. At the time a heavy gale was running and it has been assumed thatU-703 foundered due to heavy seas in the course of this difficult and highly technical operation. No trace of the boat and her 54 crew has been found.

Summary of raiding history

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Ships sunk^[5]^{[Note 1]}
Date	Ship Name	Nationality	GRT	Notes
26 May 1942	Syros	United States	6,191	Sunk
5 July 1942	Empire Byron	United Kingdom	6,645	Sunk
5 July 1942	River Afton	United Kingdom	5,479	Sunk
20 September 1942	HMS Somali	Royal Navy	1,870	Sunk
30 July 1943	T-911	Soviet Navy	559	Sunk
1 October 1943	Sergej Kirov	Soviet Union	4,146	Sunk
4 March 1944	Empire Tourist	United Kingdom	7,062	Sunk

References

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Notes

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^Merchant ship tonnages are ingross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tonsdisplacement.

Citations

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^^a ^b ^c ^dGröner 1991, pp. 43–46.
^Helgason, Guðmundur."Syros".German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.
^The trawler has never been successfully named by historians.
^Helgason, Guðmundur."Sergej Kirov (Steam merchant)".German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.
^Helgason, Guðmundur."Ships hit by U-703".German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved6 February 2014.

Bibliography

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Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999).German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-186-6.
Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999).Der U-Boot-Krieg, 1939-1945: Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945] (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler.ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
Gröner, Eric; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991).German Warships 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
Sharpe, Peter (1998).U-Boat Fact File. Great Britain: Midland Publishing.ISBN 1-85780-072-9.

External links

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Helgason, Guðmundur."The Type VIIC boat U-703".German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved29 December 2014.

v t e Type VII submarines
Type VIIA	U-27 U-28 U-29 U-30 U-31 U-32 U-33 U-34 U-35 U-36
Type VIIB	U-45 U-46 U-47 U-48 U-49 U-50 U-51 U-52 U-53 U-54 U-55 U-73 U-74 U-75 U-76 U-83 U-84 U-85 U-86 U-87 U-99 U-100 U-101 U-102
Type VIIC	U-69 U-70 U-71 U-72 U-77 U-78 U-79 U-80 U-81 U-82 U-88 U-89 U-90 U-91 U-92 U-93 U-94 U-95 U-96 U-97 U-98 U-132 U-133 U-134 U-135 U-136 U-201 U-202 U-203 U-204 U-205 U-206 U-207 U-208 U-209 U-210 U-211 U-212 U-221 U-222 U-223 U-224 U-225 U-226 U-227 U-228 U-229 U-230 U-231 U-232 U-235 U-236 U-237 U-238 U-239 U-240 U-241 U-242 U-243 U-244 U-245 U-246 U-247 U-248 U-249 U-250 U-251 U-252 U-253 U-254 U-255 U-256 U-257 U-258 U-259 U-260 U-261 U-262 U-263 U-264 U-265 U-266 U-267 U-268 U-269 U-270 U-271 U-272 U-273 U-274 U-275 U-276 U-277 U-278 U-279 U-280 U-281 U-282 U-283 U-284 U-285 U-286 U-287 U-288 U-289 U-290 U-291 U-301 U-302 U-303 U-304 U-305 U-306 U-307 U-308 U-309 U-310 U-311 U-312 U-313 U-314 U-315 U-316 U-331 U-332 U-333 U-334 U-335 U-336 U-337 U-338 U-339 U-340 U-341 U-342 U-343 U-344 U-345 U-346 U-347 U-348 U-349 U-350 U-351 U-352 U-353 U-354 U-355 U-356 U-357 U-358 U-359 U-360 U-361 U-362 U-363 U-364 U-365 U-366 U-367 U-368 U-369 U-370 U-371 U-372 U-373 U-374 U-375 U-376 U-377 U-378 U-379 U-380 U-381 U-382 U-383 U-384 U-385 U-386 U-387 U-388 U-389 U-390 U-391 U-392 U-393 U-394 U-396 U-397 U-398 U-399 U-400 U-401 U-402 U-403 U-404 U-405 U-406 U-407 U-408 U-409 U-410 U-411 U-412 U-413 U-414 U-415 U-416 U-417 U-418 U-419 U-420 U-421 U-422 U-423 U-424 U-425 U-426 U-427 U-428 U-429 U-430 U-431 U-432 U-433 U-434 U-435 U-436 U-437 U-438 U-439 U-440 U-441 U-442 U-443 U-444 U-445 U-446 U-447 U-448 U-449 U-450 U-451 U-452 U-453 U-454 U-455 U-456 U-457 U-458 U-465 U-466 U-467 U-468 U-469 U-470 U-471 U-472 U-473 U-475 U-476 U-477 U-478 U-479 U-480 U-481 U-482 U-483 U-484 U-485 U-486 U-551 U-552 U-553 U-554 U-555 U-556 U-557 U-558 U-559 U-560 U-561 U-562 U-563 U-564 U-565 U-566 U-567 U-568 U-569 U-570 U-571 U-572 U-573 U-574 U-575 U-576 U-577 U-578 U-579 U-580 U-581 U-582 U-583 U-584 U-585 U-586 U-587 U-588 U-589 U-590 U-591 U-592 U-593 U-594 U-595 U-596 U-597 U-598 U-599 U-600 U-601 U-602 U-603 U-604 U-605 U-606 U-607 U-608 U-609 U-610 U-611 U-612 U-613 U-614 U-615 U-616 U-617 U-618 U-619 U-620 U-621 U-622 U-623 U-624 U-625 U-626 U-627 U-628 U-629 U-630 U-631 U-632 U-633 U-634 U-635 U-636 U-637 U-638 U-639 U-640 U-641 U-642 U-643 U-644 U-645 U-646 U-647 U-648 U-649 U-650 U-651 U-652 U-653 U-654 U-655 U-656 U-657 U-658 U-659 U-660 U-661 U-662 U-663 U-664 U-665 U-666 U-667 U-668 U-669 U-670 U-671 U-672 U-673 U-674 U-675 U-676 U-677 U-678 U-679 U-680 U-681 U-682 U-683 U-701 U-702 U-703 U-704 U-705 U-706 U-707 U-708 U-709 U-710 U-711 U-712 U-713 U-714 U-715 U-716 U-717 U-718 U-719 U-720 U-721 U-722 U-731 U-732 U-733 U-734 U-735 U-736 U-737 U-738 U-739 U-740 U-741 U-742 U-743 U-744 U-745 U-746 U-747 U-748 U-749 U-750 U-751 U-752 U-753 U-754 U-755 U-756 U-757 U-758 U-759 U-760 U-761 U-762 U-763 U-764 U-765 U-766 U-767 U-768 U-771 U-772 U-773 U-774 U-775 U-776 U-777 U-778 U-779 U-821 U-822 U-825 U-826 U-901 U-903 U-904 U-905 U-907 U-921 U-922 U-923 U-924 U-925 U-926 U-927 U-928 U-951 U-952 U-953 U-954 U-955 U-956 U-957 U-958 U-959 U-960 U-961 U-962 U-963 U-964 U-965 U-966 U-967 U-968 U-969 U-970 U-971 U-972 U-973 U-974 U-975 U-976 U-977 U-978 U-979 U-980 U-981 U-982 U-983 U-984 U-985 U-986 U-987 U-988 U-989 U-990 U-991 U-992 U-993 U-994 U-1051 U-1052 U-1053 U-1054 U-1055 U-1056 U-1057 U-1058 U-1101 U-1102 U-1131 U-1132 U-1161 U-1162 U-1191 U-1192 U-1193 U-1194 U-1195 U-1196 U-1197 U-1198 U-1199 U-1200 U-1201 U-1202 U-1203 U-1204 U-1205 U-1206 U-1207 U-1208 U-1209 U-1210
Type VIIC/41	U-292 U-293 U-294 U-295 U-296 U-297 U-298 U-299 U-300 U-317 U-318 U-319 U-320 U-321 U-322 U-323 U-324 U-325 U-326 U-327 U-328 U-691 U-827 U-828 U-929 U-930 U-995 U-997 U-998 U-999 U-1000 U-1001 U-1002 U-1003 U-1004 U-1005 U-1006 U-1007 U-1008 U-1009 U-1010 U-1011 U-1013 U-1014 U-1015 U-1016 U-1017 U-1018 U-1019 U-1020 U-1021 U-1022 U-1023 U-1024 U-1025 U-1063 U-1064 U-1065 U-1103 U-1104 U-1105 U-1106 U-1107 U-1108 U-1109 U-1110 U-1163 U-1164 U-1165 U-1166 U-1167 U-1168 U-1169 U-1170 U-1171 U-1172 U-1271 U-1272 U-1273 U-1274 U-1275 U-1276 U-1277 U-1278 U-1279 U-1301 U-1302 U-1303 U-1304 U-1305 U-1306 U-1307 U-1308
Type VIID	U-213 U-214 U-215 U-216 U-217 U-218
Type VIIF	U-1059 U-1060 U-1061 U-1062
Preceded by:Type II Followed by:Type IX List of U-boats of Germany

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1944
Shipwrecks	1 Sep:HMS Hurst Castle,Kehdingen,U-247 2 Sep:Empire Curzon,U-394 5 Sep:U-362 7 Sep:Shinyō Maru, (incident),Westfalen 8 Sep:Rex 9 Sep:Sava,U-484 10 Sep:U-20,U-23 11 Sep:Giulio Cesare,U-19 12 Sep:Korei Maru,Nankai Maru,USS Noa,Rakuto Maru,Rakuyō Maru,Shikinami 13 Sep:USS Perry,USS Warrington 14 Sep:Irene Oldendorff 16 Sep:I-364 17 Sep:Un'yō 18 Sep:Dr. Heinrich Wiegand,Gyōkū Maru,Jun'yō Maru 19 Sep:Isoshima,U-407,U-867 21 Sep:China Maru,Hōfuku Maru,Katsuriki,Noshiro Maru,Satsuki 22 Sep:Drache 23 Sep:Taranto,U-859 24 Sep:Akitsushima,Siberia Maru,T-120,Yaeyama 25 Sep:USS Miantonomah 26 Sep:Aotaka,Ro-47,Saga,U-871 27 Sep:HMSRockingham,Ural Maru 28 Sep:Dragoner 29 Sep:U-863 30 Sep:U-565,U-596,U-1062 Unknown date:U-703,U-855,U-865,U-921
Other incidents	8–9 Sep:Yu 3001 12 Sep:USS Fullam 13 Sep:USS Segundo 14 Sep:USS Natchez,USSTemptress 15 Sep:Tirpitz 19 Sep:Jingei,U-565 24 Sep:U-565,U-596 26 Sep:Don Marquis Unknown date:Schwabenland
194319441945 August 1944October 1944

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