German submarine ''U-47'' was a
Type VIIB U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's ''
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
[ She was ]laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
on 25 February 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Friedrich may refer to:
Names
*Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
*Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
*Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...
in Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
as yard number 582 and went into service on 17 December 1938 under the command of Günther Prien
Günther Prien (16 January 1908 – presumed 8 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was the first U-boat commander to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the first member of the ''Kriegsmarine'' to r ...
.
During ''U-47''s career, she sank a total of 31 enemy vessels, including the British battleship , and damaged nine more.[ ''U-47'' ranks as one of the most successful German U-boats of World War II.]
In 2016, one of the faulty torpedoes shot at HMS ''Royal Oak'' was found and identified.
Design
German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. ''U-47'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull
A submarine hull has two major components, the ''light hull'' and the ''pressure hull''. The light hull (''casing'' in British usage) of a submarine is the outer non-watertight hull which provides a hydrodynamically efficient shape. The pressure ...
length of , a beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...
GU 460/8-276 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
s. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . ''U-47'' was fitted with five torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one C/30 anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
. The boat had a complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...
of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
''U-47'' carried out ten combat patrols and spent a total of 238 days at sea. She sank 31 enemy ships (totalling 162,769 GRT and 29,150 tons) and damaged eight more.[ Prior to her disappearance in March 1941, ''U-47'' lost one crewman, Heinrich Mantyk, who fell overboard on 5 September 1940.][
]
First patrol
''U-47'' was assigned to the 7th U-boat Flotilla
The 7th U-boat Flotilla (German ''7. Unterseebootsflottille''), also known as Wegener Flotilla, was the seventh operational U-boat combat unit in the Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''. Founded on 25 June 1938 under the command of ''Korvettenkapità ...
on 17 December 1938, (the day she was commissioned). She was an operational boat in the 7th Flotilla for her entire career.[ ''U-47'' was sent to sea in a pre-emptive move before war broke out in September 1939; this move would enable her to engage enemy vessels as soon as the war began. She left for her first war patrol on 19 August 1939 (two weeks before the commencement of hostilities), from the port of ]Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
. During her first patrol, she circumnavigated the British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
and entered the Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
to commence patrol of Area I. On 3 September, war was declared and ''U-47'' received orders to initiate hostilities against British ships, but none were encountered on the first day. News of the sinking of by reached Prien the following day, along with further orders to strictly adhere to the Submarine Protocol. The first ship encountered by ''U-47'' during the war was a neutral Greek freighter which Prien inspected but released unharmed. Two further neutral vessels were encountered and Prien declined to even stop them.
Just after dawn on 5 September, Engelbert Endrass – serving as first watch officer aboard ''U-47'' – spotted SS ''Bosnia'' zigzagging and in a darkened state. Prien surfaced and fired a single shot from his 88 mm deck gun to stop the ship but instead ''Bosnia'' made steam and began radioing an alert ('SSS') along with its name and position. Prien then immediately fired an additional four rounds of which three hit the ship, prompting its crew to abandon ship. ''U-47'' rendered assistance to the crew of ''Bosnia'', bringing them aboard the submarine and helping to set up a lifeboat which had capsized during the crew's escape. A Norwegian vessel also arrived and took all of the survivors aboard. Following its departure, Prien fired a single torpedo which wrecked the ship which sank with its load of sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
almost immediately. The 2,407 GRT ''Bosnia'' became the second British vessel, and first freighter, sunk after ''Athenia''.[
It was later the next day during which ''U-47'' encountered a larger British freighter, the 4,086 GRT SS ''Rio Carlo''. Again, Prien opted to surface and initiate a gun attack on the merchant. While the ''Rio Carlo'' did stop moving, it nonetheless broadcast the submarine alert, prompting Prien to fire an ineffective warning shot. A further three shots from the deck gun onto the bridge of ''Rio Carlo'', upon which the broadcast ceased and the crew abandoned ship. Once the crew was away, Prien finished the vessel and sent its mixed cargo to the bottom with a single torpedo. While ''U-47''s crew was inspecting the lifeboats and ensuring the survivors had provisions, an aircraft appeared and ''U-47'' dived, departing the area and leaving the crew to others to rescue.][
On 7 September, Prien encountered yet another British freighter, and once again initiated a surface attack on it. Attempting to escape, SS ''Gartavon'' broadcast the submarine alert, drawing fire from the deck gun. The mast and radio antenna were destroyed by the fire and the ship came about while the crew put to in a lifeboat. Surprising Prien, the ''Gartavon'' crew had rigged the ship to get underway in an attempt to ram the attacking submarine. It began to make steam after its crew departed and Prien was forced to take emergency measures to avoid the vessel. After avoiding the abandoned ''Gartavon'', Prien inspected the lifeboat and after its crew declined the offer to fetch a second lifeboat from the circling freighter, he left them. (All survived.) Prien refused to radio for assistance on account of the attempt to ram him. He returned to ''Gartavon'' and attempted to finish her as he had his previous victims, but the torpedo malfunctioned and Prien instead used the deck gun to wreck the ship and sink its cargo of iron ore.][
During this first patrol, which ended with her arrival in Kiel on 15 September 1939, three vessels were sunk for a total of 8,270 GRT.]
Sinking of HMS ''Royal Oak''
On 8 October 1939, ''U-47'' began her second patrol. On 14 October 1939 (six days after leaving port), she succeeded in penetrating the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's primary base at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
.
Although most of the Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet.
Before the First ...
was not at the base at the time, ''U-47'' managed to find a target, the battleship . Once she had spotted ''Royal Oak'', she opened fire with her torpedoes. Her first two salvos did nothing more than sever an anchor chain. After reloading the bow tubes the last salvo of three torpedoes struck the British warship, causing severe flooding. Taking on a list of 15 degrees, her open portholes were submerged, worsening the flooding and increasing the list to 45 degrees; ''Royal Oak'' sank within 15 minutes with the loss of over 800 men.[ Following the attack, Prien received the nickname ''Der Stier von Scapa Flow'' (''"The Bull of Scapa Flow"''); the emblem of a snorting bull was then painted on the conning tower of ''U-47'' and the image soon became the emblem of the entire 7th U-boat Flotilla.][ Prien was awarded the ]Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
, the first sailor of a U-boat and the second member of the ''Kriegsmarine'' to receive this decoration. The rest of the crew members were awarded the Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
. Two other ''U-47'' crew members also earned the Knight's Cross later on during World War II: the chief engineer (''Leitender Ingenieur'') Johann-Friedrich Wessels
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The decoration was awarded for a wide range of r ...
and 1st watch officer (''I. Wachoffizier'') Engelbert Endrass
Engelbert Endrass (german: Engelbert Endraß) (2 March 1911 – 21 December 1941) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He commanded the and the , being credited with sinking 22 ships on ten patrols, for a total of of Allied shipping, ...
.
Many years later, in September 2002, one of the unexploded torpedoes that ''U-47'' had fired during the attack on ''Royal Oak'' rose to the surface from its resting place on the bottom. The unexploded torpedo, minus its warhead, gradually drifted towards the shore, where it was spotted by a crewman aboard the Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
tanker ''Petrotrym''. A Royal Navy tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
intercepted the torpedo, and after identifying it as having belonged to ''U-47'' 63 years earlier, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) personnel discarded it a mile from shore.
On 16 April 2016 Royal Navy bomb disposal experts detonated a World War II torpedo found in Scapa Flow.
It is believed to have been one of those fired at ''Royal Oak'' by ''U-47''.
Third patrol
Following a lavish celebration in Berlin for the sinking of HMS ''Royal Oak'' in which the crew members of ''U-47'' were received by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and decorated, the boat returned to sea on 16 November 1939. Once the U-boat had left Kiel on 16 November, she headed out into the North Sea. After traveling around the British Isles into the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel, ''U-47'' sank a further three vessels, ''Navasota'' on 5 December, the Norwegian steamer MV ''Britta'' on 6 December and ''Tajandoen'' on 7 December.[ Following the sinking of ''Navasota'', British destroyers briefly fired depth charges at the U-boat but she managed to safely evade the attack without any damage.][
]
Fourth patrol
''U-47'' left the port of Wilhelmshaven and began her fourth patrol on 11 March 1940. For 19 days, she roamed the North Sea in search of any Allied convoys. However, she only managed to torpedo the Danish steam merchantman ''Britta'' north of Scotland on 25 March. Following the sinking of ''Britta'', ''U-47'' returned to Wilhelmshaven on 29 March.
Fifth patrol
''U-47''s fifth patrol was her first one that resulted in no ships sunk. She left Wilhelmshaven on 3 April 1940, and headed once again out into the North Sea. While she did not sink any Allied vessels on her fifth patrol, around 19 April, she fired a torpedo aimed at the British battleship but the torpedo missed its target or failed to detonate upon impact. Several nearby destroyers attempted to sink the U-boat using depth charges but ''U-47'' managed to escape.
Sixth patrol
''U-47''s sixth patrol was much more successful. Having left Kiel on 3 June 1940, she ventured out into the North Sea and operated off the southern coast of Ireland. Along with six other U-boats in Wolfpack Prien, she attacked Convoy HX 47 and the first ship to fall victim to the U-boat was the British SS ''Balmoralwood''; which was sunk on 14 June. Within less than a month, the boat sank a further seven vessels, ''San Fernando'' on the 21st, ''Cathrine'' on the 24th, ''Lenda'' and ''Leticia'' on the 27th, ''Empire Toucan'' on the 29th, ''Georgios Kyriakides'' on the 30th, and on 2 July. The German submarine returned to Kiel on 6 July after 34 days at sea and eight enemy vessels sunk.
Seventh patrol
''U-47''s seventh patrol consisted of her travelling north of the British Isles and into the North Atlantic, south of Iceland. During a period of 30 days, she sank a total of six enemy vessels and damaged another. ''U-47''s first victory during her seventh patrol was the sinking of the Belgian passenger ship ''Ville de Mons'' on 2 September 1940. This was followed by the sinking of a British vessel, ''Titan'', on 4 September and ''Gro'', ''José de Larrinaga'', and ''Neptunian'' on the 7th. On the 9th, ''U-47'' sank the Greek merchant ship ''Possidon'', and on 21 September she damaged the British merchant ship ''Elmbank''. Following these victories, on the 25th, ''U-47'' entered the French port of Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
, which was now under German control following the decisive Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
.
Eighth patrol
''U-47''s eighth patrol began on 14 October 1940 when she left her home port of Lorient. While her eighth patrol lasted ten days, she sank four enemy vessels and damaged a further two in only two days. On 19 October, ''U-47'' damaged the British vessel ''Shirak'' and sank ''Uganda'' and ''Wandby'', both of which were British registered. The next day, the U-boat damaged the British vessel ''Athelmonarch'' and sank ''La Estancia'' as well as ''Whitford Point''. She returned to port three days later on the 23rd.
Ninth patrol
''U-47'' left her home port of Lorient on 3 November 1940 and moved out into the North Atlantic in search of Allied convoys. During her ninth patrol, she damaged three ships, ''Gonçalo Velho'', ''Conch'' and ''Dunsley'', and sank ''Ville d´Arlon''. ''U-47'' returned to Lorient for the last time on 6 December. On her return Kretschmer presented a lifebelt from ''Conch'' which ''U-47'' had damaged to Adolph Hitler.
Disappearance
''U-47'' departed Lorient on her tenth and last patrol on 20 February 1941. She went missing on 7 March 1941 and was believed at the time to have been sunk by the British destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
west of Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, when a submarine was attacked by ''Wolverine'' and . Postwar assessment showed that the boat attacked there was , which was only damaged. HMS ''Wolverine'' had made an earlier attack on a submarine at 0510hrs, 5 minutes after ''U-47s last known torpedo attack on the Whale Factory ship ''Terje Viken''. Nothing further was heard from ''U-47'' after this time. To date, there is no official record of what happened to ''U-47'', although a variety of other possibilities exist, including mines, a mechanical failure, a victim of her own torpedoes, or possibly a later attack that did not confirm any claims by the corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
team of and . ''U-47'' had a crew of 45 officers and men during her last North Atlantic patrol in early 1941, all of whom were presumed to have died.
Wolfpacks
''U-47'' took part in one wolfpack, namely:
* Prien (12 – 17 June 1940)
Summary of raiding history
During her service in the ''Kriegsmarine'', ''U-47'' sank 30 commercial ships totalling and one warship of 29,150 tons; she also damaged eight commercial ships totalling and one warship of 10,035 tons.[
]
See also
* ''U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien
''U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien'' () is a 1958 black-and-white German war film portraying the World War II career of the U-boat captain Günther Prien. It stars Dieter Eppler and Sabine Sesselmann and was directed by Harald Reinl.
Plot
The f ...
'', a 1958 film about Prien's command of ''U-47''
* List of most successful German U-boats
List of successful U-boats contains lists of the most successful German U-boats in the two World Wars based on total tonnage.
World War I
This list contains the 5 most successful German U-boats during the First World War based on total tonna ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
u47.org
*
*
*
Detailed article on the Scapa Flow mission. Includes photos, video, maps, quotes, sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:U0047
1938 ships
German Type VIIB submarines
Missing U-boats of World War II
Ships built in Kiel
U-boats commissioned in 1938
U-boats sunk in 1941
U-boats sunk by unknown causes
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
World War II submarines of Germany
Maritime incidents in March 1941