German submarine ''U-713'' was a

Type VIIC Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. 703 boats were built by the end of the war. The lone surviving example, , is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial located in Laboe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Conc ...

U-boat of Nazi Germany'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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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. The submarine was laid down on 21 October 1941 at the

H. C. Stülcken Sohn H. C. Stülcken Sohn (also known as Stülcken-Werft) was a German shipbuilding company located in Hamburg and founded in 1846 by Heinrich Christoph Stülcken.ANONYMOUS (1964): H.C. Stülcken, Shipyard and Mechanical Workshop. Hamburg. During Wo ...

yard at Hamburg, launched on 24 September 1942, and commissioned on 29 December 1942 under the command of '' Oberleutnant zur See'' Henri Gosejacob. Attached to

8th U-boat Flotilla The 8th U-boat Flotilla (German ''8. Unterseebootsflottille'') was formed in June 1941 in Königsberg under the command of ''Kapitänleutnant'' Georg-Wilhelm Schulz, who also at this time commanded the 6th U-boat Flotilla in Danzig. It was prim ...

based at Danzig, ''U-713'' completed her training period on 30 June 1943 and was assigned to front-line service.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-713'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull 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 engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c 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-713'' was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and two twin 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, ...

s. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

Fate

''U-713'' was missing since 24 February 1944 in the Norwegian Sea north-west of

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

Previously recorded fate

While operating against

convoy JW 57 Convoy JW 57 was an Arctic convoys of World War II, Arctic convoy sent from United Kingdom, Great Britain by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in February 1944, reaching the Soviet n ...

on 24 February 1944, ''U-713'' was spotted by a

Swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

from . The destroyer HMS ''Keppel'' was directed towards the U-boat and attacked with depth charges, sinking ''U-713'' in position .

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U0713 World War II submarines of Germany German Type VIIC submarines 1942 ships Ships built in Hamburg U-boats commissioned in 1942 U-boats sunk in 1944 Missing U-boats of World War II Maritime incidents in February 1945 World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea