German submarine U-203

German submarine U-203
Commissioning of U-203 in Kiel, February 1941; note the coat of arms for Essen on the conning tower and the ice
Career (Germany)
Name:	U-203
Ordered:	23 September 1939
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Laid down:	28 March 1940
Launched:	4 January 1941
Commissioned:	18 February 1941
Fate:	Sunk 25 April 1943 by British aircraft and a British warship. 10 dead, 38 survivors
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type VIIC U-boat
Displacement:	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length:	Overall: 67.10 m (220.1 ft) Pressure hull: 50.50 m (165.7 ft)
Beam:	Overall: 6.20 m (20.3 ft) Pressure hull: 4.70 m (15.4 ft)
Draught:	4.74 m (15.6 ft)
Propulsion:	Surfaced: 3,200 hp Submerged: 750 hp
Speed:	Surfaced: 17.7 kn (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) Submerged: 7.6 kn (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph)
Range:	Surfaced: 8,500 mi (13,700 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) Submerged: 80 mi (130 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph)
Test depth:	Calculated crush depth: 220 m (720 ft)
Armament:	5 x 53.3cm Torpedo tubes: four bow, one stern (14 torpedoes) and 26 TMA mines 1 x 88/45 deck gun with 220 rounds

Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine 1st U-boat Flotilla 18 Feb 1941 - 25 Apr 1943
Commanders:	Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg 18 Feb 1941 - 11 Sep 1942 Oblt. Hans Seidel 11 Sep 1942 - 20 Sep 1942 Kptlt. Hermann Kottmann 21 Sep 1942 - 25 Apr 1943
Operations:	11 patrols 1st patrol: 5–29 June 1941 2nd patrol: 10–31 July 1941 3rd patrol: 20–30 September 1941 4th patrol: 18 October–12 November 1941 5th patrol: 25 December 1941–29 January 1942 6th patrol: 12 March–30 April 1942 7th patrol: 4 June–29 July 1942 8th patrol: 27 August–18 September 1942 9th patrol: 15 October–6 November 1942 10th patrol: 6 December 1942–7 January 1943 11th patrol: 3–25 April 1943
Victories:	21 ships sunk for a total of 94,270 GRT three ships damaged for a total of 17,052 GRT

German submarine U-203 was a German Type VIIC submarine U-boat built for the Nazi German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.

Built as 'Werk' 632 of Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft AG in Kiel, she was laid down on 28 March 1940, launched on 4 January 1941 and commissioned on 18 February under Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg.

U-203 carried out eleven patrols with the first flotilla and is credited with sinking 21 ships for 94,270 GRT and damaging a further three for 17,052 GRT. She was a member of eleven wolfpacks.

She was sunk by British carrier-borne aircraft and a British warship southeast of Greenland in April 1943.

Service Record

1st, 2nd and 3rd patrols

On 24 June 1941, nineteen days into her first patrol while en route from Kiel to St. Nazaire in France, U-203 attacked and sank the GRT 4,956 GRT British merchant ship Kinross, which was part of Convoy OB 336. Later that day, she attacked the 4,402 GRT Norwegian vessel Soløy, which was with Convoy HX 133.

Arriving at St. Nazaire on 29 June, the crew of U-203 stayed ashore for another eleven days before the boat made her second patrol. Seventeen days into it, she attacked Convoy OG 69 which was sailing to Gibraltar. On the 27th, U-203 sank the 2,475 GRT British merchant ship Hawkinge. The British Lapland and the Swedish Norita, also OG-69 merchant ships, were sunk the following day, adding a further 1,330 GRT and 1,516 GRT respectively to the U-boat's record.

Six days into her third patrol, on 26 September, the British ships Avoceta, Lapwing and the Norwegian Varanberg of Convoy HG 73 were sunk, destroying another 7,362 GRT of shipping.

4th, 5th and 6th patrols

Sixteen days into her fourth patrol, on 3 November, U-203 attacked and sank the Empire Gemsbuck (5,626 GRT) and the Everoja (4,830 GRT), British merchant ships of Convoy SC-52.

Twenty-one days into her fifth patrol on 15 January 1942, U-203 sank a small (632 GRT) Portuguese ship, the Catalina. Two days later, the Norwegian ship Octavian would also be sunk. Four torpedoes were fired at the Canadian ship North Gaspe, which survived the attack. One torpedo detonated close to the ship, but none actually hit.

U-203's sixth patrol resulted in a total loss of 14,232 GRT to the Allies and two additional ships damaged, including the British merchant vessels San Delfino and Empire Thrush. Damaged were the American tanker Henry F. Sinclair, Jr. and the Panamanian flagged tanker Stanvac Melbourne.

7th, 8th and 9th patrols

A seventh patrol beginning 4 June 1942, resulted in 32,985 GRT of shipping destroyed. The Brazilian Pedrinhas and the British Putney Hill were sunk on 26 June. Two days later the American Liberty Ship Sam Houston was torpedoed and then finished off with 43 rounds from the deck gun. The British Cape Verde was sunk on 9 July and the Panamanian tanker Stanvac Palembang on 11 July bringing the tally to five victories on this successful patrol.

The next 23 day sortie was unfruitful; however, the U-boat's commander, Rolf Mützelburg, died during this patrol on 11 September. Taking the opportunity to go swimming in the Atlantic southwest of the Azores, he dived from the conning tower and struck the deck with his head and shoulder when the U-boat lurched suddenly in the swell. The doctor from U-462, a 'Milk Cow' supply submarine, arrived the next day, but too late. Rolf Mützelburg was buried at sea on 12 September 1942 in position 36°14′N 31°21′W. He was replaced by Kptlt. Hermann Kottman, who served as captain for the remainder of U-203's career.

Her ninth patrol, beginning 15 October 1942 and terminating 6 November, yielded two further ships sunk. The British merchantmen Hopecastle and Corinaldo (5,178 and 7,131 GRT, respectively) were sunk on 29 October and 30 October while traveling with Convoy SL-125.

Loss

U-203 undertook two more patrols, both unsuccessful. On 25 April 1943 while south of Cape Farewell, Greenland she was sunk by depth charges in position 55°05′N 42°25′W. She had been attacked by Fairey Swordfish aircraft operating from the British escort carrier HMS Biter and the British destroyer HMS Pathfinder. Ten men were killed, there were 38 survivors.

Summary of raiding history

U-203 sank 21 ships and damaged three others for a total of 111,322 GRT.

Date	Ship	Nationality	GRT	Convoy	Fate
24 June 1941	Kinross	United Kingdom	4,956	OB-336	Sunk
24 June 1941	Soløy	Norway	4,402	HX-133	Sunk
27 July 1941	Hawkinge	United Kingdom	2,475	OG-69	Sunk
28 July 1941	Lapland	United Kingdom	1,330	OG-69	Sunk
28 July 1941	Norita	Sweden	1,516	OG-69	Sunk
26 September 1941	Avoceta	United Kingdom	3,442	HG-73	Sunk
26 September 1941	Lapwing	United Kingdom	1,348	HG-73	Sunk
26 September 1941	Varangberg	Norway	2,842	HG-73	Sunk
3 November 1941	Empire Gemsbuck	United Kingdom	5,626	SC-52	Sunk
3 November 1941	Everoja	United Kingdom	4,830	SC-52	Sunk
15 January 1942	Catalina	Portugal	632		Sunk
17 January 1942	Octavian	Norway	1,345		Sunk
21 January 1942	North Gaspe	Canada	888		Damaged
10 April 1942	San Delfino	United Kingdom	8,072		Sunk
11 April 1942	Harry F. Sinclair, Jr.	United States	6,151		Damaged
12 April 1942	Stanvac Melbourne	Panama	10,013		Damaged
14 April 1942	Empire Thrush	United Kingdom	6,160		Sunk
26 June 1942	Pedrinhas	Brazil	3,666		Sunk
26 June 1942	Putney Hill	United Kingdom	5,216		Sunk
28 June 1942	Sam Houston	United States	7,176		Sunk
9 July 1942	Cape Verde	United Kingdom	6,914		Sunk
11 July 1942	Stanvac Palembang	Panama	10,013		Sunk
29 October 1942	Hopecastle	United Kingdom	5,178	SL-125	Sunk
30 October 1942	Corinaldo	United Kingdom	7,131	SL-125	Sunk

Patrol log

Patrol	Departure	Date	Return	Date	Duration (Days)
1st	Kiel	5 June 1941	St Nazaire	29 June 1941	25
2nd	St Nazaire	10 July 1941	St Nazaire	31 July 1941	22
3rd	St Nazaire	20 September 1941	Brest	30 September 1941	11
4th	Brest	18 October 1941	Brest	12 November 1941	26
5th	Brest	25 December 1941	Brest	29 January 1942	36
6th	Brest	12 March 1942	Brest	30 April 1942	50
7th	Lorient	4 June 1942	Brest	29 July 1942	56
8th	Brest	27 August 1942	Brest	18 September 1942	23
9th	Brest	15 October 1942	Lorient	6 November 1942	23
10th	Lorient	6 December 1942	Brest	7 January 1943	23
11th	Brest	3 April 1943	Sunk	25 April 1943	23