German submarine U-803

U-Boat Infobox
type=IXC/40
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=January, 1942
launch=April 1, 1943
commission=September 7, 1943
yard=Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=4th FlotillaU_Boat Command
startdate=July, 1943
enddate=April, 1944
name=Kptlt. Karl Schimpf
U_Boat Sink
type=Type of Ship Sunk
total=Number of Ships Sunk
tonnage=Gross Registered Tonnage
U_Boat Sink
type=Commercial Vessels
total=0
tonnage=None
U_Boat Sink
type=Military Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0

Unterseeboot 803 (usually abbreviated to U-803) was a German submarine built during World War II at Bremerhaven. The boat was a IXC/40 Type submarine, which had long range cruising capacity and eight torpedo tubes. The ship was completed in September 1943 and spent the next seven months on working up cruises in the Baltic Sea near Swinemunde in order to get the crew and boat ready for operational cruising in the Second Battle of the Atlantic, which was at a critical stage.

As the boat worked up on the 27 April 1944, just days off its intended first cruise, she struck a sea mine in the bay and sank, nine of her crew going down with the boat, and 35 being rescued by nearby ships. The boat was salvaged in August 1944, but was too badly damaged to repair, and was broken up for components for use in other U-boats. Her surviving crew were largely transferred to other units, principally the "U-3009", on which they surrendered in May 1945. The mine had been air-dropped over the bay by the Royal Air Force, who had realised the use that the area was being put to through photo-reconnaissance flights. The air-dropping of mines was a frequent tactic of the RAF, and achieved dividends off many German harbours.

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u803.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-803"]

See Also: List of U-boats