german submarine german submarine type boat nazi_germany navy kriegsmarine world war laid february kiel yard number went service december command career sank total enemy vessels damaged including british battleship hms royal oak october ranks successful german boats world war design german type submarines preceded shorter type submarines displacement tonnes long tons surface tonnes long tons submerged total length pressure hull length beam height draught submarine powered stroke cylinder diesel engines producing total metric horsepower shp use surfaced double acting electric motors producing total metric horsepower shp use submerged shafts propellers boat capable operating depths metres submarine maximum surface speed knots mph maximum submerged speed knots mph submerged boat operate nautical miles knots mph surfaced travel nautical miles knots mph fitted torpedo tubes fitted bow stern fourteen torpedoes naval gun rounds anti aircraft gun boat complement service history carried combat patrols spent total days sea sank enemy ships totalling tons damaged prior disappearance march lost fell overboard september patrol assigned 7th boat flotilla december day commissioned operational boat 7th flotilla entire career sent sea pre war broke september enable engage enemy vessels soon war began left war patrol august weeks commencement hostilities port kiel patrol british isles entered sank ships bosnia september september september second patrol sinking october began second patrol october days leaving port succeeded penetrating royal_navy primary base scapa_flow home_fleet base time managed find target battleship spotted opened fire torpedoes anchor chain bow tubes torpedoes struck british warship causing severe flooding taking list degrees open submerged flooding increasing list degrees sank minutes loss men following attack received nickname der bull flow emblem bull painted conning tower image soon emblem entire 7th boat flotilla awarded knight sailor boat second member kriegsmarine receive decoration rest crew members awarded crew members earned knight cross later world war chief engineer 1st watch officer years later september torpedoes fired attack rose surface resting place torpedo minus gradually drifted shore spotted aboard norwegian tanker royal_navy intercepted torpedo identifying having belonged years earlier explosive ordnance disposal personnel discarded mile shore april royal_navy bomb disposal experts detonated world war torpedo found scapa_flow believed fired german boat patrol following lavish celebration berlin sinking crew members received adolf_hitler decorated boat returned sea november boat left kiel november headed north_sea traveling british isles english channel sank vessels december norwegian steamer december december following sinking british destroyers briefly fired depth charges boat managed safely evade attack damage fourth patrol left port wilhelmshaven began fourth patrol march days north_sea search allied convoys managed torpedo danish steam north scotland march following sinking returned wilhelmshaven march fifth patrol fifth patrol resulted ships sunk left wilhelmshaven april headed north_sea sink allied vessels fifth patrol april fired torpedo aimed british battleship torpedo missed target failed detonate impact nearby destroyers attempted sink boat depth charges managed escape sixth patrol sixth patrol successful having left kiel june ventured north_sea operated southern coast ireland boats attacked convoy ship fall victim boat british vessel sunk june month boat sank seven vessels 21st 24th 27th 29th 30th july german submarine returned kiel july days sea enemy vessels sunk seventh patrol seventh patrol consisted travelling north british isles north_atlantic south iceland period days sank total enemy vessels damaged victory seventh patrol sinking belgian passenger ship september followed sinking british vessel september 7th 9th sank greek merchant ship september damaged british merchant ship following victories 25th entered french port german control following decisive eighth patrol eighth patrol began october left home port eighth patrol lasted days sank enemy vessels damaged days october damaged british vessel sank british registered day boat damaged british vessel sank returned port days later 23rd ninth patrol left home port november moved north_atlantic search allied convoys ninth patrol damaged ships sank returned time december disappearance departed tenth patrol february went missing march believed time sunk british destroyer west ireland submarine attacked british ships took turns covering blind spots dropping patterns depth charges submarine rose surface sinking exploding orange flash visible surface postwar assessment showed boat attacked foreign corps date official record happened variety possibilities exist including mines mechanical failure victim torpedoes possibly later attack confirm claims corvette team hms crew officers men north_atlantic patrol early presumed died took june summary raiding history service kriegsmarine sank commercial ships totalling grt warship tons damaged commercial ships totalling grt warship tons
German submarine U-47 (1938)