German submarine U-603

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-603
Ordered	22 May 1940
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number	579
Laid down	27 February 1941
Launched	16 November 1941
Commissioned	2 January 1942
Fate	Missing since 19 February 1944 in the North Atlantic. No explanation for her loss.[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) 1 x 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 AA gun
Service record[1]
Part of:	5th U-boat Flotilla 2 January – 30 November 1942 1st U-boat Flotilla 1 December 1942 – 19 February 1944
Identification codes:	M 47 142
Commanders:	Kptlt. Kurt Kölzer 2 January – 12 September 1942 Oblt.z.S. Hans-Joachim Bertelsmann 13 September 1942 – 2 May 1943 Oblt.z.S. Rudolf Baltz 3 May 1943 – 28 January 1944 Kptlt. Hans-Joachim Bertelsmann 29 January – 19 February 1944
Operations:	5 patrols: 1st patrol: 23 November – 9 December 1942 2nd patrol: 7 February – 26 March 1943 3rd patrol: 5 May – 16 July 1943 4th patrol: 9 September – 3 November 1943 5th patrol: 5 – 19 February 1944
Victories:	4 merchant ships sunk (22,406 GRT)

German submarine U-603 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 27 February 1941 by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as yard number 579, launched on 16 November 1941 and commissioned on 2 January 1942 under Kapitänleutnant Kurt Kölzer.