German submarine U-103 (1940)

U-103 in 1939. Looking backwards from the conning tower. Note the width of casing of the Type IX compared to the Type VII U-boat
History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-103
Ordered	24 May 1938
Builder	AG Weser, Bremen
Yard number	966
Laid down	6 September 1939
Launched	12 April 1940
Commissioned	5 July 1940
Fate	Scuttled on 3 May 1945 at Kiel
General characteristics
Class and type	Type IXB submarine
Displacement	1,051 t (1,034 long tons) surfaced 1,178 t (1,159 long tons) submerged
Length	76.50 m (251 ft) o/a 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull
Beam	6.76 m (22 ft 2 in) o/a 4.40 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.70 m (15 ft 5 in)
Installed power	4,400 PS (3,200 kW; 4,300 bhp) (diesels) 1,000 PS (740 kW; 990 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged
Range	12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft)
Armament	6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) 22 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedoes 1 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 deck gun (180 rounds) 1 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 AA gun 1 × twin 2 cm FlaK 30 AA guns
Service record[1][2]
Part of:	2nd U-boat Flotilla 5 July 1940 – 1 January 1944 24th U-boat Flotilla 1 January – 1 March 1944
Identification codes:	M 04 095
Commanders:	K.Kapt. Viktor Schütze 5 July 1940 – 12 August 1941 Kptlt. Werner Winter 13 August 1941 – 14 July 1942 Kptlt. Gustav-Adolf Janssen 15 July 1942 – 13 March 1944 Oblt.z.S. Heinz Murl 23 January – 18 February 1945 Oblt.z.S. Hans-Norbert Schunck 31 March – 15 April 1945
Operations:	11 patrols: 1st patrol: 21 September – 19 October 1940 2nd patrol: 9 November – 12 December 1940 3rd patrol: 21 January – 24 February 1941 4th patrol: 1 April – 12 July 1941 5th patrol: 10 September – 9 November 1941 6th patrol: 3 January – 1 March 1942 7th patrol: 15 April – 22 June 1942 8th patrol: 21 October – 29 December 1942 9th patrol: 7 February – 26 March 1943 10th patrol: a. 24 April – 26 May 1943 b. 25 – 26 July 1943 11th patrol: a. 18 – 19 September 1943 b. 23 September 1943 – 1 January 1944 c. 3 – 7 January 1944
Victories:	46 merchant ships sunk (238,944 GRT) 3 merchant ships damaged (28,158 GRT)

German submarine U-103 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. She was one of the most successful boats in the entire war, sinking 238,944 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in 11 patrols, in a career lasting more than four years.

U-103 was laid down on 6 September 1939 at DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen as yard number 966. She was launched on 12 April 1940 and commissioned on 5 July under the command of Korvettenkapitän Victor Schütze. After her warm-up, (designed to give her an opportunity to train and repair minor faults), she was deployed into the North Atlantic in September 1940 and saw overwhelming success, sinking 46 ships and damaging three other vessels.