German submarine U-223

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-223
Ordered	15 August 1940
Builder	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number	653
Laid down	15 July 1941
Launched	16 April 1942
Commissioned	6 June 1942
Fate	Sunk by a British warship, 30 March 1944
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
Part of:	8th U-boat Flotilla 6 June 1942 – 31 January 1943 6th U-boat Flotilla 1 February 1943 – 31 October 1943 29th U-boat Flotilla 1 November 1943 – 30 March 1944
Identification codes:	M 01 671
Commanders:	Kptlt. Karl-Jürg Wächter 6 June 1942 – 12 January 1944 Oblt.z.S. Peter Gerlach 12 January – 30 March 1944
Operations:	6 patrols: 1st patrol: 12 January – 6 March 1943 2nd patrol: 15 April – 24 May 1943 3rd patrol: 14 September – 16 October 1943 4th patrol: 20 November – 17 December 1943 5th patrol: 19 January – 12 February 1944 6th patrol: 16 – 30 March 1944
Victories:	2 merchant ships sunk (12,556 GRT) 1 warship sunk (1,935 tons) 1 merchant ship total loss (4,970 GRT) 1 warship total loss (1,300 tons)

German submarine U-223 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Ordered on 15 August 1940 from the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, she was laid down on 15 July 1941 as yard number 653, launched on 16 April 1942 and commissioned on 6 June under the command of Kapitänleutnant Karl-Jürg Wächter.

A member of eight wolfpacks, she sank two ships totalling 12,556 gross register tons (GRT) in six patrols. She also sank one warship of 1,935 tons and caused one ship of 4,970 GRT and one warship of 1,300 tons to be declared total losses.

She was sunk on 30 March 1944 by British warships in the Mediterranean Sea. 23 men died; there were 27 survivors.