German submarine U-703

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-703
Ordered	9 October 1939
Builder	HC Stülcken & Sohn, Hamburg
Yard number	762
Laid down	9 August 1940
Launched	18 July 1941
Commissioned	16 October 1941
Fate	Missing since 16 September 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; 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:	6th U-boat Flotilla; 16 October 1941 – 30 June 1942; 11th U-boat Flotilla; 1 July 1942 – 31 May 1943; 13th U-boat Flotilla; 1 June 1943 – 16 September 1944;
Identification codes:	M 25 617
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. / Kptlt. Heinz Bielfeld; 16 October 1941 – 5 July 1943; Oblt.z.S. Joachim Brümmer; 6 July 1943 – 16 September 1944;
Operations:	13 patrols:; 1st patrol:; a. 26 April – 7 May 1942; b. 10 – 13 May 1942; 2nd patrol:; a. 16 – 30 May 1942; b. 1 – 4 June 1942; 3rd patrol:; a. 29 June – 15 July 1942; b. 2 – 4 August 1942; 4th patrol:; a. 9 August – 11 September 1942; b. 11 September 1942; 5th patrol:; a. 14 – 26 September 1942; b. 28 – 30 September 1942; c. 28 – 31 December 1942; 6th patrol:; 7 March – 5 April 1943; 7th patrol:; a. 17 April – 15 May 1943; b. 18 May – 19 May 1943; c. 19 May – 21 May 1943; 8th patrol:; a. 19 July – 3 August 1943; b. 14 – 16 August 1943; 9th patrol:; a. 17 August – 9 October 1943; b. 10 October 1943; c. 12 – 14 October 1943; d. 18 – 19 October 1943; e. 13 – 17 January 1944; f. 24 – 28 February 1944; 10th patrol:; 29 February – 8 March 1944; 11th patrol:; a. 8 April – 5 May 1944; b. 29 July – 1 August 1944; 12th patrol:; 20 August – 12 September 1944; 13th patrol:; 16 September 1944;
Victories:	5 merchant ships sunk ; (29,523 GRT); 1 warship sunk ; (1,870 tons); 1 auxiliary warship sunk ; (559 GRT);

German submarine U-703 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine deployed during the Second World War against allied shipping in the Arctic Ocean. She was a successful boat, which had a far longer service life than most other U-boats, primarily due to the restricted zone of operations in which she fought. Her main mission during the war was to target the Arctic Convoys which carried supplies to the Soviet Union from Britain. At this she was quite successful in her three years of raiding until her presumed demise in 1944.

U-703 was built at Hamburg in Northern Germany on the North Sea. She was completed in the autumn of 1941, and given to the experienced Kapitänleutnant Heinz Bielfeld to command. He took her on her working-up period in which the boat was tested and the crew trained in the Baltic Sea and around the German held coastlines, before being dispatched to Narvik in Norway for her first war patrol in April 1942.

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