German submarine U-47 (1938)

German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. U-47 had a displacement of {{convert|753|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|857|t|LT}} while submerged.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}} She had a total length of {{convert|66.50|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a pressure hull length of {{cvt|48.80|m|ftin}}, a beam of {{convert|6.20|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a height of {{cvt|9.50|m|ftin}}, and a draught of {{convert|4.74|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of {{cvt|2800 to 3200|PS|kW shp|-1}} for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8-276 double-acting electric motors producing a total of {{cvt|750|PS|kW shp}} for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two {{convert|1.23|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to {{convert|230|m}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}}

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|17.9|kn}} and a maximum submerged speed of {{convert|8|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}} When submerged, the boat could operate for {{convert|90|nmi}} at {{convert|4|kn}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|8700|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}. U-47 was fitted with five {{convert|53.3|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=43–44}}

U-47 carried out ten combat patrols and spent a total of 238 days at sea. She sank 31 enemy ships (totalling 162,769 GRT and 29,150 tons) and damaged eight more. Prior to her disappearance in March 1941, U-47 lost one crewman, Heinrich Mantyk, who fell overboard on 5 September 1940.

U-47 was assigned to the 7th U-boat Flotilla on 17 December 1938, the day she was commissioned. She was an operational boat in the 7th Flotilla for her entire career. U-47 was sent to sea in a pre-emptive move before war broke out in September 1939; this move would enable her to engage enemy vessels as soon as the war began. She left for her first war patrol on 19 August 1939 (two weeks before the commencement of hostilities), from the port of Kiel. During her first patrol, she circumnavigated the British Isles and entered the Bay of Biscay to commence patrol of Area I. On 3 September, war was declared and U-47 received orders to initiate hostilities against British ships, but none were encountered on the first day. News of the sinking of {{SS|Athenia|1922|6}} by {{GS|U-30|1936|6}} reached Prien the following day, along with further orders to strictly adhere to the Submarine Protocol. The first ship encountered by U-47 during the war was a neutral Greek freighter which Prien inspected but released unharmed. Two further neutral vessels were encountered and Prien declined to even stop them.{{cite book

|title=Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters, 1939–1942

|last=Blair

|first=Clay

|isbn=0394588398

}}

Just after dawn on 5 September, Engelbert Endrass – serving as first watch officer aboard U-47 – spotted SS Bosnia zigzagging and in a darkened state. Prien surfaced and fired a single shot from his 88 mm deck gun to stop the ship but instead Bosnia made steam and began radioing an alert ('SSS') along with its name and position. Prien then immediately fired an additional four rounds of which three hit the ship, prompting its crew to abandon ship. U-47 rendered assistance to the crew of Bosnia, bringing them aboard the submarine and helping to set up a lifeboat which had capsized during the crew's escape. A Norwegian vessel also arrived and took all of the survivors aboard. Following its departure, Prien fired a single torpedo which sank the ship with its load of sulfur almost immediately. The 2,407 GRT Bosnia became the second British vessel, and first freighter, sunk after Athenia.

It was later the next day when U-47 encountered a larger British freighter, the 4,086 GRT SS Rio Carlo. Again, Prien opted to surface and initiate a gun attack on the merchant. While the Rio Carlo did stop moving, it nonetheless broadcast the submarine alert, prompting Prien to fire an ineffective warning shot. A further three shots from the deck gun were fired onto the bridge of Rio Carlo, upon which the broadcast ceased and the crew abandoned ship. Once the crew was away, Prien finished the vessel and sent its mixed cargo to the bottom with a single torpedo. While U-47{{'}}s crew was inspecting the lifeboats and ensuring the survivors had provisions, an aircraft appeared and U-47 dived, departing the area and leaving the crew to others to rescue.

On 7 September, Prien encountered yet another British freighter, and once again initiated a surface attack on it. Attempting to escape, SS Gartavon broadcast the submarine alert, drawing fire from the deck gun. The mast and radio antenna were destroyed and the ship came about while the crew put into a lifeboat. Surprising Prien, the Gartavon crew had rigged the ship to get underway in an attempt to ram the attacking submarine. It began to make steam after its crew departed and Prien was forced to take emergency measures to avoid the vessel. After avoiding the abandoned Gartavon, Prien inspected the lifeboat and after its crew declined the offer to fetch a second lifeboat from the circling freighter, he left them; all of the crew survived.{{Cite web|url=https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/6.html|title = Gartavon (British Steam merchant) – Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII – uboat.net}} Prien refused to radio for assistance on account of the attempt to ram him. He returned to Gartavon and attempted to finish her as he had his previous victims, but the torpedo malfunctioned and Prien instead used the deck gun to wreck the ship and sink its cargo of iron ore.

During this first patrol, which ended with her arrival in Kiel on 15 September 1939, three vessels were sunk for a total of 8,270 GRT.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_318.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (First patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=21 March 2010

}}

File:U-47 raid.svg

On 8 October 1939, U-47 began her second patrol. On 14 October 1939 (six days after leaving port), she succeeded in penetrating the Royal Navy's primary base at Scapa Flow.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/ops/scapa_flow.htm

|title=The Bull of Scapa Flow

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net

|access-date=21 March 2010

}}

Although most of the Home Fleet was not at the base at the time, U-47 spotted the battleship {{HMS|Royal Oak|08|6}} 4 km away. After working herself into an attack position, she opened fire with torpedoes. Her first two salvos caused only minor damage to the bow, severing an anchor chain. After reloading the bow tubes the last salvo of three torpedoes struck the British warship, causing severe flooding. Taking on a list of 15 degrees, her open portholes were submerged, worsening the flooding and increasing the list to 45 degrees; Royal Oak sank within 15 minutes with the loss of 835 men and boys.

After this attack, Prien received the nickname Der Stier von Scapa Flow ("The Bull of Scapa Flow"); the emblem of a snorting bull was then painted on the conning tower of U-47 and the image soon became the emblem of the entire 7th U-boat Flotilla. Prien was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the first sailor of a U-boat and the second member of the Kriegsmarine to receive this decoration. The rest of the crew members were awarded the Iron Cross. Two other U-47 crew members also earned the Knight's Cross later on during World War II: the chief engineer (Leitender Ingenieur) Johann-Friedrich Wessels and 1st watch officer (I. Wachoffizier) Engelbert Endrass.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Many years later, in September 2002, one of the unexploded torpedoes that U-47 had fired during the attack on Royal Oak rose to the surface from its resting place on the bottom. The torpedo, minus its warhead, drifted towards the shore and was spotted by a crewman aboard the Norwegian tanker Petrotrym. A Royal Navy tugboat intercepted the torpedo, and after identifying it as having belonged to U-47 63 years earlier, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) personnel discarded it a mile (1.6 km) from shore.{{cn|date=March 2024}} In 2016, another of the faulty torpedoes shot at HMS Royal Oak was found and identified by British divers.{{Cite news |author= |date=2016-03-04 |title=Divers just found a torpedo that was likely used during a daring U-boat raid |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/03/04/divers-just-found-a-torpedo-that-was-likely-used-during-a-daring-u-boat-raid/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |newspaper=Washington Post}}

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2006-1130-500, Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien.jpg]]

File:U47logo.png art of U-47. This image was later used as the emblem for the entire 7th U-boat Flotilla]]

File:Arandora Star 1940.jpg

After a lavish celebration in Berlin celebrating the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in which the crew members of U-47 were received by Adolf Hitler and decorated, the boat returned to sea on 16 November 1939.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_321.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Third patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=23 March 2010

}} Once the U-boat had left Kiel on 16 November, she headed out into the North Sea. After traveling around the British Isles into the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel, U-47 sank three more vessels, Navasota on 5 December, the Norwegian steamer MV Britta on 6 December and Tajandoen on 7 December. After the sinking of Navasota, British destroyers briefly fired depth charges at the U-boat but she managed to evade the attack without any damage.

U-47 left the port of Wilhelmshaven and began her fourth patrol on 11 March 1940. For 19 days, she roamed the North Sea in search of any Allied convoys. On 25 March, she torpedoed and sank the Danish steam merchantman Britta north of Scotland. She returned to Wilhelmshaven on 29 March.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_323.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Fourth patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=26 March 2010

}}

U-47{{'}}s fifth patrol was the first in which she failed to sink a ship. She left Wilhelmshaven on 3 April 1940, and headed again out into the North Sea. On 19 April, she fired a torpedo at the British battleship {{HMS|Warspite|03|6}} with no result. Several destroyers attempted to sink the U-boat with depth charges but U-47 managed to escape.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_324.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Fifth patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=26 March 2010

}}

U-47{{'}}s sixth patrol was much more successful. Having left Kiel on 3 June 1940, she ventured out into the North Sea and operated off the southern coast of Ireland. Along with six other U-boats in Wolfpack Prien, she attacked Convoy HX 47 and sank the British SS Balmoralwood on 14 June. She later sank seven more vessels, San Fernando on the 21st, Cathrine on the 24th, Lenda and Leticia on the 27th, Empire Toucan on the 29th, Georgios Kyriakides on the 30th, and {{SS|Arandora Star||6}} on 2 July. The submarine returned to Kiel on 6 July after 34 days at sea and eight enemy vessels sunk.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_325.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Sixth patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=26 March 2010

}}

U-47{{'}}s seventh patrol consisted of her travelling north of the British Isles and into the North Atlantic, south of Iceland. During a period of 30 days, she sank a total of six enemy vessels and damaged another. U-47{{'}}s first victory during her seventh patrol was the sinking of the Belgian passenger ship Ville de Mons on 2 September 1940. This was followed by the sinking of a British vessel, Titan, on 4 September and Gro, José de Larrinaga, and Neptunian on the 7th. On the 9th, U-47 sank the Greek merchant ship Possidon, and on 21 September she damaged the British merchant ship Elmbank. Following these victories, on the 25th, U-47 entered the French port of Lorient, which was now under German control following the decisive Battle of France.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_326.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Seventh patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=28 March 2010

}}

U-47{{'}}s eighth patrol began on 14 October 1940 when she left her home port of Lorient. While her eighth patrol lasted ten days, she sank four enemy vessels and damaged a further two in only two days. On 19 October, U-47 damaged the British vessel Shirak and sank Uganda and Wandby, both of which were British registered. The next day, the U-boat damaged the British vessel Athelmonarch and sank La Estancia as well as Whitford Point. She returned to port three days later on 23 October.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_327.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Eighth patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=30 March 2010

}}

U-47 left her home port of Lorient on 3 November 1940 and moved out into the North Atlantic in search of Allied convoys. During her ninth patrol, she damaged three ships, Gonçalo Velho, Conch and Dunsley, and sank Ville d´Arlon. U-47 returned to Lorient for the last time on 6 December.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_328.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Ninth patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=30 March 2010

}} On her return Kretschmer presented Adolf Hitler with a lifebelt from Conch which U-47 had damaged.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

U-47 departed Lorient on her tenth and last patrol on 20 February 1941. She went missing on 7 March 1941 and was believed at the time to have been sunk by the British destroyer {{HMS|Wolverine|D78|6}} west of Ireland, when a submarine was attacked by Wolverine and {{HMS|Verity|D63|6}}. Postwar assessment showed that the boat attacked there was {{GS|UA|1939|2}}, which was only damaged. HMS Wolverine had made an earlier attack on a submarine at 0510 hrs, five minutes after U-47's last known torpedo attack on the Whale Factory ship Terje Viken.'Gunther Prien and U-47' Dougie Martindale p. 159 Nothing further was heard from U-47 after this time.{{Cite web|url=https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/806.html|title=Terje Viken (British Whale factory ship) – Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII – uboat.net}} To date, there is no official record of what happened to U-47, although a variety of other possibilities exist, including mines, a mechanical failure, a victim of her own torpedoes, or possibly a later attack by the corvettes {{HMS|Camellia|K31|6}} and {{HMS|Arbutus|K86|6}}. U-47 had a crew of 45 men during her last North Atlantic patrol in early 1941, all of whom were presumed dead.{{cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_329.html

|title=Patrol info for U-47 (Tenth patrol)

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=U-boat patrols – uboat.net

|access-date=31 March 2010

}}{{sfn|Kemp|1999|p=68}}

U-47 took part in one wolfpack, namely: Prien (12–17 June 1940).{{Cite web |title=Seekrieg 1940, Juni |url=https://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/40-06.htm |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=www.wlb-stuttgart.de}}

File:U-47.jpg

File:U-47 6.jpg

{{GeoGroup}}

During her service in the Kriegsmarine, U-47 sank 30 commercial ships totalling {{GRT|162769}} and one warship of 29,150 tons; she also damaged eight commercial ships totalling {{GRT|62751}} and one warship of 10,035 tons.

{{clear}}

• U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien, a 1958 film about Prien's command of U-47
• List of most successful German U-boats

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book | last1 = Busch | first1 = Rainer | last2 = Röll | first2 = Hans-Joachim | translator-last = Brooks | translator-first = Geoffrey | title = German U-boat commanders of World War II: A Biographical Dictionary | publisher = Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press | location = London, Annapolis, Md | year = 1999 | isbn = 1-55750-186-6 }}
• {{cite book

|last1=Busch

|first1=Rainer

|last2=Röll

|first2=Hans-Joachim

|title=Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945

|trans-title=German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945

|series=Der U-Boot-Krieg

|volume=IV

|publisher=Mittler

|location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn

|year=1999

|isbn=3-8132-0514-2

|language=de

}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Gröner

|first1=Erich

|last2=Jung

|first2=Dieter

|last3=Maass

|first3=Martin

|translator-last1=Thomas

|translator-first1=Keith

|translator-last2=Magowan

|translator-first2=Rachel

|year=1991

|title=German Warships 1815–1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels

|volume=2

|location=London

|publisher=Conway Maritime Press

|isbn=0-85177-593-4

|ref=CITEREFGröner1991

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Kemp

|first=Paul

|title=U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars

|location=London

|year=1999

|publisher=Arms & Armour

|isbn=1-85409-515-3

}}

{{Refend}}

{{Commonscat|U-47 (submarine, 1938)}}

• [http://www.u47.org u47.org]
• {{Cite web

|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u47.htm

|title=The Type VIIB boat U-47

|last=Helgason

|first=Guðmundur

|website=German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net

|access-date=8 December 2014

}}

• {{cite web

|url=http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0047.html

|title=U 47

|last=Hofmann

|first=Markus

|website=Deutsche U-Boote 1935–1945 – u-boot-archiv.de

|language=de

|access-date=1 February 2015

}}

• {{cite web

| title = U-boat Archive – U-boat KTB – U-47 2nd War Patrol

| url = http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-47/KTB47-2.htm

| access-date = 2017-04-13

}}

• [http://donhollway.com/scapaflow/index.html "The Bull of Scapa Flow"] Detailed article on the Scapa Flow mission. Includes photos, video, maps, quotes, sources

{{German Type VII submarines}}

{{March 1941 shipwrecks}}

{{Portal bar|Germany|Modern history}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0047}}

Category:1938 ships

Category:German Type VIIB submarines

Category:Maritime incidents in March 1941

Category:Missing U-boats of World War II

Category:Ships built in Kiel

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1938

Category:U-boats sunk by unknown causes

Category:U-boats sunk in 1941

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Category:World War II submarines of Germany