U-47

Also known as German submarine U-47

1938 Type VIIB submarine

Key facts

Name: U-47
Ordered: 21 November 1936
Builder: Germaniawerft , Kiel
Laid down: 27 February 1937
Launched: 29 October 1938
Commissioned: 17 December 1938
Fate: Missing 7 March 1941, in the North Atlantic near the Rockall Bank and Trough .
Class type: Type VIIB U-boat
Displacement: 753 t (741 long tons ) surfaced 857 t (843 long tons) submerged
Length: 66.50 m (218 ft 2 in) o/a 48.80 m (160 ft 1 in) pressure hull
Beam: 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Draught: 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)

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Article

German submarine U-47 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 25 February 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 582 and went into service on 17 December 1938 under the command of Günther Prien.

During U-47's career, she sank a total of 31 enemy vessels, including the British battleship HMS Royal Oak, and damaged nine more. U-47 was the thirteenth most successful U-boat of World War II based on tonnage of enemy shipping sunk.