German submarine U-147 was a Type IID U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 of the German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She was laid down on 10 April 1940 at Deutsche Werke

Deutsche Werke

Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defence industry to shrink...

 in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

 and went into service on 11 December 1940 under the command of Reinhard Hardegen

Reinhard Hardegen

Lieutenant Commander Reinhard Hardegen is a German U-boat Commander who sank 22 ships, amounting to sunk, ranking him as the 24th most successful Commander in World War II. After the war, he spent a year in British captivity before running a successful oil company and serving in Bremen's...

.

Career

U-147 made three war patrols in 1941; the first and third from Bergen, Norway and the second from Kiel. The first, which began on 22 February under the command of Hardegen, took the U-147 off the north coast of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. U-147 sank a single freighter for , a straggler from convoy HX-109. Following this patrol Hardegen took command of the and was succeeded by his first watch officer, Eberhard Wetjen.

U-147 departed Kiel on April 16 and eleven days later sank a lone Norwegian freighter for , Wetjen's first victory as a commanding officer. U-147 sank no more ships and put in to Bergen on May 11.

The third and final patrol of U-147 began on May 24, 1941. A week later U-147 torpedoed a British freighter which broke in two and was declared a total loss; the forward part of the ship was towed to the Clyde

Clyde River

- Australia :*Clyde River , a river on the south coast of New South Wales*Clyde River , a river in central Tasmania*Clyde River , a river in the Northern Territory- United States of America :*Clyde River...

 and scrapped. On June 2 U-147 encountered Convoy OB-239 and attacked alone (a decision which historian Clay Blair

Clay Blair

Clay Blair, Jr. was an American historian, best known for his books on military history. He served on the fleet submarine Guardfish in World War II and later wrote for Time and Life magazines before becoming editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post. He assisted General Omar Bradley in the...

described as "bold"). U-147 damaged one ship before being sunk with all hands by the and .

Raiding career

Between March and June 1941 U-147 sailed on three combat patrols, sinking two merchant ships totalling ; a third ship of was declared a total loss. |+Ships attacked by U-147>

Date	Ship	Tons	Nationality	Convoy	Fate
2 March 1941		4,811	Norway	HX-109	Sunk at 59°30′N 07°30′W
27 April 1941		1,334	Norway		Sunk at 60°10′N 08°54′W
31 May 1941		2,491	United Kingdom	HX-127	Declared a total loss; stern sank at 56°0′N 11°13′W
2 June 1941		4,996	Belgium	OB-329	Damaged at 56°38′N 10°24′W