List of all U-boats
U-963
Type | VIIC | ||||||||||||||||
Ordered | 5 Jun 1941 | ||||||||||||||||
Laid down | 20 Apr 1942 | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 163) | |||||||||||||||
Launched | 30 Dec 1942 | ||||||||||||||||
Commissioned | 17 Feb 1943 | Ltnt. Karl Boddenberg | |||||||||||||||
Commanders |
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Career 10 patrols |
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Successes | No ships sunk or damaged | ||||||||||||||||
Fate |
Scuttled at 1000hrs on 20 May 1945 off Nazaré, Portugal, in position 39.36N, 09.05W. 48 survivors (no casualties). | ||||||||||||||||
Final location |
The crew was handed over to British authorities after landing in Portugal and taken to the UK as prisoners of war.
Wolfpack operations
U-963 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Siegfried (22 Oct 1943 - 27 Oct 1943)
Siegfried 2 (27 Oct 1943 - 30 Oct 1943)
Körner (30 Oct 1943 - 2 Nov 1943)
Tirpitz 2 (2 Nov 1943 - 8 Nov 1943)
Eisenhart 5 (9 Nov 1943 - 15 Nov 1943)
Igel 2 (3 Feb 1944 - 17 Feb 1944)
Hai 2 (17 Feb 1944 - 22 Feb 1944)
Preussen (22 Feb 1944 - 14 Mar 1944)
Attacks on this boat and other events
5 Feb 1944
A British B-24 Liberator (53 Sqn RAF/T) was shot down.
26 Mar 1944
While at sea off Brest, France the boat was attacked by an unidentified Allied aircraft, leaving nine men wounded, two of them badly. The boat docked at Brest (not her base) the next day. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 508)
7 Jun 1944
An attack by a British B-24 Liberator bomber (53 Sqn RAF, pilot John William Carmichael) damaged the boat so severely she was forced to return to France less then 24 hours after starting the patrol. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 582)
12 Aug 1944
One man died in an air raid on the base at Brest, France and another was wounded so badly that he died a day later. [Bootsmaat Albrecht Sekula, Maschinenobergefreiter Helmut Laskosky]
21 Aug 1944
A man was lost overboard during a crash dive at night (0017hrs) in the Bay of Biscay. [Bootsmaat Hans Reiter]
5 recorded attacks on this boat.
Schnorchel-fitted U-boat
This boat was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus in July 1944.
Read more about the Schnorchel and see list of fitted boats.
Men lost from the boat
26 Mar 1944
While at sea off Brest, France the boat was attacked by an unidentified Allied aircraft, leaving nine men wounded, two of them badly. The boat docked at Brest (not her base) the next day.
12 Aug 1944
One man died in an air raid on the base at Brest, France and another was wounded so badly that he died a day later. [Bootsmaat Albrecht Sekula, Maschinenobergefreiter Helmut Laskosky]
21 Aug 1944
A man was lost overboard during a crash dive at night (0017hrs) in the Bay of Biscay. [Bootsmaat Hans Reiter]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
U-boat Emblems
We have 2 emblem entries for this boat. See the emblem page for this boat or view emblems individually below.
Cradle |
U-boat sailing through U |
Media links
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