U-873

Type

IXD2

Ordered

25 Aug 1941

Laid down

17 Feb 1943

AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1081)

Launched

11 Nov 1943

Commissioned

1 Mar 1944

Kptlt. Friedrich Steinhoff

Commanders

1 Mar 1944

16 May 1945

Kptlt. Friedrich Steinhoff

Career
1 patrol

1 Mar 1944	-	31 Jan 1945	4. Flottille (training)
1 Feb 1945	-	8 May 1945	33. Flottille (active service)

Successes

No ships sunk or damaged

Fate

Surrendered at Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 16 May 1945 (Waller & Niestlé, 2010).

Post war information (see more post-war boats):
Arrived at Portsmouth Navy Yard, NH on 17 May 45. Minor refit. Used for limited trials in early 1946. Sold for scrap in New York in Mar 48 to Interstate Metals Corp.

Final location

View the 1 war patrol

Attacks on this boat and other events

29 Jul 1944
During an air raid on Bremen, Germany on 29 July the boat was damaged and four men were wounded. One of them died in December 1944. [Matrosenhauptgefreiter Fritz Grusa]

1 recorded attack on this boat.

Schnorchel-fitted U-boat

This boat was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus in December 1944.

Read more about the Schnorchel and see list of fitted boats.

Men lost from the boat

29 Jul 1944
During an air raid on Bremen, Germany on 29 July the boat was damaged and four men were wounded. One of them died in December 1944. [Matrosenhauptgefreiter Fritz Grusa]

19 May 1945
Former commander Kptlt. Friedrich Steinhoff committed suicide while being kept in jail in Boston, USA instead of a POW camp.

Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -