U-993

Type

VIIC

Ordered

25 May 1941

Laid down

16 Nov 1942

Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 193)

Launched

8 Jul 1943

Commissioned

19 Aug 1943

Oblt. Kurt Hilbig

Commanders

19 Aug 1943	-	Aug, 1944		Oblt. Kurt Hilbig
17 Aug 1944	-	4 Oct 1944		Oblt. Karl-Heinz Steinmetz

Career
3 patrols

19 Aug 1943	-	29 Feb 1944	5. Flottille (training)
1 Mar 1944	-	4 Oct 1944	3. Flottille (active service)

Successes

No ships sunk or damaged

Fate

Sunk on 4 October 1944 in the Laksevaag shipyard at Bergen, Norway, by bombs during British air raid (RAF Bomber Command). 2 dead, unknown number of survivors.

Loss position

View the 3 war patrols

U-993 capsized in a sunk floating dock and was decommissioned after being salvaged. Hulk was captured by British forces in May 1945 and broken up.

Attacks on this boat and other events

17 Apr 1944
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down: British B-24 Liberator BZ945 (53 Sqdn RAF/O, pilot F/L L.M. Burton)

03.51 hrs, NW of Cape Finisterre, inbound: the B-24 strafed the boat in a Leigh Light attack and was hit by flak during the approach. It was observed to crash into the sea with one of the port engines on fire approx. 600m (656 yds) from the boat, exploding on impact and killing all 11 aircrew. Two depth charges and a small bomb dropped by the passing plane fell wide, causing no damage.

(Sources: Franks/Zimmerman)

1 Jun 1944
One man was killed in an air attack and another wounded, who died one day later (Aulich). [Maschinenobergefreiter Matthias Giefing, Mechanikergefreiter Horst Aulich]

2 recorded attacks on this boat.

Schnorchel-fitted U-boat

This boat was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus and sailed equipped with it in August 1944 but it was of course installed prior to that date.

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

Men lost from the boat

1 Jun 1944
One man was killed in an air attack and another wounded, who died one day later (Aulich). [Maschinenobergefreiter Matthias Giefing, Mechanikergefreiter Horst Aulich]

12 Sep 1944
A man died of jaundice during a patrol in the North Atlantic. [Matrosenobergfreiter Wilhelm Lucksnat]

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