German submarine U-547


German submarine U-547 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg as yard number 368 on 30 August 1942, launched on 3 April 1943 and commissioned on 16 June with Korvettenkapitän Kurt Sturm in command.
U-547 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 16 June 1943. She was reassigned to the 2nd flotilla for operations on 1 January 1944, then the 33rd flotilla on 1 October.
She carried out three patrols and sank three ships; two of them totalled. She also sank an auxiliary warship of. She was a member of four wolfpacks.
She was damaged by a mine in France on 11 August 1944 and possibly scuttled at Stettin on 31 December 1944.

Design

German Type IXC/40 submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXCs. U-547 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of, a pressure hull length of, a beam of, a height of, and a draught of. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to.
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of. When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at. U-547 was fitted with six torpedo tubes, 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.

Service history

First patrol

U-547s first patrol began with her departure from Kiel on 25 December 1943. She passed through the gap separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean.
She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 23 February 1944.

Second patrol

For her second foray, the boat headed for the west African coast. There, she sank the French ship Saint Basile off Liberia on 14 June 1944.
On 2 July, she sank the Dutch Bodegraven south of Monrovia. The survivors were questioned, the master was taken prisoner.
She returned to France on 11 August 1944, but this time to Bordeaux.

Third patrol and fate

U-547 was damaged by a mine on 11 August 1944 in the Gironde, near Pauillac in western France; she then retraced part of the route of her first patrol, arriving at Marviken in Kristiansand on 29 September and moving on to Flensburg on 4 October. She was taken out of service and possibly scuttled in Stettin on 31 December 1944.