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 on the Portuguese west coast near Nazaire in position 39.36N, 09.05W. The entire crew was interned. 48 survivors (no casualties). | |||||||||||||
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
5 Feb 1944
A British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 53/T) was shot down.
26 Mar 1944
While out off Brest, France the boat was attacked by an unknown allied aircraft and 9 of its crew were wounded - two of them badly. The boat returned to port the next day. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 508)
7 Jun 1944
A British B-24 Liberator bomber (Sqdn 53, pilot John William Carmichael) hit and damaged the boat forcing it to abort to France less then 24 hours after departing for its patrol. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 582)
12 Aug 1944
One man was killed during an air attack on the base at Brest, France and another man was so severely wounded that he died a day later. [Bootsmaat Albrecht Sekula, Maschinenobergefreiter Helmut Laskosky]
21 Aug 1944
During a crash dive at night (0017hrs) in the Bay of Biscay a man was lost overboard. [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
12 Aug 1944
One man was killed during an air attack on the base at Brest, France and another man was so severely wounded that he died a day later. [Bootsmaat Albrecht Sekula, Maschinenobergefreiter Helmut Laskosky]
21 Aug 1944
During a crash dive at night (0017hrs) in the Bay of Biscay a man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Hans Reiter]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
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