German Submarine U-83 (1940)
She was laid down in the Flender Werke at Lübeck as yard number 291 on 5 October 1939. Launched on 9 December 1940, she was commissioned on 8 February 1941. U-83 served with 1st U-boat Flotilla from 8 February 1941 to 31 December, with the 23rd flotilla from 1 January 1942 to 30 April and with the 29th flotilla from 1 March 1942 until she was sunk.
Design
German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. U-83 had a displacement of 753 tonnes (741 long tons) when at the surface and 857 tonnes (843 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 66.50 m (218 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 48.80 m (160 ft 1 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.50 m (31 ft 2 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8-276 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.9 knots (33.2 km/h; 20.6 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). When submerged, the boat could operate for 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,700 nautical miles (16,100 km; 10,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Differently from other VII B U-Boats, U-83 was fitted with only the front four 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes, and only twelve instead of 14 torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft gun The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
U-83 conducted twelve patrols and sank five ships totalling 8,425 gross register tons (GRT) and one auxiliary warship - the Q-ship HMS Farouk, of 96 GRT. She damaged one other ship of 2,590 GRT and damaged the fighter catapult ship HMS Ariguani, of 6,746 GRT.
U-83 was sunk on 4 March 1943 with all hands southeast of Cartagena in Spain in position 37°10′N 00°05′E / 37.167°N 0.083°E, by three depth charges dropped from an RAF Hudson bomber (500 Squadron).
Wolfpacks
U-83 took part in three wolfpacks, namely:
- Bosemüller (28 August - 2 September 1941)
- Seewolf (2 – 7 September 1941)
- Breslau (2 – 29 October 1941)
Summary of raiding history
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 October 1941 | Corte Real |  Portugal
|
2,044 | Sunk |
| 26 October 1941 | HMS Ariguani |  Royal Navy
|
6,746 | Damaged |
| 17 March 1942 | Crista |  United Kingdom
|
2,590 | Damaged |
| 8 June 1942 | Esther |  Palestine
|
100 | Sunk |
| 8 June 1942 | Said |  Egypt
|
231 | Sunk |
| 9 June 1942 | Typhoon | Palestine
|
175 | Sunk |
| 13 June 1942 | HMS Farouk | Royal Navy
|
96 | Sunk |
| 17 August 1942 | Princess Marguerite |  Canada
|
5,875 | Sunk |