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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>The Type VIIC U-boat U-703 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/layout/2014_06/main2017-10.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/layout/2014_06/print.css" type="text/css" media="print" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <meta name="description" content="The U-boat War in World War Two (Kriegsmarine, 1939-1945) and World War One (Kaiserliche Marine, 1914-1918) and the Allied efforts to counter the threat. 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</script> </div> <div align="center"> <h3><a href="/boats/">List of all U-boats</a></h3><h1>U-703</h1> </div> <div align="center"> <table class="table_subtle width650"><tr> <td class="width100"><h3>Type</h3></td><td class="width95" align="center" class="seperator"><h3><a href="/types/viic.htm" class="header">VIIC</a></h3></td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Ordered</td><td class="seperator">9 Oct 1939</td><td><br/></td></tr> <tr><td>Laid down</td><td class="seperator">9 Aug 1940</td> <td class="seperator"><a href="/technical/shipyards/stulcken.htm">H C Stülcken Sohn, Hamburg</a> (werk 762)</td></tr> <tr><td>Launched</td><td class="seperator">18 Jul 1941</td><td><br/></td></tr> <tr><td>Commissioned</td><td class="seperator">16 Oct 1941</td><td class="seperator">Oblt. Heinz Bielfeld</td></tr> <tr><td>Commanders</td> <td colspan="2" class="seperator"><table class="table-clean"><tr><td class="width85 right">16 Oct 1941</td><td> - </td><td class="width90 right">5 Jul 1943</td><td>  </td><td>Kptlt. <a href="/men/commanders/81.html"> Heinz Bielfeld</a> (<a href="/men/decorations/5.html">German Cross in Gold</a>) </td></tr><tr><td class="width85 right">6 Jul 1943</td><td> - </td><td class="width90 right">16 Sep 1944</td><td>  </td><td>Oblt. <a href="/men/commanders/141.html"> Joachim Br眉nner</a></td></tr></table></td></tr> <tr><td>Career<br><a href="/boats/patrols/u703.html">13 patrols</a></td><td colspan="2" class="seperator"><table class="table-clean"><tr><td class="right">16 Oct 1941</td><td>-</td><td class="right">1 Mar 1942</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/6flo.htm">6. Flottille</a> (training)<br></td></tr><tr><td class="right">1 Mar 1942</td><td>-</td><td class="right">30 Jun 1942</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/6flo.htm">6. Flottille</a> (active service)<br></td></tr><tr><td class="right">1 Jul 1942</td><td>-</td><td class="right">31 May 1943</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/11flo.htm">11. Flottille</a> (active service)<br></td></tr><tr><td class="right">1 Jun 1943</td><td>-</td><td class="right">16 Sep 1944</td><td>  <a href="/flotillas/13flo.htm">13. Flottille</a> (active service)<br></td></tr></table></td></tr> <tr><td>Successes</td><td colspan="2" class="seperator">5 ships sunk, total tonnage 29,523 GRT<br/>1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 559 GRT<br/>1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,870 tons</td></tr> <tr><td class="width100">Fate</td> <td colspan="2" class="width400 seperator"> <p><a href="/fates/missing.htm">Missing</a> since 16 September 1944 in the Norwegian Sea between Iceland and Norway. There is no plausible explanation for its loss. 54 dead (all hands lost).</p> </td></tr> <tr><td>Loss position</td> <td colspan="3"> <style media="screen" type="text/css"> #mapFate {width:510px; height: 270px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px;} </style> <div id="mapFate" align="center"></div> <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"> var mymap = L.map('mapFate').setView([69, 11.00], 4) L.tileLayer('/map-tiles/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', { attribution: 'map 漏 OpenStreetMap contributors | ship info by uboat.net', maxZoom: 10, }).addTo(mymap); var iconFate = L.icon({ iconUrl: '/media/maps/googlemarkers/orange_Marker.png', iconSize: [20, 34], iconAnchor: [10, 34], }); var marker = L.marker([68.00, 11.00], {icon: iconFate}).addTo(mymap).bindPopup('<strong>U-703</strong>. <a href=\"/fates/missing.htm\">Missing</a> since 16 September 1944 in the Norwegian Sea between Iceland and Norway. There is no plausible explanation for its loss.'); </script> </td> </tr> </table>  <p class="np"><a href="/boats/successes/u703.html">See the 7 ships hit by U-703</a> - <a href="/boats/patrols/u703.html">View the 13 war patrols</a><br></p> </div> <p><a href="/boats/u703.htm">U-703</a> sent no radio message after leaving Narvik in order to launch a floating weather buoy east of Greenland and was posted as missing on 6 October 1944.</p> <h3>Wolfpack operations</h3> <p>U-703 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career: <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/30.html">Strauchritter</a> (2 May 1942 - 5 May 1942) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/216.html">Greif</a> (16 May 1942 - 29 May 1942) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/246.html">Tr盲gertod</a> (19 Sep 1942 - 22 Sep 1942) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/135.html">Wiking</a> (20 Sep 1943 - 3 Oct 1943) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/238.html">Taifun</a> (5 Mar 1944 - 7 Mar 1944) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/187.html">Donner</a> (11 Apr 1944 - 20 Apr 1944) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/236.html">Donner & Keil</a> (20 Apr 1944 - 3 May 1944) <br>   <a href="/ops/wolfpacks/192.html">Trutz</a> (22 Aug 1944 - 6 Sep 1944) </p> <h3>Attacks on this boat and other events</h3> <div class="content_box"> <p><strong>6 Mar 1944</strong><br/>At 1705hrs the boat was attacked by a Swordfish aircraft (816 Sqn FAA/X) of the British escort carrier <a href="/allies/warships/ship/3269.html">HMS Chaser</a> while operating against the convoy <a href="/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=RA-57">RA-57</a> in the Norwegian Sea. U-703 was surprised by the aircraft that used patchy clouds to stalk it, but opened fire with the quadruple and both twin 20mm AA guns just as it started to dive, strafing the U-boat and firing eight rockets in four salvoes. One rocket was seen to ricochet over the top of the conning tower after it struck the railing. The defensive fire stopped at once when six crew members were wounded, three of them seriously, but they were quickly replaced and the Swordfish kept at distance by very accurate fire until the U-boat was able to escape by crash diving after sustaining only minor damage. However, two of the injured men died after submerging and another died the following day while U-703 was returned to Narvik, where they were buried. [Funkobermaat Paul Kretschmar (died on 7 March), Bootsmaat Erich Junker, Maschinengefreiter Heinz Schade]</p> <p>1 recorded attack on this boat.</p> </div> <div align="center"> <h3>Men lost from the boat</h3></div> <p><strong>29 Mar 1942</strong><br>One crew member on U-703 was badly injured in an accident off Heligoland.</p> <p><strong>6 Mar 1944</strong><br>At 1705hrs the boat was attacked by a Swordfish aircraft (816 Sqn FAA/X) of the British escort carrier <a href="/allies/warships/ship/3269.html">HMS Chaser</a> while operating against the convoy <a href="/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=RA-57">RA-57</a> in the Norwegian Sea. U-703 was surprised by the aircraft that used patchy clouds to stalk it, but opened fire with the quadruple and both twin 20mm AA guns just as it started to dive, strafing the U-boat and firing eight rockets in four salvoes. One rocket was seen to ricochet over the top of the conning tower after it struck the railing. The defensive fire stopped at once when six crew members were wounded, three of them seriously, but they were quickly replaced and the Swordfish kept at distance by very accurate fire until the U-boat was able to escape by crash diving after sustaining only minor damage. However, two of the injured men died after submerging and another died the following day while U-703 was returned to Narvik, where they were buried. [Funkobermaat Paul Kretschmar (died on 7 March), Bootsmaat Erich Junker, Maschinengefreiter Heinz Schade]</p> <p>  <strong>Related:</strong> For more info on such losses see - <a href="/men/men_lost.htm">Men lost from U-boats</a> -</p> <h3>U-boat Emblems</h3> <p>We have 1 <strong>emblem</strong> entry for this boat. See the emblem page <a href="/special/emblems/u703.html">for this boat</a> or view emblems individually below.</p> <table><tr> <td class="width95"><a href="/special/emblems/emblem773.html"><img src="/media/boats/emblems/emblem_missing.gif" class="width80" alt="" /><br>Sailing Ship</a></td> </tr></table><br> <div align="center"> <h3>Media links</h3> <table> <tr> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/2388"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/184832118X.jpg" alt="" /> <br>U-Boat Attack Logs</a><br>Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor</p><div class="left"><br> <img src="/media/images/flags/small/flag-uk_s.gif" alt="" /> <a href="/about/scripts/amazon_co_uk.php?book=184832118X&path=/boats/u703.htm">amazon.co.uk</a> <br>(拢 38.25)</div></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/1597"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/u-boats_at_war_showell.jpg" alt="" /> <br>U-Boats at War</a><br>Showell, Jak P. Mallmann</p><div class="left"><br> <img src="/media/images/flags/small/flag_usa-s.gif" alt="" /> <a href="/about/scripts/amazon_com.php?book=155750864X&path=/boats/u703.htm">amazon.com</a> <br>($ 35.50)</div></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/538"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/hitlers_uboat_war2.jpg" alt="" /> <br>Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II</a><br>Blair, Clay</p></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/270"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/u-boat_operations2.jpg" alt="" /> <br>U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2</a><br>Wynn, Kenneth</p></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/525"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/german_u-boat_losses.jpg" alt="" /> <br>German U-Boat Losses During World War II</a><br>Niestle, Axel</p></td> <td class="width140"><p><a href="/books/item/537"><img src="/media/books/covers/english/hitlers_uboat_war.jpg" alt="" /> <br>Hitler's U-boat War</a><br>Blair, Clay</p></td></tr> </table> </div> <br><table class="width450"><tr><td> <strong>Related page:</strong><br> <a href="/fates/missing.htm">U-boats Missing in Action</a>. </td></tr></table> <br><br>  <p class='center'><br/>As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.</p> <div class="adSeperator"></div> <div id="ga_contentFooter728" align="center"> <script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1101670507446460" data-ad-slot="7580936821"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br> </div>  <div id="footer"> <div id="footer_navcontainer"> <ul id="footer_navlist"> <li><a href="/" title="Front page">Front page</a></li> <li><a href="/about/" title="About uboat.net">About</a></li> <li><a href="/about/contact.htm" title="Contact us">Contact us</a></li> <li><a href="/special/faq.htm" title="Frequently Asked Questions">FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="/glossary.htm" title="Glossary pages">Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/new.htm" title="What's new at uboat.net">What's new</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="footer_copyright">  © 1995 - 2025 Guðmundur Helgason </div> </div>  </div>  </body></html>