German submarine U-163 (1941)
German submarine "U-163" was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 8 May 1940 at the "DeSchiMAG", Bremen yard as yard number 702. She was launched on 1 May 1941 and commissioned on 21 October under the command of "Korvettenkapitän" Kurt-Eduard Engelmann. The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 August 1942 for operations. She sank three ships, totalling  15,011 GRT and one warship was declared a total loss (2,000 tons). She was sunk by a Canadian corvette in March 1943. Design. German Type IXC submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. "U-163" 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-163" was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 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. The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 21 July 1942, across the North Sea and through the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 16 January. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her career. She had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and sailed to the southern Cuban coast. Second patrol. Her second foray took her to the area north of South America. Here she sank "La Cordillera" on 5 November 1942 east of Barbados . She also damaged an American gunboat, on 12 November and sank "Empire Starling" northeast of Barbados on the 21st. Her final victim on this patrol was "Apóide" which went down a day later. She returned to Lorient on 6 January 1943. Third patrol and Loss. The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 10 March 1943. On the 13 March 1943, she was sunk by depth charges from northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain. 57 men (all hands) died.