U-boat patrols

Patrol info for U-703


DepartureArrival / FateDuration
29 Feb 1944Trondheim8 Mar 1944Narvik9 days

Commander

Officers *


Oblt. Joachim Brünner
2WO

Ltn. Heinrich Schlott

Daily positions, sinkings and allied attacks during the patrol of U-703


We have 8 daily positions for the 9 days U-703 was at sea.

Departure from Trondheim on 29 Feb 1944.
1 Mar 1944 - 2 Mar 1944 - 3 Mar 1944 - 4 Mar 1944 - 5 Mar 1944 - 6 Mar 1944 - 7 Mar 1944 -
Arrival at Narvik on 8 Mar 1944.

Wolfpack operations during this patrol

U-703 operated with the following Wolfpacks during this patrol
   Taifun (5 Mar 1944 - 7 Mar 1944)

Ships hit by U-703 during this patrol

Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat. ConvoyMap
4 Mar 1944U-703Joachim Brünner Empire Tourist7,062brRA-57A
 7,062

1 ship sunk (7,062 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.

General Events during this patrol

We have no events listed for this patrol.

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Attacks on U-703 during this patrol

6 Mar 1944
At 1705hrs the boat was attacked by a Swordfish aircraft (816 Sqn FAA/X) of the British escort carrier HMS Chaser while operating against the convoy RA-57 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]

About this data
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* These are officers that later became commanders themselves.

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