German submarine U-83 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

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 when at the surface and while submerged. She 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 Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8-276 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 . Differently from other VII B U-Boats, U-83 was fitted with only the front four torpedo tubes, and only twelve instead of 14 torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one 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 and one auxiliary warship - the Q-ship , of . She damaged one other ship of and damaged the fighter catapult ship , of .

U-83 was sunk on 4 March 1943 with all hands southeast of Cartagena in Spain in position , 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 DateShipNationalityTonnageMerchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.Fate 12 October 1941Corte Real2,044Sunk26 October 1941HMS Ariguani6,746Damaged17 March 1942Crista2,590Damaged8 June 1942Esther100Sunk8 June 1942Said231Sunk9 June 1942Typhoon175Sunk13 June 1942HMS Farouk96Sunk17 August 1942Princess Marguerite5,875Sunk

See also Mediterranean U-boat Campaign (World War II)

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