German submarine U-793

U-793 was a Type XVIIA U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. She was one of a small number of U-boats fitted with Hellmuth Walter's high test peroxide propulsion system, which offered a combination of air-independent propulsion and high submerged speeds. She spent the war as a trials vessel and was scuttled on 4 May 1945 in the Audorfer See, near Rendsburg.

Construction
The U-793 was laid down on 1 December 1942 at the Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, as yard number 456. She was launched on 4 March 1944 and commissioned under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Horst Heitz on 24 April 1944.

When she was completed, the submarine was 39.05 m long overall, with a beam of 4.50 m and a draught of 4.30 m. She was assessed at 309 LT submerged. The submarine was powered by one Deutz SAA 8M517 supercharged 8-cylinder diesel engine producing a total of 210 - 230 PS for use while surfaced and one Walter gas turbines producing a total of 2,500 PS for use while submerged. She had one shaft and one propeller. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 9 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 25 kn using the HTP drive. When submerged, the U-boat could operate for 127 nmi at 20 kn on her HTP system and when surfaced, she could travel 2,910 nmi at 8.5 kn.

The submarine was fitted with two 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (All fitted at the bow) and four torpedoes. The boat had a complement of 12 men.

Service History
U-793 did not undertake any war patrols and was instead assigned as a trials boat at first to the 5th U-boat Flotilla, followed by the 8th U-boat Flotilla.

The U-793 was scuttled on 4 May 1945 at 1.30am in the Audorfer See (Kaiser Wilhelm Canal), near Rendsburg during Operation Regenbogen.

Wreck
The wreck of U-793 lay at 54.31667°N, 9.71667°W until 26 May 1945, when she was lifted by the British and taken to the Howaldtswerke in Kiel to be examined. She was first raised as a British prize and used for trials, but was soon torn down for parts and finally scrapped.