German submarine U-1230

German submarine U-1230 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Laid down on 15 March 1943 at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, and commissioned on 26 January 1944 under the command of Kptlt. Hans Hilbig, it only undertook one patrol, operating from Horten, Norway, returning safely to Kristiansand, Norway in early 1945.

At the end of the war it was captured by the Allies, transferred to Loch Ryan in Scotland, and destroyed by the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cubitt as part of "Operation Deadlight". Unusually for a U-boat, U-1230 does not seem to have suffered any casualties during the war.

Its one war patrol was of historical interest less for its role in the Battle of the Atlantic (a Canadian steamer of 5,458 tons was its sole victim), than for its role in transporting two German spies to the United States. William Curtis Colepaugh and Eric Gimpel were landed at Hancock Point in the Gulf of Maine on 29 November 1944 in "Operation Elster" ("Magpie"). The mission was intended to sabotage the Manhattan Project but failed, and both spies were captured.