German submarine U-463

German submarine U-463 was a Type XIV supply and replenishment U-boat ("Milchkuh") of the of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Her keel was laid down on 8 March 1941 by Deutsche Werke of Kiel. She was launched on 20 December 1941 and commissioned on 2 April 1942 with Korvettenkapitän Leo Wolfbauer in command. Wolfbauer remained in charge for the boat's entire career.

Operational career
U-463 conducted five patrols. As a supply boat, she avoided combat.

1st patrol
U-463 departed Kiel on her first patrol on 11 July 1942, arriving at St. Nazaire in occupied France on 3 September. She had gone the 'long' way round the British Isles, by way of the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, heading out into mid-Atlantic toward the Caribbean.

2nd, 3rd and 4th patrols
Her second foray took her into the middle of the Atlantic again, between 28 September 1942 and 11 November.

The submarine's next sortie was further south, passing the Azores on the outward journey to the north and to the south on the return. By now she was based at St. Nazaire once more.

Another uneventful patrol began on 4 March 1943, but when the U-boat returned to France on 17 April, she moved into Bordeaux.

5th patrol and loss
U-463's fifth patrol began with her departure from Le Verdon, (north of Bordeaux): She had barely cleared the Bay of Biscay, when she was attacked and sunk on 16 May 1943 by depth charges dropped by a British Halifax from 58 Squadron RAF Coastal Command, piloted by Wing Commander Wilfred Oulton. All 57 of her crew died.