German submarine U-163 (1941)

German submarine U-163 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 8 May 1940 at the Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Bremen yard as 'werk' 700. She was launched on 1 May 1941 and commissioned on 21 November under the command of Korvettenkapitän Kurt-Eduard Engelmann.

The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 August 1942 for operations. She sank three ships, totalling 15,011 tons and one warship was declared a total loss (1,130 tons).

She was sunk by a Canadian corvette in March 1943.

1st patrol
The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 21 July 1942, across the North Sea and through the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 16 January. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her career. She had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and sailed to the southern Cuban coast.

2nd patrol
Her second foray took her to the area north of South America. Here she sank the La Cordillera on 5 November 1942 85 mi east of Barbados. She also damaged an American gunboat, the USS Erie on 12 November and sank the Empire Starling northeast of Barbados on the 21st. Her final victim on this patrol was the Apóide which went down a day later. She returned to Lorient on 6 January 1943.

3rd patrol and loss
The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 10 March 1943. On the 13th, she was sunk by depth charges from HMCS Prescott northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain. 57 men (all hands) died.