German submarine U-147 (1940)

German submarine U-147 was a Type IID U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 10 April 1940 at Deutsche Werke in Kiel as 'werk' 276, launched on 16 November 1940 and commissioned on 11 December under the command of Kapitänleutnant Reinhard Hardegen.

1st patrol
U-147's first patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel to Bergen in Norway in February 1941. She then left the Nordic port on 22 February and headed for the Atlantic north and west of Scotland. She sank the Norwegian freighter Augvald a straggler from convoy HX-109, about 72 mi north northwest of Ness (in the Outer Hebrides on 2 March. Following this patrol Hardegen took command of GS U-123 (1940) and was succeeded by his first watch officer, Eberhard Wetjen.

She arrived back in Kiel on 12 March.

2nd patrol
The boat's second foray was similar to her first, except it started from Kiel. She sank another Norwegian ship, the Rimfakse, about 130 mi northwest of Scotland on 27 April 1941. She sank no other ships and put in to Bergen on 11 May.

3rd patrol and loss
U-147's third and final patrol began on 24 May 1941. A week later, she torpedoed the British freighter Gravelines northwest of the Bloody Foreland (western Ireland), which broke in two and was declared a total loss; the forward part of the ship was towed to the Clyde and scrapped. On 2 June U-147 encountered convoy OB-239 near the African coast and attacked alone (a decision which historian Clay Blair described as "bold"). She damaged one ship, (the Mokambo), before being sunk with all hands by a British destroyer, HMS Wanderer and a corvette, HMS Periwinkle.