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Erich Topp's Red Devil
© S. Burbridge
Image courtesy of SubArt.net
U-Boat Operations
Major contributors to this section:
Commanders, Flotillas & Yards —  Fernando Almeida
Ships, General —  Werner Freitag
Ship Details —  David Rayner & Walter Janssens
Detail Consultant —  Horst Schmeisser
Patrols, Fates and Air Attacks —  Howard Cock

U-703Type VIIC
Feldpost NumberM 25 617
Construction YardH C Stülcken Sohn, Hamburg
Yard Number762
Ordered9th Oct 1939
Keel laid9th Aug 1940
Launched18th Jul 1941
Commissioned16th Oct 1941
BaubelehrungKriegsschiffbaulehrabteilung für Unterseeboote Nordsee, Bremen /
8.KLA, Hamburg
Training, Flotillas and Duties
10.41 - 06.426.U-Flottille, Danzig & St Nazaire
Ausbildungsboot (under training)
Frontboot (operational)
06.42 - 05.4311.U-Flottille, Bergen
Frontboot (operational)
06.43 - 09.4413.U-Flottille, Trondheim
Frontboot (operational)
Commanders
10.41 - 07.43OL Heinz Bielfeld
see also: U-1222 
07.43 - 09.44OL Joachim Brünner

Operations information for U-703
21.03.1942 - 22.03.1942
First Sailing
U-703 left Hamburg under the command of Heinz Bielfeld on 21st Mar 1942 and arrived at Helgoland on 22nd Mar 1942 after one day.
01.04.1942 - 04.04.1942
Second Sailing
On the 1st Apr 1942, U-703 left Helgoland under the command of Heinz Bielfeld and after three days arrived at Stavanger on 4th Apr 1942.
13.04.1942 - 13.04.1942
Third Sailing
U-703 departed under Heinz Bielfeld from Stavanger on 13th Apr 1942 and arrived at Bergen on the same day.
26.04.1942 - 07.05.1942
Fourth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 left Bergen under the command of Heinz Bielfeld on 26th Apr 1942 and after one and a half weeks arrived at Reinöy on 7th May 1942.
10.05.1942 - 13.05.1942
Fifth Sailing
On the 10th May 1942, U-703 left Reinöy under the command of Heinz Bielfeld and arrived at Skjomenfjord on 13th May 1942 after three days.
16.05.1942 - 30.05.1942
Sixth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 departed under Heinz Bielfeld from Skjomenfjord on 16th May 1942 and returned to Skjomenfjord on 30th May 1942 after two weeks on patrol.
Heinz Bielfeld hit one ship on this patrol from convoy PQ-16.
  • On 26th May 1942 he sank the American 6,191 ton Syros, sailing with convoy PQ-16.
01.06.1942 - 04.06.1942
Seventh Sailing
U-703 left Skjomenfjord under the command of Heinz Bielfeld on 1st Jun 1942 and arrived at Bergen on 4th Jun 1942 after three days.
29.06.1942 - 15.07.1942
Eighth Sailing - active patrol
On the 29th Jun 1942, U-703 left Bergen under the command of Heinz Bielfeld and after over two weeks arrived at Narvik on 15th Jul 1942.
Heinz Bielfeld hit two ships on this patrol and both of them were in convoy, both of them were from convoy PQ-17.
  • On 5th Jul 1942 he sank the British 5,479 ton River Afton, a member of convoy PQ-17.
  • On 5th Jul 1942 he sank the British 6,645 ton Empire Byron, part of convoy PQ-17.
02.08.1942 - 04.08.1942
Ninth Sailing
U-703 departed under Heinz Bielfeld from Narvik on 2nd Aug 1942 and arrived at Trondheim on 4th Aug 1942 after two days.
09.08.1942 - 11.09.1942
Tenth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 left Trondheim under the command of Heinz Bielfeld on 9th Aug 1942 and after more than four weeks arrived at Harstad on 11th Sep 1942.
11.09.1942 - 11.09.1942
Eleventh Sailing
On the 11th Sep 1942, U-703 left Harstad under the command of Heinz Bielfeld and arrived at Skjomenfjord on the same day.
14.09.1942 - 26.09.1942
Twelfth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 departed under Heinz Bielfeld from Skjomenfjord on 14th Sep 1942 and after more than one week arrived at Narvik on 26th Sep 1942.
Heinz Bielfeld hit one ship on this patrol from convoy QP-14.
  • On 20th Sep 1942 he sank the British 1,870 ton HMS Somali, from convoy QP-14.
28.09.1942 - 30.09.1942
Thirteenth Sailing
U-703 left Narvik under the command of Heinz Bielfeld on 28th Sep 1942 and arrived at Trondheim on 30th Sep 1942 after two days.
28.12.1942 - 31.12.1942
Fourteenth Sailing
On the 28th Dec 1942, U-703 left Trondheim under the command of Heinz Bielfeld and after three days arrived at Bergen on 31st Dec 1942.
07.03.1943 - 05.04.1943
Fifteenth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 departed under Heinz Bielfeld from Bergen on 7th Mar 1943 and arrived at Hammerfest on 5th Apr 1943 after just over four weeks.
17.04.1943 - 15.05.1943
Sixteenth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 left Hammerfest under the command of Heinz Bielfeld on 17th Apr 1943 and returned four weeks later to Hammerfest on 15th May 1943.
18.05.1943 - 19.05.1943
Seventeenth Sailing
On the 18th May 1943, U-703 left Hammerfest under the command of Heinz Bielfeld and arrived at Narvik on 19th May 1943 after one day.
19.05.1943 - 21.05.1943
Eighteenth Sailing
U-703 departed under Heinz Bielfeld from Narvik on 19th May 1943 and after two days arrived at Trondheim on 21st May 1943.
19.07.1943 - 03.08.1943
Nineteenth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 left Trondheim under the command of Joachim Brünner on 19th Jul 1943 and arrived at Narvik on 3rd Aug 1943 after just over two weeks.
Joachim Brünner hit one ship on this patrol from convoy BA-12.
  • On 30th Jul 1943 he sank the Soviet 559 ton T-911/No 65, ex RT-76, sailing with convoy BA-12.
14.08.1943 - 16.08.1943
Twentieth Sailing
On the 14th Aug 1943, U-703 left Narvik under the command of Joachim Brünner and after two days arrived at Hammerfest on 16th Aug 1943.
17.08.1943 - 09.10.1943
Twentyfirst Sailing - active patrol
U-703 departed under Joachim Brünner from Hammerfest on 17th Aug 1943 and arrived at Harstad on 9th Oct 1943 after seven and a half weeks.
Joachim Brünner hit one ship on this patrol from convoy VA-18.
  • On 1st Oct 1943 he sank the Soviet 4,146 ton Sergej Kirov, a member of convoy VA-18.
10.10.1943 - 10.10.1943
Twentysecond Sailing
U-703 left Harstad under the command of Joachim Brünner on 10th Oct 1943 and arrived at Narvik on the same day.
12.10.1943 - 14.10.1943
Twentythird Sailing
On the 12th Oct 1943, U-703 left Narvik under the command of Joachim Brünner and arrived at Trondheim on 14th Oct 1943 after two days.
14.10.1943 - 17.10.1943
Twentyfourth Sailing
U-703 departed under Joachim Brünner from Trondheim on 14th Oct 1943 and returned three days later to Trondheim on 17th Oct 1943.
18.10.1943 - 19.10.1943
Twentyfifth Sailing
U-703 left Trondheim under the command of Joachim Brünner on 18th Oct 1943 and arrived at Bergen on 19th Oct 1943 after one day.
13.01.1944 - 14.01.1944
Twentysixth Sailing
On the 13th Jan 1944, U-703 left Bergen under the command of Joachim Brünner and after one day arrived at Kristiansand on 14th Jan 1944.
15.01.1944 - 17.01.1944
Twentyseventh Sailing
U-703 departed under Joachim Brünner from Kristiansand on 15th Jan 1944 and arrived at Kiel on 17th Jan 1944 after two days.
19.01.1944 - 20.01.1944
Twentyeighth Sailing
U-703 left Kiel under the command of Joachim Brünner on 19th Jan 1944 and after one day arrived at Königsberg on 20th Jan 1944.
15.02.1944 - 15.02.1944
Twentyninth Sailing
On the 15th Feb 1944, U-703 left Königsberg under the command of Joachim Brünner and arrived at Hela on the same day.
17.02.1944 - 20.02.1944
Thirtieth Sailing
U-703 departed under Joachim Brünner from Hela on 17th Feb 1944 and after three days arrived at Kiel on 20th Feb 1944.
24.02.1944 - 25.02.1944
Thirtyfirst Sailing
U-703 left Kiel under the command of Joachim Brünner on 24th Feb 1944 and arrived at Kristiansand on 25th Feb 1944 after one day.
25.02.1944 - 28.02.1944
Thirtysecond Sailing
On the 25th Feb 1944, U-703 left Kristiansand under the command of Joachim Brünner and after three days arrived at Trondheim on 28th Feb 1944.
29.02.1944 - 08.03.1944
Thirtythird Sailing - active patrol
U-703 departed under Joachim Brünner from Trondheim on 29th Feb 1944 and arrived at Narvik on 8th Mar 1944 after just over one week.
Joachim Brünner hit one ship on this patrol from convoy RA-57.
  • On 4th Mar 1944 he sank the British 7,062 ton Empire Tourist, part of convoy RA-57.
08.04.1944 - 05.05.1944
Thirtyfourth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 left Narvik under the command of Joachim Brünner on 8th Apr 1944 and after nearly four weeks arrived at Trondheim on 5th May 1944.
29.07.1944 - 01.08.1944
Thirtyfifth Sailing
On the 29th Jul 1944, U-703 left Trondheim under the command of Joachim Brünner and arrived at Narvik on 1st Aug 1944 after three days.
20.08.1944 - 12.09.1944
Thirtysixth Sailing - active patrol
U-703 departed under Joachim Brünner from Narvik on 20th Aug 1944 and returned over three weeks later to Narvik on 12th Sep 1944.
17.09.1944 - 06.10.1944
Thirtyseventh Sailing - active patrol
U-703 left Narvik under the command of Joachim Brünner on 17th Sep 1944. The boat was declared missing after 6th Oct 1944.

Notes for U-703
Meteorological information is crucial in planning operations in the Atlantic. On their last patrol U-703 was tasked with laying 2 Automatic Weather Buouys off the East coast of Greenland, WFS-133 ERNST and WFS-132 AUGUST. Meteorological Supervisor Adolf Ernst was aboard to oversee this aspect of the patrol.

However after departing, nothing further was heard from U-703. 54 lost their lives with the boat. Nothing more is yet known about the cause of the loss of U-703.

We don't as yet have thorough records for this boat, some patrol dates remain uncertain and some records appear contradictory.

Many thanks to William Becker for his kind help with U-703. Special thanks also to Peter Schmid and likewise to Roland Berr.

We have 75 crew names for this boat. click here for crew names of U 703
You can perform other crew searches here. Note that the number of names we give possibly includes prior crew members.

There are 3 photographs in this boat's album. Click here to view the U-Boat photo album.

You can discuss this boat or ask questions at the ubootwaffe.net forums

We have extra information on
9 relevant ships here:

SYROS

EMPIRE BYRON

RIVER AFTON

SOMALI HMS G33

T-911 (Pennant Nr 65)

SERGEJ KIROV

MOSSOVET

EMPIRE TOURIST

MILNE HMS

Commissioning of U-703
Courtesy Willi Becker

U-703 emblem
Courtesy Willi Becker

Safe return
Courtesy Willi Becker
U-703 is welcomed back after the attack on convoy PQ17

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