Ship Modelers Database
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U-47
Sunk
U-47 was a German Type VIIB U-boat of the Kriegsmarine, built at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel and commissioned in December 1938 under Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien. She is one of the most famous U-boats of the Second World War for her daring October 1939 infiltration of the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow.
Kits of this ship
+ Add a kitNo image | U-boat Type VII B DKM U-47 (2 Kits in box) | Flyhawk | 1:700 | — | Available |
| U-47 G. Prien with Interior | Revell | — | Injection-Molded Plastic | Discontinued | |
No image | DKM U-Boot Typ VIIB (U-47 Gunther Prien) And Laser Frames | Model Hobby | 1:200 | Other | Available |
| DKM U-Boat Type VIIB | HobbyBoss | 1:700 | Injection-Molded Plastic | Available | |
No image | Robbe U-47 | Robbe | 1:40 | Pre-formed Hull | Discontinued |
| U-Boat Type VII B | AFV Club | 1:350 | Injection-Molded Plastic | Available |
Plans
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Build logs
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Resources
+ Submit a resourceHistory & specifications
- Wikipedia: German submarine U-47 (1938)Website
Main ship article covering construction, patrols, and loss of U-47; good overview for a modeler.
- Wikipedia: Günther PrienWebsite
Biography of U-47's commander with detailed patrol-by-patrol account including the Scapa Flow raid.
- Wikipedia: HMS Royal Oak (08)Website
Details the target of U-47's most famous attack and the mechanics of the Scapa Flow infiltration.
- WW2DB: Submarine U-47Website
Concise specifications (displacement, armament, speed, range) useful for scale accuracy.
Museums & archives
- Naval History and Heritage Command (via ibiblio Hyperwar): U-47 (Submarine, 1938-1941)Museum
Official US Navy historical photo page with caption data and period photograph of U-47.
History
Specifications
As a Type VIIB boat she displaced about 753-761 tons standard (865 tons submerged), with armament of five torpedo tubes, one 88mm deck gun and one 20mm anti-aircraft cannon. She could make 17 knots surfaced and 7.6 knots submerged, with a range of roughly 6,500 nautical miles, powered by two diesel engines and two electric motors.
Service history
On 14 October 1939 Prien navigated U-47 through the obstructed Kirk Sound approaches into Scapa Flow and torpedoed the First World War-era battleship HMS Royal Oak at anchor, sinking her with the loss of 835 of her crew, then escaped undetected. Over the following patrols U-47 went on to sink over 30 Allied merchant ships totaling roughly 164,000-200,000 GRT, operating in wolfpacks against Atlantic convoys through 1940. On her tenth patrol, after attacking Convoy OB 293, U-47 was lost on 8 March 1941 with all 45 crew; no survivors or confirmed wreck account exists, though a depth-charge attack by escorts (possibly involving HMS Wolverine) is the most commonly cited cause.
Notable facts
The Scapa Flow raid made Prien a national hero and the first German submarine officer awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, later receiving Oak Leaves as well. The crew painted a snorting bull on the conning tower, earning Prien the nickname "Der Stier von Scapa Flow" ("The Bull of Scapa Flow"), and the emblem was subsequently adopted by the entire 7th U-boat Flotilla. The raid shocked the Royal Navy into building the Churchill Barriers around Scapa Flow, and the story was dramatized in the 1958 West German film "U 47 - Kapitänleutnant Prien."