Type: VII-C
Built by: Germania Werft (Kiel)
Launched: 4 January 1941
Commissioned: 18 February 1941
Feldpost Nr.: M36449
Sunk: 25 April 1943
Sunk by: HMS Pathfinder and RN aircraft 811 Squadron flying off HMS Biter
Location sunk: 290 miles SW of Cape Farewell
Position sunk: 55º 05’N x 42º 25’W (11 men lost)

Conning tower emblems of U-203 include the heraldic emblem of the city of Essen that adopted the boat and the turtle (above). Because Kottmann was Class of 1936, the Olympic rings (next) were on the tower when he had command. Photo below is Mützelberg when he received his Oak Leaf..

The skippers of U-203 include Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelberg (Knights Cross with Oak Leaf) from the commissioning on 18 February 1941 until 11 September 1942, when he was killed in a strange accident. He had also commended U-10. Kapitänleutnant Hans Seidel commanded U-203 for a short time, and he also commanded U-361 where he was KIA. The third and last Skipper of U-203 was Kapitänleutnant Hermann Kottmann who commanded the boat until its loss. He was captured and remained as a P.o.W. through the rest of the war.

Top: U-203 Returning to harbor.
Bottom: A hero’s welcome awaits.

U-203 boat was attached to the 1st U-Bootflottille was based in Brest. On 20 June 1941, she was operating in the central part of the North Atlantic when she sighted and reported the battleship USS TEXAS. As the United States was not (officially) in the war, she did not attack. U-203 had several war patrols in the North Atlantic and over March and April 1942, she operated off the east coast of the United States. In July 1942 she returned to warm western waters under Operation ZIETHEN, to patrol off Trinidad to attack tankers in the narrow waters between that island and the mainland of South America.

On 11 September 1942, U-203 was in relatively safe waters and the Skipper, Mützelberg, stopped the boat and allowed the crew to go swimming. He himself dived off the conning tower and either did not allow for the wide saddle tanks or the boat rolled at the wrong time. Mützelberg hit his head on the saddle tanks and was killed.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-203 UNDER MÜTZELBERG
24.06.41	SOLÖY	Norw mtrshp	4,402 GRT
U-203 fired two torpedoes at a ship of about 15,000 tons. The first hit but did not detonate. The second missed but hit a ship behind the target. She fired again and a torpedo was heard to detonate. Only SOLÖY was sunk.
24.06.41	KINROSS	Brit mtrshp	4,956 GRT
24.06.41	SCHIE	Neth stmr	1,967 GRT
27.07.41	KELLWYN	Brit stmr	1,459 GRT
27.07.41	unknown	unknown	unknown (no confirmation)
28.07.41	NORITA	Swed stmr	1,516 GRT
28.07.41	LAPLAND	Brit stmr	1,330 GRT
Two other ships were claimed this date by U-203; there was no confirmation.
03.11.41	EMPIRE GEMSBUCK	Brit stmr	5,626 GRT
03.11.41	EVEROJA	Brit stmr	4,630 GRT
15.02.42	CATALINA	Ptgse trlr	632 GRT
17.01.42	OCTAVIAN	Norw stmr	1,345 GRT
22.01.42	ROSEMONDE	Brit ASW	364 GRT
10.04.42	SAN DELFINO	Brit mtrshp	8,072 GRT
14.04.42	EMPIRE THRUSH	Brit stmr	6,160 GRT
26.06.42	PUTNEY HILL	Brit mtrshp	5,216 GRT
26.06.42	PEDRINHAS	Brit stmr	3,666 GRT
U-203 reported that this ship was armed with a 120mm gun
28.06.42	SAM HOUSTON	Amer stmr	7,176 GRT
SAM HOUSTON was a new Liberty Ship on her maiden voyage, built in 1942. Owned and operated by the Waterman Agency Ltd., she was making 11 knots with her cargo of 10,000 tons of Army supplies and drew 28 feet. Under her Master Robert Perry, she was armed with one 4-inch deck gun and four 20mm automatic guns. She sailed from Mobile, Alabama to Bombay, India via Cape Town. The torpedo hit the bulkhead between the engine room and the #4 deep tank that caused a huge explosion, setting fires in the cargo. The engine room flooded almost immediately and so the engines went out of commission quickly. After taking on a list initially, the ship came back to an even keel but very low in the water with only about two feet of freeboard. The eight officers, twenty-nine men and nine Armed Guards got off the ship in three lifeboats within a quarter hour of the first explosion. Once the men were safely away from the ship, U-203 surfaced and fired the deck gun into the ship, causing the cargo of ammunition to detonate with a thunderous roar. U-203 took the Master on board for questioning and he reported later that the submarine Skipper knew the name of the ship and that of the Master, even though the Master had been replaced some hours before sailing. Three men died aboard at the moment of attack. Four more died in lifeboats of burns before they were picked up by the minesweeper COURIER and one more died in hospital at St. Thomas.
09.07.42	CAPE VERDE	Brit mtrshp	6,914 GRT
11.07.42	STANVAC PALEMBANG	Pana tnkr	10,013 GRT
EDITOR NOTE – One must remember that many tankers with a Panamanian Flag were owned by American oil companies and merely reflagged with the advent of the ‘Neutrality Act’.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-203 UNDER KOTTMANN
29.10.42	HOPECASTLE	Brit mtrshp	5,176 GRT
30.10.42	CORINALDO	Brit stmr	7,131 GRT
This ship was first hit and damaged by a torpedo from U-509. U-659 tried twice to administer the coup de grace without success. U-203 fired one more torpedo and attacked then with the deck gun to finally sink her.
28.12.02	unknown	unknown	unknown
They saw a large smoke column, but no confirmation.

SHIPS DAMAGED by U-203 UNDER MÜTZELBERG
20.07.41	CANADIAN STAR	Brit mtrshp	8,293 GRT
This ship had evaded two torpedoes fired by U-126 (Bauer) but was hit by torpedoes from U-203.
21.01.42	NORTH GASPE	Cana mtrshp	888 GRT
This ship was transporting US Army troops. The torpedo missed but detonated nearby, causing minor damage.
11.04.42	HARRY F. SINCLAIR	Amer tnkr	6,151 GRT
This old tanker, built in 1931, was owned and operated by the Sinclair Refining Company. She was unarmed and making 13.5 knots when attacked. She drew 24½ feet under her cargo of 66,000 barrels of gasoline. She was making a zigzag course seven miles south of Cape Lookout when she was hit by a torpedo from U-203. She had sailed from Houston, TX to Norfolk, VA and although she was not attached to a convoy, she sailed in company with a US Navy destroyer and a Coast Guard cutter. The torpedo hit on her port quarter, which got the gasoline aboard blazing fiercely. The eight officers and twenty-eight men got off the ship in the #2, #3 and #4 lifeboats. Those in Lifeboat #2 were consumed by the flames and perished. Four officers and six men died. The RN armed trawler HMS HERFORDSHIRE picked up the men in the remaining lifeboats and the destroyer USS HERBERT (DD 160) got those in the raft. Survivors were landed at Morehead City, NC. The radioman and the deck officers were immediately killed in the blaze. The trawler HMS SENATEUR DURHAMEL towed the SINCLAIR into Morehead City where she was repaired and returned to service with the new name ANNIBAL.
12.04.42	STANVAC MELBOURNE	Pana tnkr	10,013 GRT
U-203 fired a torpedo at DELVALLE, later sunk by U-154 (Kölle) but her torpedo detonated beneath the stern of STANVAC MELBOURNE.