German submarine U-995 is a Type VIIC/41 U-boat of Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine and it was the workhorse of the German submarine fleet during World War Two.
She was laid down on 25 November 1942 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned on 16 September 1943 with Oberleutnant zur See Walter Köhntopp in command.
The Kriegsmarine put 603 submarines of this type (VIIC/41) into service between 1939 and 1944. It was one of the most important submarine types of the Second World War. The submarine had a displacement of 759 tonnes (747 long tons) when at the surface and 860 tonnes (850 long tons) while submerged.
She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) and was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged.
At the end of the war on 8 May 1945 she was stricken at Trondheim, Norway, and from then it served in the Norwegian navy.
She was slowly repaired and commissioned as Kaura, one of the first submarines in the Royal Norwegian Navy.
In nine war patrols off Norway and the Soviet Union, the U-955 sank five ships and critically damaged a sixth. All five ships sunk were Soviet, totaling 2,298 tons, while the one damaged was an American liberty ship weighing 7,176 tons. 149 men died aboard these ships, including one ship without any survivors and another with only one, who was taken prisoner.
After decommissioning in 1965 (being replaced by other German-built subs), she was offered back to the German government for the price of one Deutsche Mark, but they refused. The Boat was saved by the German Navy League, DMB, where she became a museum ship at Laboe Naval Memorial in October 1971.