Early in the morning of the 7th March, at 0454, Prien radioed “am resuming pursuit” to BdU from grid quadrant AM 1249 (west of Ireland, in the region around Rockall Banks in the North Atlantic, approximate location 60°N/19°W). This was U 47’s last radio message.

For many years the Wolverine was credited with U 47's sinking. But post-war analysis revealed that the attack damaged the U A, which escaped to limp home. So the Wolverine didn't sink U 47.

The cause of U 47's loss is unknown. Quite possibly the boat was lost to an accident, either by crew error (there was a high turnover of crew before the last patrol) or structural failure. Since the exact location of U 47's loss is unknown, and the depth of this area, U 47 will likely never be found.

So all we can be sure of is that we'll never know the answer.

I like your homepage, and hope you add more U-boat info. There are two points, if I may. Scapa Flow was the main naval base of the British Royal Navy rather than the English Navy. This was located in the Orkney Islands just north of Scotland. If you traveled to the Orkneys and said to an Orcadian (a resident of the Orkney Islands) that Scapa was an English naval base they would throw you in the North Sea. It is a bit like calling Halifax an American rather than a Canadian port, but worse. Best to call it a British naval base. Also, U 47 didn’t sink the Pegasus, though this seaplane tender was in Scapa that night.

Looking forward to seeing your U 52 model on your site.

Cheers,

Dougie