German submarine U-248

German submarine U-248 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 19 December 1942 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 682, launched on 7 October 1943 and commissioned on 6 November under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Bernhard Emde.

In two patrols, she sank or damaged no ships.

She was sunk in mid-Atlantic by US warships on 16 January 1945.

Design
German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-248 had a displacement of 769 t when at the surface and 871 t while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m, a pressure hull length of 50.50 m, a beam of 6.20 m, a height of 9.60 m, and a draught of 4.74 m. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2800 to 3200 PS for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 PS for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 m.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 kn. When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nmi at 4 kn; when surfaced, she could travel 8500 nmi at 10 kn. U-248 was fitted with five 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun, (220 rounds), one 3.7 cm Flak M42 and two twin 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history
After training with the 5th U-boat Flotilla at Kiel, U-248 was transferred to the 9th flotilla for front-line service on 1 August 1944. She was reassigned to the 11th flotilla on 1 November.

First patrol
The boat's first patrol was preceded by two short trips between Kiel in Germany and Horten Naval Base and Bergen, both in Norway. Her first sortie began with her departure from Bergen on 18 August 1944. She arrived at Trondheim on 14 October.

Second patrol and loss
U-248 was sunk by destroyer escorts, the USS Hayter (DE-212), USS Otter (DE-210), USS Varian (DE-798) and USS Hubbard (DE-211) north of the Azores on 16 January 1945. Forty-seven men died; there were no survivors.