The German U-boat fleet developed into one of the most effective weapons of the Third Reich in its war with the Allies and for several months the U-boats seemed to dominate the Atlantic. In October 1939 Admiral Karl Dunitz, Commander in Chief of the German U-boat fleet, ordered Lieutenant Gunther Prien, captain of the U-47, to the heavily guarded base of the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. In the night of 13/14 October the U-47 surfaced to travel through the barricaded Kirksand to the British main anchoring ground. With the second volley of torpedos Prien sank the battleship "HMS Royal Oak" and retreated unharmed. 15 months after this spectacular victory the U-47 was sunk by the British destroyer "Wolverine": there were no survivors. Most of the early U-boat aces achieved their fame and success with the VII B type, the deep-sea class of navel vessels (over 600 units were built of the successortype VII C). The U-47 (type VII B) was built by the Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel and launched in 1938. Her displacement was 857 tons (submerged), her surface range 6,500 nautical miles at 12 knots (18 knots max.). Carrying a crew of 44 men, she was equipped with one 18.8 cm anti-aircraft gun and 5 torpedo tubes with 12 torpedo.

• Detailed interior with seperate partitions, torpedos, instrument panels, two diesel engines, sleeping berth, crew figures
• Detailed conning tower
• Moving hatch covers
• Rudders
• Detailed transfers for the instrument panels and markings