German submarine U-974 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was ordered on 5 June 1941, and was laid down on 26 June 1942 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, as yard number 174. She was launched on 11 March 1943 and commissioned under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Joachim Zaubitzer on 22 April 1943. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-974 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-974 was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes or 26 TMA mines, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one twin C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between 44 — 52 men. Service history On 19 April 1944, U-974 was sunk by torpedoes near Stavanger, Norway, in the Boknafjord. U-974 was attacked by a Norwegian submarine, . Eight of the crew of fifty survived. The wreck is located at . Discovery of wreck In 1996, an ROV at a depth of about discovered the wreck of U-974. She had broken into two separate parts of about and in length. The wreck of U-974 lies around southeast of Løten. References Bibliography External links German Type VIIC submarines U-boats commissioned in 1943 World War II submarines of Germany Ships built in Hamburg 1943 ships U-boats sunk by Norwegian submarines Maritime incidents in April 1944 World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea