German submarine U-493

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name: U-493
Ordered: 22 September 1942
Builder: Deutsche Werke, Kiel
Yard number: 324
Laid down: 25 September 1943
Fate: 75% complete when cancelled. Scrapped while still on the building ways, 1944
General characteristics
Class and type: German Type XIV submarine
Displacement: 1,668 long tons (1,695 t) surfaced
1,932 long tons (1,963 t) submerged
Length: 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) overall
47.5 m (155 ft 10 in) pressure hull
Beam: 9.35 m (30 ft 8 in) overall
4.9 m (16 ft 1 in) pressure hull
Height: 11.7 m (38 ft 5 in)
Draft: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
Propulsion: 2 × Germaniawerft F46 supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 3,200 hp (2,400 kW)
2 × SSW Gu343/388-8 double-acting electric motors 750 hp (560 kW)
Speed: 14.9 knots (27.6 km/h) surfaced
6.2 knots (11.5 km/h) submerged
Range: 12,350 nmi (22,870 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced
55 nmi (102 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged
Test depth: 240 m (790 ft)
Complement: 53–60 men
Armament: • 2 × 37 mm AA guns
• 2 × 20 mm AA guns

Had she been completed, U-493 would have been a Type XIV supply and replenishment U-boat ("Milchkuh") of the of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Her keel was laid down on 25 September 1943, by Deutsche Werke of Kiel. However, extreme losses amongst the existing fleet of Milchkuh submarines led Karl Dönitz to conclude further production of these boats was not a viable plan. All fourteen outstanding orders for type XIV submarines were cancelled. Plans for a type XX Milchkuh were dropped and the thirty planned boats of that class were cancelled.

U-493 was never launched, and was broken up on the building ways after reaching about 75% completion.

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See also