German submarine U-995 is a Type VIIC/41 U-boat of Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was laid down on 25 November 1942 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned on 16 September 1943 with Oberleutnant zur See Walter Köhntopp in command. She is preserved at Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel, Germany.
U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, especially during World War I and World War II. The term is an anglicized form of the German word U-Boot [ˈuːboːt] , a shortening of Unterseeboot (lit. 'under-sea boat'). Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also known as U-boats.
U-boats are especially known for their use in unrestricted submarine warfare in both world wars, attempting to disrupt merchant traffic towards the UK and force the UK out of the war. In World War I, Germany intermittently waged unrestricted submarine warfare against the UK: a first campaign in 1915 was abandoned after strong protests from the US but in February 1917 the Germans, facing deadlock on the continent, saw no other option than to resume the campaign. The renewed campaign failed to achieve its goal mainly because of the introduction of convoys. Instead the campaign ensured final defeat as the campaign was a contributing factor to the entry of the US in the First World War.
The Laboe Naval Memorial (a.k.a. Laboe Tower, German: Marine-Ehrenmal Laboe) is a memorial located in Laboe, near Kiel, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Started in 1927 and completed in 1936, the monument originally commemorated the World War I war dead of the Kaiserliche Marine, with the Kriegsmarine dead of World War II being added after 1945. In 1954 it was rededicated as a memorial for the sailors of all nationalities who were lost at sea and at the same time a memorial for peaceful sailing in open seas.
The monument consists of a 72-metre-high (236 ft) tower topped by an observation deck. The deck stands a total 85 m (279 ft) above sea level. A hall of remembrance and World War II-era German submarine U-995, which houses a technical museum, both sit near the foot of the monument, and the site is a popular tourist venue. U-995 is the world's only remaining Type VII U-boat.