were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-481 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 superchargeddiesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert GU 343/38–8 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-481 was fitted with five torpedo tubes, fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun,, one Flak M42 and two twin C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.
Service history
1st patrol
U-481 left Kiel on 19 June 1944 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Klaus Andersen, and sailed to Reval via Helsinki. She departed Reval on her first war patrol on 5 July and sailed east into the Gulf of Finland to Soviet waters. On 30 July she attacked a group of Soviet Navy coastal minesweepers with torpedoes, sinking two and damaging another. On the same day the U-boat was attacked while in Narva Bay by two Ilyushin Il-2Shturmovik aircraft from the 35th Assault Air Regiment, and managed to damage one enough to force the pilot to ditch his aircraft. The U-boat arrived back at Reval on 4 August.
Departing Königsberg on 16 September 1944, the U-boat patrolled the Baltic, and on 15 October sank three small Finnish Galeas sailing barges off Osmussaar, Estonia, with shell-fire, before arriving at Danzig on 26 October.
4th patrol
U-481 sailed from Danzig on 2 November 1944, returning to the Gulf of Finland, and on 9 November off Cape Pakri she torpedoed and shelled the Soviet 1,000 ton barge 112600, sinking her. On 28 November she sank the Soviet 108 ton coastal minesweeperT-387 in the same area. The U-boat returned to Danzig on 22 December.
5th patrol
After returning to Kiel to be fitted with a 'schnorchel' in February 1945, the U-boat sailed for Horten Naval Base in Norway, making her final patrol along the Norwegian coast from 7 April to 4 May, finally arriving at Narvik only a few days before the German surrender. On 12 May all U-boats in the Narvik area were ordered by the Allies to sail to Skjomenfjord to avoid conflicts with the Norwegians. On 15 May four ships; the fleet tenderGrille with the staff of FdU Norwegen on board, the fleet oiler Kärnten, and the depot ships Huascaran and Stella Polaris, and fifteen U-boats including U-481, sailed for Trondheim, but were intercepted after two days by the Royal Navy's 9th Escort Group and officially capitulated. The ships were allowed to proceed to Trondheim, but all the U-boats were escorted to Loch Eriboll, Scotland, arriving on 19 May. Later transferred to Loch Ryan, U-481 was sunk at position in as part of "Operation Deadlight" on 30 November 1945.
