German submarine U-71 was a type VII C submarine of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. Ordered on 25 January 1939, her keel was laid down as Werk 618 on 21 December that year. She was launched on 31 October 1940 and commissioned on 14 December. She entered the 7th U-boat Flotilla as a training submarine (commissioning until 31 May 1941), then served as a front (operational) boat between 1 June 1941 and 31 May 1943. During that time she carried out ten war patrols, but had to return to port following damage after colliding with in the North Atlantic on 17 April 1943.