Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Hardegen is a German U-boat commander who sank 22 ships, amounting to 115,656 gross register tons (GRT) sunk, making him the 24th most successful commander in World War II. After the war, he spent a year in British captivity before running a successful oil company and serving in Bremen's Parliament for over 32 years. Following his graduation from high school he enrolled in the Reichsmarine as a Seekadett, sailing around the world in the light cruiser Karlsruhe in 1933. In 1935, Hardegen was transferred as a Marineflieger in the Kriegsmarine?'?s air arm. He trained as a naval aircraft observer and, after, as a pilot, and was promoted to leutnant on 1 October 1936. Later that year, Hermann Göring declared all aircraft in German service as belonging to the Luftwaffe, effectively canceling the Navy Air Arm. Hardegen was then transferred to the Ubootwaffe and began training. After two war patrols, was given his own command, the Type IID U-boat U-147, operating out of Kiel. On the second day of the first patrol, Hardegen fired a torpedo which failed to detonate against a large merchant ship, before being forced to submerge after mistaking a destroyer for a merchant ship. During the dive, the tower hatch was damaged, forcing U-147 to resurface after a short while to make feverish repairs only a few hundred meters from the destroyer. The gathering darkness, however, saved the boat from being detected. The water leaks had damaged the diesel engines aboard the boat, forcing Hardegen to use his electric motors when, later in the night, he saw another merchant passing by. Although slowed, the U-boat had enough speed to close the distance and launch a torpedo which sank the freighter. On 23 December 1941, U-123 left for the first phase of Drumbeat. Five boats, which was all Dönitz could muster, were sent towards the American coast, to take advantage of the confusion in the Eastern Seaboard defense networks shortly after the declaration of war. Hardegen was ordered to penetrate the inshore areas around New York City. Hardegen was also to target merchant shipping off Cape Hatteras. On 12 January 1942, Hardegen drew first blood, sinking the British freighter Cyclops (9,076 GRT). On 14 January, he reached the approaches to New York harbour. Hardegen decided to proceed into the harbour on the surface. The still brightly burning shore lights helped immensely with the navigation through the unknown waters. During the morning hours, U-123 sighted the Norwegian tanker Norness (9,577 GRT) off the coast of Long Island and sank her. Following this, Hardegen decided to bottom the boat and wait for nightfall before proceeding into the harbour itself. During the night of 15 January, Hardegen entered the harbour, nearly beaching the boat when he mistook shorelight for a light ship. The crew of U-123 were elated when they came within the sight of the city itself, all lights burning brightly, but Hardegen did not linger long, due to the lack of merchant traffic. He did sink the British tanker Coimbra (6,768 GRT) on his way out. During the night of 19 January, Hardegen sank three freighters off Cape Hatteras in shallow waters close to shore. A couple of hours later, he happened upon five more merchants traveling in a group and attacked them with his last two torpedoes and his 105 mm deck gun, sinking a freighter and claiming the tanker Malay (8,207 GRT) as well. On 2 March 1942, Hardegen left for his final patrol, his second to American waters. The first successes were achieved when Hardegen sank the American tanker Muskogee (7,034 GRT) and the British tanker Empire Steel (8,150 GRT) on 24 March. The tanker, carrying gasoline, burned fiercely for five hours before sinking and no survivors could be spotted. The somber crew of U-123 nicknamed the night the "Tanker Torch night". On 26 March, Hardegen attacked the American Q-ship USS Atik (3,000 GRT), mistaking it for a merchant freighter. After torpedoing the ship, Hardegen surfaced to sink her with the deck guns, only to find the Atik trying to ram him and opening fire on him with guns that had been concealed behind false bulwarks. Making a getaway on the surface, U-123 received eight hits and one of the crew members was fatally wounded. Approaching the Atik submerged, Hardegen sank her with another torpedo. Hardegen's second patrol was along the Florida coast. He attacked the American tanker Liebre on 1 April with his deck gun. On the night of 8 April, U-123 was positioned off the shore of St. Simons Island, Georgia and torpedoed and sank two tankers: the SS Oklahoma and the Esso Baton Rouge. Setting course for home, Hardegen sighted the freighter SS Alcoa Guide (4,834 GRT) and sank her with fire from the 105mm deck gun, as well as the 37mm and 20mm flak guns on 16 April. In April, Hardegen received a signal confirming his award of the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross. On 2 May, U-123 docked at Lorient, ending Hardegen's career as an active U-boat commander....more

Rolf Thomsen was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later served with the Bundesmarine. Thomsen served as a naval aviator from 1939 until early 1943. He transferred to the U-boat service on 1 January 1944 and on 27 January 1944 commissioned U-1202. His first patrol as a U-boat commander took him into the North Atlantic. The first attack was carried out on 10 December 1944. All four torpedoes, which were aimed at merchant vessels of between 6,000 and 7,000 tons, found their mark. Thomsen claimed such as sunk, as corresponding sinking noises were heard. However the enemy only admitted the loss of the 7,176 ton American merchant ship Dan Beard. From 1 October 1962 to 30 September 1963 he served as adjutant to the Federal Minister of Defence Kai-Uwe von Hassel. ...more

Harald Gelhaus began his naval career in April 1935. He served on the light cruiser Karlsruhe and on the battleship Gneisenau. In October 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force. His first three patrols were as I WO on U-103 under Korvkpt. Schütze. He left the boat in March 1941 and took command of the Type IIB boat U-143. After four patrols he became the commander of U-107, the already famous boat of Korvkpt. Hessler. On the next six patrols he sank 19 ships with a total of little more than 100,00 tons. In June 1943 he became a staff member of the OKM, the High Command of the German Navy. From February 1944 Gelhaus was a training officer in the 22nd and 27th flotillas. The final months of the war he spent in staff positions, the last one being in Naval High Command North. After the war he spent three months in Allied captivity. ...more

Alfred Eick began his naval career in April 1937. Later he served for more than a year on the destroyer Hermann Beitzen, and he undertook 16 patrols in the first year of the war. In November 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force, where he accompanied U-176 on her first two patrols. In May 1943 he became commander of U-510. After a successful patrol in Brazilian waters, U-510 left Lorient on her second patrol assigned as one of the Monsun boats. Eick operated for a few months in the Indian Ocean before heading back in January 1945 with a load of important goods (tin, quinine, etc.) on board. After being supplied with oil southeast of Madagascar by Krvkpt. Oesten's U-861 (who was short of fuel herself), U-510 ran out of fuel in the North Atlantic, but managed to reach the U-boat base at St. Nazaire in France at the end of April 1945 (at that time the base was still in German hands). Alfred Eick was in French captivity from May 1945 to July 1947. He then studied business management at the University of Hamburg and worked later as a tax adviser. ...more

Helmut Witte began his naval career in April 1934. Later he served on the light cruiser Köln, on the destroyer Z-22, and on several torpedo boats. In July 1940 Witte transferred to the U-boat force. After the usual training he became IWO on the newly commissioned U-107 under Kptlt. Hessler. Before he left the boat in July 1941, he had taken part in the most successful patrol of the war. He commissioned U-159 in October 1941 and operated in the waters of Panama on his second patrol. On his third patrol U-159 was a part of the wolfpack Eisbär, which operated in the waters off Capetown in September 1942. He left the boat in June 1943 and served from then until the end of the war in several staff positions. After two months in British captivity, he worked for a time as a farm hand and factory worker. Later he built up a successful civil career and in the 1960s became personnel manager of a great German industry group. This lot has a total of three signatures! ...more

Jürgen Oesten began his naval career in April 1933. After the usual training he spent more than a year on the great ships Admiral Graf Spee and Karlsruhe. In May 1937 he transferred to the U-boat arm, and thus received a solid pre-war training. In October 1937 he became a watch officer on U-20. On 12 August, 1939 he commissioned U-61. The boat was on its first patrol, after two months of training, during the last days of October 1939. As a result of a few mine-laying patrols Oblt. Jürgen Oesten sank six ships with a total of 20,754 tons. After his eighth patrol he left the boat and one month later commissioned the larger Type IXB boat U-106. During her maiden patrol from Germany to her new base at Lorient, U-106 sank two ships with a total of 13,640 tons. Oesten won the Knights Cross on her second patrol in African waters, where he sank eight ships with a total of 44,820 tons. His attack on one vessel during the battle against convoy SL-68 was unintended but effective: he fired at the shadow of a recognized merchant ship in bad light conditions and did not realize that the torpedo hit and damaged the the British battleship HMS Malaya. Kptlt. Oesten left U-106 in October 1941 and became the commander of the 9th Flotilla in Brest (France). In March 1942 Jürgen Oesten became U-Boot-Admiralstabsoffizier with the Admiral Nordmeer and directed the U-boat war in Arctic waters. In July 1943 he left Norway and on 2 September, 1943 commissioned the Type IX D2 boat U-861. U-861 left Kiel on 20 April, 1944 as a so-called Monsun-boat because her destination was to be the Far East. But at first the boat operated in Brazilian waters, sinking two ships. The boat found her next victim south of Madagascar, and before she reached Penang on 23 September, 1944 she sank a ship near the Somalian coast. The boat had spent five months at sea. U-861 left Soerabaya (Indonesia) on 15 January, 1945 with a load of vital goods and only equipped with two torpedoes for self-defense. During the return journey the boat struck an iceberg south of Greenland, but Oesten, through good luck and seamanship, reached Trondheim, Norway on 19 April, 1945 with only five barrels of fuel remaining in the tanks. ...more

Helmut Rohweder started his naval career in April 1935. Since 1938 he served in the U-boat force, where he became in April 1939 LI of U-17. Later he rode on U-69 and U-514. He got his Knights Cross for some emergency measures to save the damaged U-boat from sinking. From May 1943 he served as leading engineer in the 12th, 4th and 6th Flotillas. In 1944 he became the LI of U-673 and was on board when the Turmumbau VI was tested on this U-boat. After this patrol he served in several staff positions to the end of war. Since 1956 he served in the Bundesmarine also in several staff positions. He left the Navy in March 1972 with a rank of a Kapitän zur See. Decorations include Iron Cross 2nd class (EK II), Ubootskriegsabzeichen 1939, Iron Cross 1st class (EK I), Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, Knights Cross, and U-Boots-Frontspange in Bronze....more

After a ten-year stint on warships and serving on the WWI battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on the Polish "Westerplatte" in September 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1 May, 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Oceans. U-68 was in the U-boat wolfpack "Eisbär" (Polar bear), which in the course of a few weeks during September/October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa. In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat-Flotilla in Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten moved to the 24th U-boat-Flotilla in Memel where he also was the flotilla commander. This was the training flotilla for future Commanders-to-be. After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine river along with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. Later he worked in the shipbuilding industry. ...more

Vizeadmiral Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann (26 August 1895 – 19 May 1988) was a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipient during World War II and commander of the battleship Scharnhorst. Hoffmann joined the military service of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) on 1 April 1912 as a Seekadett (midshipman) and took his first ship training on the cruiser SMS Hansa. On 1 April 1913 he underwent further training at the Naval Academy Mürwik and on 12 April 1913 was promoted to Fähnrich zur See (ensign at sea). He relinquished command of the Coastal Artillery School and was appointed commander of the light cruiser Königsberg on 27 June 1939. After the outbreak of World War II, he initially remained in command of Königsberg. On 21 September 1939 he took over command from Kapitän zur See Otto Ciliax of the battleship Scharnhorst. Scharnhorst?'?s first operation began on 21 November 1939 lasting until 27 November 1939. Accompanied by her sister Gneisenau, the light cruiser Köln, and nine destroyers, Scharnhorst patrolled the area between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The intent of the operation was to draw out British units and ease the pressure on the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, which was being pursued in the South Atlantic. Two days later, the German flotilla, under the command of Admiral Wilhelm Marschall aboard Gneisenau, intercepted the auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi. At 16:07, lookouts aboard Scharnhorst spotted the British vessel, and less than an hour later Scharnhorst had closed the range. At 17:03, Scharnhorst opened fire, and three minutes later a salvo of her 28 cm guns hit Rawalpindi?'?s bridge, killing the captain and the majority of the staff. During the brief engagement, Rawalpindi managed to score at hit on Scharnhorst, which caused minor splinter damage. Rawalpindi was sunk within 40 minutes. ...more

After serving three years in a Navy ground unit (Küstenwehr) Heinrich Petersen started his naval career in October 1923 on board of the cruiser Berlin. Later he served in the Reichsmarine on the minesweeper M-75 and on several torpedo boats. After the usual 12 years duty he left in September 1931 the Reichsmarine. In 1935 he joined the navy (then named Kriegsmarine) once more and served for 18 months on the torpedo boat T-156, before he became in October 1937 Obersteuermann (Quartermaster) on the type II U-boat U-23. In the same month Oblt. zur See Kretschmer took over the command for the U-boat, and the next 3 and a half year these two seamen served with great successes together on U-boats. Together, they sunk over 30 ships. After 8 patrols in 1939/1940 Petersen left U-23 along with the commander to take over the newly commissioned U-boat U-99. He participated in the great successes of U-99. Together with the greatest majority of the crew he was taken prisoner on 17 March, 1941 by the British. He spent more than 6 years in captivity, before he returned in June 1947. ...more

Werner Töniges was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He sailed with the Schnellboot "S 24", "S 26" and "S 102", sinking eighteen ships on 281 combat patrols, for a total of 86,200 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping. Werner Töniges transferred from the Handelsmarine to the Kriegsmarine in 1935. In 1937 he was promoted to Leutnant zur See. On board of the German pocket battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" he participated in Spanish Civil War. He then transferred to the Schnellboot service. He commanded the Schnellboote "S 24", "S 26" and "S 102". Töniges was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross after 88 combat patrols on 25 February 1941. He soon also received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 13 November 1942, the first in the Schnellboot service. At this point Töniges had sunk 18 war and merchant ships plus two U-boat hunters. He was transferred to the Marineschule at Flensburg-Mürwik as company commander at the end of September 1942. Here he received the Fast Attack Craft War Badge with Diamonds. As of September 1943 he served as a training officer in the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, where he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 January 1945....more

Gerhard Bielig started his naval career in April 1934. From October 1937 he spent then the whole time to the end of the war in the U-boat force. He rode on three U-boats for more than 650 days at sea on combat patrols. He saved the U-boat three times after heavy depth charge-attacks and therefore received, in February 1943, the Knights Cross. After leaving the U-177 he served as instructor in the 2nd ULD and from December 1944 in the Agru-Front (technical taining group for front U-boats)...more

Friedrich Walter Karl Kemnade was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later served with the Bundesmarine. Friedrich Kemnade finished his education in March 1931, he joined the Reichsmarine on April 1st 1931 as Seeoffiziersanwärter (candidate naval officer). On October 1st he was commissioned as Seekadett (cadet). After military training he served aboard a sailing training vessel. In 1932 he served aboard the cruiser Karlsruhe and was promoted to Gefreiter (sergeant) on April 1st. In 1933, Kemnade was sent to the Naval Academy in Mürwick and subsequently served as Divisionsfuhnrich aboard the cruiser Konigsberg. After being promoted to Fahnrich zur See and to Obermaar he was posted as Divisionsleutnant and 2nd torpedo officer aboard respectively the cruiser Königsberg and Nürnberg. After being promoted to Oberfähnrich zur See and to Leutnant zur See in 1935, he was made Schnellbootkommandant in 1.Schnellboot-Halbflotille in 1936. In 1937, following his promotion to Oberleunant zur See, he was posted to a torpedo school as an instructor. At the onset of WWII in September 1939, Kemnade was commissioned as 1st Torpedo officer and Adjutant on the cruiser Emden where he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant in October. In 1940 he was given command of 3.Schnellbootsflotille. On September 11th, 1940, during a British bombardment on Vlissingen, he was seriously injured whilst aboard Schnellboot S13. After recuperation, he came back to his old post and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän in 1943. Subsequently he served as Referent in the Oberkommando (Supreme Command) of the Kriegsmarine witihn the SKL (Seekriegsleitung, director naval operations), a post he held until Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945. Immediately after he German capitulation, Kemnade was made liaison officer in the OkK (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, Supreme Comand Navy) for the Allied Naval Commission and placed under British supervision. On February 27th, 1946, he was released from supervision. Until 1956 he was employed as agent, later as district inspector and management assistent of the Allianz Versicherung-AG (Insurance comp. Ltd) and became branch manager in 1952. Awards: Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (30 April 1940), 1st Class (24 December 1940), Olympic Games Decoration (1936), Wound Badge in Black (20 September 1940), Fast Attack Craft War Badge (11 March 1941), German Cross in Gold on 2 February 1942 as Kapitänleutnant in the 3. Schnellbootflottille, 3 Medaglia d'Argento al Valore Militare 1st time on 21 May 1942, 2nd time on 24 January 1943, 3rd time in 1943, High Seas Fleet Badge (2 January 1943), armband "Afrika" (12 October 1943), Croce di Guerra al Valor Militare (17 March 1943), Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 23 July 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and chief of the 3. Schnellbootflottille and the 249th Oak Leaves on 27 May 1943 as Korvettenkapitän and chief of the 3. Schnellbootflottille 3, mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 18 June 1942 and Great Cross of Merit (September 1970). ...more

Heinz Franke joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1936 and was a member of the so called Olympia-Crew. He served for more than two years on the battle cruiser Gneisenau and was on board during her two patrols in 1939, In October 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force and after the usual training he became first watch officer (IWO) on U-84. After three patrols he left the boat in December 1941 and took over the school boat U-148 which he commanded for 10 months in the Baltic Sea. In October 1942 he became commander of the front boat U-262 and just one month later on his first patrol he sank the Norwegian corvette Montbretia. In May 1943 Franke was to pick up some captured U-boat men who planned to escape in the Gulf of St. Lorenz, but the breakout failed and he returned home without them. In January 1944 Heinz Franke left U-262 and was attached to the BdU org staff. After serving in several other staff positions and in a midget U-boat unit, he took command of U-3509 in March 1945. When the U-boat was damaged on 4 April, 1945 he transferred to U-2502, which he commanded to the end of the war. After the war he spent six months in captivity, then served in a minesweeper unit. In 1957 he joined the Bundesmarine, where he worked in the Amt für Militärkunde (department for military subjects). He retired in March 1972 as Fregattenkapitän. ...more

For the first ten years of his naval career, Otto von Bülow served on the large warships Deutschland and Schleswig-Holstein, and in several navy anti-aircraft units. In April 1940 he joined the U-boat arm and seven months later took command of the school boat U-3 in the 21st Flotilla. After the usual Baubelehrung, in August 1941 Bülow commissioned U-404 at Danzig. In January 1942 the boat left Kiel on her first war patrol. In the course of the next five patrols Bülow sank 14 ships, including the British destroyer HMS Veteran (1,120 tons). On April 23 1943 Bülow attacked an Allied escort carrier with two FAT and two G7e torpedoes. The four torpedoes were directed at the HMS Biter, but von Bülow thought he was attacking the USS Ranger. Upon hearing four explosions (probably the torpedoes dead end course), he considered them as hits, and transmitted the BdU the message "Ranger possible"; the answer was to confirm it (whether in his opinion he had sunk the carrier). Von Bülow answered with a "sinking assumed". The importance of this was that he received the Oak Leaves to this presumed sinking. It was announced in The German Press, and Hitler himself awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves to von Bülow when the commander of U-404 returned home. The Americans reacted blaming the German commander as a coward, but it is well known that he really believed he had sunk the carrier, and for the rest had an excellent service record witnessing his bravery. Later, when the truth was available for the Germans, their records were changed, and the attack correctly reported as being against the Biter. Bülow left the boat after this patrol. In September 1943, Korvkpt. Bülow founded the 23rd Flotilla in Danzig, where future U-boat commanders got their first training. When he commissioned U-2545 in the spring of 1945 he was one of the highly decorated U-boat commanders (including Schnee, Cremer, Emmermann, Witt and Topp), who took command of the new Electro U-boats (type XXI and the smaller Type XXIII) in an attempt to turn the tide in the battle of the Atlantic. In last weeks of war Bülow commanded the Marinesturmbataillon I (Naval Assault Battalion I). After the war he spent three months in British captivity. In July 1956 he joined the newly formed German navy (Bundesmarine). In 1960 at Charleston, South Carolina he commissioned the destroyer Z-6, the former US destroyer USS Charles Ausburne. In March 1963 he became commander of the 3. Zerstörer- geschwader (3rd Destroyer Squadron). Before he retired in 1970, he spent his last five years as Kapitän zur See and garrison chief of Hamburg. ...more

Oberbootsmannmaat Mühlbauer was the only Maat (leading seaman), serving in the U-boats, that received the Knights Cross. He served since April 1939 in the Navy and switched in autumn 1939 to the U-boats. He was on board of U-123 from the commission and took part in very successful patrols under Moehle and Hardegen with a total sinkings of more than 200,000 tons. Also outstanding were his 748 days at sea, nearly two years and a 4 months on patrol! In two cases he, with his sure eyes, saved the boat from being sunk by the enemy. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded by Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg on 10 December 1944 in Kiel.[2] In July 1945 Mühlbauer participated in Operation Deadlight, the sinking of various German submarines by the British ...more

Leutnant Lange received his first experience as an officer on board the torpedo boat Jaguar. In September 1941 he joined the U-boat arm and only two months later started his first patrol as IWO on U-431 in the Mediterranean. In July 1942 he completed the usual Kommandantenschiesslehrgang (commander fire course) in the 24th Flotilla. Oblt. Hans-Günther Lange commissioned U-711 in September 1942. He commanded eleven patrols on this boat, all in Arctic waters and mainly against British and Soviet convoys. Three times U-711 attacked Soviet radio stations on small islands in the Barents Sea and nearby waters. His boat sunk three Soviet vessels and raided various Soviet islands. On 23 August, 1944 Kptlt. Lange fired torpedoes at the Soviet battleship Archangelsk (former HMS Royal Sovereign and a sister ship to HMS Royal Oak sunk by U-47 at Scapa Flow in Oct 1939) and a Soviet destroyer, but this attack was unsuccessful. U-711 was sunk on 4 May 1945 by British aircraft. The next three months Lange spent in British-Norwegian captivity. In October 1957 Lange joined the Bundesmarine. Here he took part in the construction of a new German U-boat weapon. For two years he commanded the 1. Ubootgeschwader (1st U-boot squadron) and in January 1964 became commander of the entire U-boat force. Later he held several staff positions, ending his second naval career in 1972 as staff officer in the Marinedivision der Nordsee (naval forces in the North Sea). ...more

Helmut Max Werner Bastian was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and as commander of the torpedo boat Möwe he was involved in the sinking of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner on 6 June 1944. Later that year he commanded Sprengbooten (Manned Torpedoes) in the Mediterranean. During the Anzio Invasion his Flotilla sank a British destroyer, an armed merchant vessel and numerous landing craft. A total of 14,350 tons were sunk....more

Bernhard Rogge was a German naval officer who, during World War II, commanded a merchant raider. Later, he became a Konteradmiral in West Germany's Bundesmarine. He was awarded a Japanese ornate Samurai sword and the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions as the commander of the Hilfskreuzer (auxiliary cruiser) Atlantis (Schiff 16). Rogge eventually became a Vizeadmiral (vice-admiral—equivalent to a two star admiral during World War II) by the end of World War II, and, when the West German Bundesmarine was established after the war, returned to service as a Konteradmiral (rear-admiral—a two star admiral). Rogge also was one of the few German officers of flag rank who was not arrested by the Allies after the war. This was due to the way he had exercised his command of Atlantis. At the beginning of the Second World War, he took over as Captain of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (Ship 16). With this ship, he revolutionized merchant raider warfare. The trip took Atlantis around the world and would last more than 600 days - the longest continuous war effort of a German warship. Atlantis was the most active in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. A total of 19 ships were sunk with nearly 128,000 GRT and 18,253 GRT applied three ships as prizes. Rogge also had an impact on the Japanese invasion of the British possessions in the Pacific, 1942, for Atlantis captured the freighter Automedon, that had extensive British secret materials on board, which was made ??available to Japan. For this Rogge was received by Emperor Hirohito on 27 April 1942 and awarded a special samurai sword. Apart from him, this award was only awarded to two other foreigners, namely, Hermann Goering and Erwin Rommel. Atlantis was sunk by the British heavy cruiser Devonshire between Brazil and West Africa. The crew was initially taken up by the German U-boat supply ship Python, however, after the sighting of the cruiser Dorsetshire sank itself. The sailors survived with the help of German and Italian submarines to make it back to their homeland. For his efforts, Rogge received the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross....more

Wirich von Gartzen was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He commanded 12 Torpedo-Boats in the seas around Italy performing offensive and defensive including raiding. Awards include the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (15 November 1939), 1st Class (20 June 1940), Destroyer War Badge (19 October 1940), Minesweeper War Badge (20 February 1941), German Cross (30 October 1943), Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 June 1944 as Korvettenkapitän and chief of the 10. Torpedobootflottille. ...more

Otto Westphalen was a German U-boat commander in World War II and joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1938. He took part in the invasion of Poland aboard the battleship Schlesien a year later. He then served on the torpedo boat Kondor for six months before joining the U-boat force in October 1940. He sailed on four patrols as watch officer of U-566 in 1941, and in May 1942 took command of the school boat U-121. In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, and was attached to 13th U-boat Flotilla, based at Trondheim, Norway, for operations against convoys in the Arctic Sea. Westphalen sailed on seven combat patrols between March 1944 and May 1945, though all his victories were made in February and March 1945; he sank three merchant ships, damaged another, and sank the British sloops HMS Lark and HMS Lapwing. On 29 April 1945 he attacked but missed HMS Goodall which was sunk an hour later by U-286. Westphalen surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik. ...more

Karl Wilhelm Walter Müller was a German naval officer and a Schnellboot commander and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II. Müller, as commander of Schnellboot S-52, together with S-65 are credited with the sinking of the British destroyer Eskdale on 14 April 1943. Awards include: Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (24 April 1940), 2nd Class (18 September 1941), Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939), Destroyer War Badge (23 December 1940), Minesweeper War Badge (6 January 1941), Fast Attack Craft War Badge (1 March 1942), Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 July 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of Schnellboot S-52 in the 5. Schnellbootflottille, and mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 7 January 1944 "German E-boats under the command of Captain Lieutenant Karl Müller attacked the British convoy routes on the southwest coast of England on 6 January. They sank from a heavily fortified convoy five ships of 12 500 GRT and a guard. Further ships were damaged by torpedo hits. The complete German task without damage returned to its base"....more

Klaus Bargsten was the captain and sole survivor of sunken U-521. In 1935 Bargsten entered the naval academy. As a midshipman, he served for a time on the Admiralty yacht Grille. This ship was frequently used by Hitler and other Nazi party leaders but, being only a humble midshipman, Bargsten had little contact with them. When the war began, he was serving at the U-Boot-Schule (submarine training school) in Neustadt. After a short time on U-6, he applied to be transferred to U-99. He was then posted to U-99 under Otto Kretschmer where he served as I. Wachoffizier (1st watch officer) for several patrols. He was a highly capable officer and Kretschmer recommended him for Commander Training and ultimately, for command of his own boat. He left U-99 in January 1941 and in March commissioned U-563 on March 27, 1941 and during battle against convoy HG-75, he sank a freighter, but unsuccessfully attacked a Royal Navy destroyer. On his second patrol he sank the British destroyer HMS Cossack. After the third patrol he left the boat on March 15, 1942 and three months later commissioned U-521 on June 3, 1942. On June 2, 1943 the United States submarine chaser PC-565 was 100 nautical miles (190 km) east of Cape Hatteras escorting convoy NG-355 when it picked up a sound contact. They had successfully made contact with U-521. PC-565 set the hydrostatic fuzes on her depth charges to 100 feet (30 m) and a pattern of five charges were dropped in a harassment action. he accuracy of the depth charges was devastating. Inside U-521, all instruments were shattered, all electrical circuit-breakers blown, and the diving planes and rudder were disabled. Cold seawater was coming down the main hatch. Bargsten gave the order to dive for cover. After a few seconds, Oberleutnant (Ing.) Henning reported that they were sinking. She was already down to 500 feet (150 m) and dropping rapidly. Even though it did not make sense to Bargsten that the U-boat could plummet so quickly, he gave the order to blow all ballast. The main depth gauge must have been knocked out by the depth charges. Before he knew it, the U-boat broke the surface. Bargsten snapped open the conning tower hatch and rushed outside to assess the situation.PC-565 was only a quarter mile away. She opened up with her 20 mm gun. Shells burst on and around the U-boat's conning tower. Realizing that U-521 was done for, Bargsten shouted down the conning tower to open the sea cocks and abandon ship. U-521 sank from under the Captain's feet with amazing speed. The last thing Bargsten saw as he looked down was a maelstrom of water pouring into the open hatch. U-521 was gone and Bargsten was left floating in the ocean alone. With professional conduct, PC-565 turned as U-521 sank under the surface. PC-565 dropped another depth charge. Huge bubbles of air rose to the surface. Oil and debris littered the surface, followed by large pieces of human remains. Bargsten rose to the surface and struggled swimming towards the nearest Allied ship. Ray Lankheim, a machine gunner of PC-565 had his 20 mm trained on this lone survivor of the crew as Bargsten was swimming for his life. Lankheim was under orders to 'kill them all' but he could not bring himself to shoot this lone man in the cold water, and so Bargsten survived the war. He spent more than three years in Allied captivity before being released in 1946. ...more

Until the begin of the war Carl-August Landfermann served only in some reserve courses. After a few months in a Navy anti aircraft unit since October 1939, he changed in March 1940 to the U-boat force. After 5 months on U-146 he became in March 1941 the leading engineer (LI) of U-38, which he left in January 1942 after 3 patrols. The new position for Karl-August Landfermann was on the newly commissioned U-181 under the command of the famous Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth. He took part in the incredible 205 day patrol of U-181 in summer 1943 and supported the great successes of the boat with great technical achievements. Two weeks after returning from that patrol he got the Knights Cross. On the next patrol on U-188 under the new commander Fregkpt. Kurt Freiwald he became ill and headed back from the Middle Atlantic with the returning U-188. Since October 1944 he was an instructor in the Agru-Front (Ausbildungsgruppe Front = training group front) where the new U-boats got their technical and dive training. After the war he spent some 4 months in captivity. ...more

Kapitanleutnant Alfred Muser was Kommandant of the R-Boat (Räumboote )Flottila 8 that operated 25 of these versatile warships. The R boats (Räumboote in German) were a group of small naval vessels built as minesweepers for the Kriegsmarine (German navy) before and during the Second World War. They were used for several purposes during the war, mostly coastal raiding, and were also used post-war by the German Mine Sweeping Administration for clearing naval mines....more