The tonnage figures (and sometimes the number of ships sunk) is still being debated among historians. This is often due to convoy battles at night when an attacking wolf pack fired torpedoes into the convoy and two commanders claimed the same ship. Although post-war research has eliminated most of those doubtful victims, there are still some in question.
Top-scoring U-boat commanders of World War II
| #
| Commander
| Patrols
| Ships sunk
| Tonnage
| Notes
| Picture
|
| 1
| Otto Kretschmer
| 16
| 47
| 273,043 tons
| Otto Kretschmer (1912–1998) was the most successful of the World War II Aces of the Deep. As commander of U-35, U-23 and U-99 he sank 47 merchant ships totalling 272,043 tons in a remarkably short period of time, being captured in March 1941 and spending the rest of the war in the Bowmanville POW camp, Canada. After the war, he rejoined the Bundesmarine, and became the Chief of Staff of the NATO Command COMNAVBALTAP in May 1965. He retired in September 1970 with a rank of Flottillenadmiral.[1]
| File:Otto
|
| 2
| Wolfgang Lüth
| 15
| 46
| 225,204 tons
| Wolfgang Lüth (1913–1945) was given command of U-9 in December 1939, going on to command U-13, U-138, U-43 and U-181, and sinking 46 merchant ships for a total 225,204 tons in 15 patrols, including one of 205 days, the second longest of the war. In January 1944 Lüth took command of 22. Unterseebootsflottille, before being appointed commander of the Marineschule Mürwik in July. Lüth was mistakenly shot and killed by a German sentry on 13 May 1945.[2]
| File:Wolfgang Lü
|
| 3
| Erich Topp
| 12
| 35
| 197,460 tons
| Erich Topp (1914–2005) commanded U-57 and U-552 in 1940–1941, and sank 35 merchant ships for a total of 197,460 tons. He commanded the tactical training unit 27. Unterseebootsflottille from late 1942, and served briefly as commander of the Type XXI Elektroboote U-3010 and U-2513 just before the end of the war. He rejoined the Bundesmarine in 1956, reaching the rank of Konteradmiral before retiring in 1969.[3]
| File:Erich
|
| 4
| Heinrich Liebe
| 9
| 34
| 187,267 tons
| Heinrich Liebe (1908–1997) commanded U-38 between 1938–1941, sinking 34 ships for a total of 187,267 GRT. In 1941 Liebe was assigned to the staff of Oberkommando der Marine, and from August 1944 was on the staff of the BdU. After the war Liebe returned to his hometown in the Soviet sector. As he refused to train Soviet submariners, he was allowed only a series of menial occupations.[4]
| File:Heinrich
|
| 5
| Viktor Schütze
| 7
| 35
| 180,073 tons
| Viktor Schütze (1906–1950) commanded U-25 and U-103, sinking 35 merchant ships totalling 180,073 tons, before being appointed commander of 2. Unterseebootsflottille in August 1941. He became the FdU Ausblidungsflottillen (Commander of the Training Flotillas) in the Baltic Sea in March 1943. He spent a year in Allied captivity after the war.[5]
|
|
| 6
| Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
| 10
| 25
| 179,125 tons
| Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911–1986) commanded the U-8, U-5 and U-96, sinking 25 merchant ships for a total of 179,125 tons. In May 1942 Willenbrock took command of 9. Unterseebootsflottille, transferring to 11. Unterseebootsflottille in December 1944. After spending a year in captivity after the German surrender, Willenbrock served as captain on merchant ships, and from 1964 commanded the German nuclear-powered freighter Otto Hahn. Willenbrock acted as advisor to the film Das Boot, based on an account of one of his own war patrols in U-96.[6]
|
|
| 7
| Karl-Friedrich Merten
| 5
| 27
| 170,151 tons
| Karl-Friedrich Merten (1905–1993), in command of U-68, sailed in five patrols in 1941–1942 sinking 27 ships for a total of 170,151 tons. He commanded 26. Unterseebootsflottille in early 1943, and this and other training appointments curtailed his operational career. After the war he made a new career in shipbuilding.[7]
| File:Karl-Friedrich
|
| 8
| Herbert Schultze
| 8
| 26
| 169,709 tons
| Herbert Schultze (1909–1987) commissioned U-48 in 1939, and in eight patrols sank 26 merchant ships for a total of 169,709 tons. Schultze took command of 3. Unterseebootsflottille in July 1941, until joining the staff of Marinegruppe Nord in March 1942. In December 1942 he was assigned to the staff of Admiral Karl Dönitz. In March 1944 he was assigned to Marineschule Mürwik, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1956 Schultze joined the Bundesmarine and served in a series of staff positions until 1968.[8]
| File:Herbert
|
| 9
| Günther Prien
| 10
| 30
| 162,769 tons
| Günther Prien (1908–1941) was given command of U-47 in December 1938, and sank over 30 Allied merchant ships for a total of 162,769 GRT. His most famous exploit was infiltrating the British Home Fleet's base at Scapa Flow in October 1939 and sinking the battleship HMS Royal Oak - which won him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the first U-boat commander to do so. Prien was lost when U-47 went missing on 7 March 1941 during an attack on Convoy OB 293 south of Iceland.[9]
| File:Günther
|
| 10
| Georg Lassen
| 4
| 26
| 156,082 tons
| Georg Lassen (1915–) took command of U-160 and sailed on four combat patrols in 1942 and 1943, sinking 26 ships for a total of 156,082 GRT, a remarkable average of 39,020 GRT per patrol. In June 1943 Lassen was appointed tactical instructor and commander of the "Offiziers-kompanie" in 1. U-boot-Lehr-Division, a training unit for future U-boat commanders.[10]
|
|
| 11
| Joachim Schepke
| 14
| 37
| 155,882 tons
| Joachim Schepke (1912–1941) took command of U-3 in 1938, sailed on five combat patrols, and sank two ships. From January to April 1940 he commanded U-19, sinking another nine ships. After a brief spell serving in a staff position Schepke took command of U-100 in which he sank another 25 ships. This gave him a total of 37 ships sunk for a total of 155,882 GRT. On 17 March 1941 while attacking Convoy HX 112 U-100 was forced to the surface by depth charges from HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc, detected on radar, and consequently rammed by Vanoc. Schepke and 37 crewmen were killed; only six were rescued.[11]
| File:Joachim
|
| 12
| Werner Henke
| 7
| 24
| 155,714 tons
| Werner Henke (1909–1944) took command of U-515 in February 1942, sinking 24 ships totaling 155,714 GRT, before U-515 was sunk by United States Navy aircraft and destroyers north of Madeira. Henke was taken to a secret interrogation center known only as P. O. Box 1142 in Fort Hunt, Virginia, where his interrogator threatened to send him England to face war crime charges if he did not cooperate. On 15 June 1944, Henke ran to the fence surrounding the interrogation center and began to climb over. He continued after a guard ordered him to stop and was shot and killed.[12]
| File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1980-115-23A, Werner
|
| 13
| Carl Emmermann
| 5
| 26
| 152,080 tons
| Carl Emmermann (1915–1990) took command of U-172 in November 1941, completing five patrols, and sinking 26 ships for a total of 152,080 GRT. He became the commander of 6. Unterseebootsflottille in November 1943, and in August 1944 became the chief of the Erprobungsgruppe Typ XXIII ("Type XXIII Testing Group"). In March-April 1945 Emmermann was commander of U-3037, and in April–May 1945 he commanded 31. Unterseebootsflottille in Hamburg. In the final days of the war he took part in infantry duty around Hamburg as commander of Marine-Battalion Emmermann. After the war he studied engineering and prospered in business.[13]
|
|
| 14
| Heinrich Bleichrodt
| 8
| 24
| 151,260 tons
| Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909–1977) was given command of U-48 in 1940, sailing on two patrols, and sinking 15 ships totalling 79,295 GRT, including the SS City of Benares - an unmarked evacuation transport. After briefly commanding U-67, in June 1941 Bleichrodt took command of U-109. He carried out six patrols, sinking 13 ships for a total of some 80,000 tons, to make a grand total of 24 merchant ships sunk, totalling 151,260 tons. Bleichrodt then served in a training post with 27. Unterseebootsflottille and in the 2nd ULD (U-boat Training Division) as tactical instructor. In July 1944 he was appointed commander of 22. Unterseebootsflottille. After the war become a factory manager.[14]
| File:Heinrich
|
| 15
| Robert Gysae
| 8
| 25
| 146,815 tons
| Robert Gysae (1911–1989) commanded U-98 and U-177, sinking 25 ships for a total on 146,815 GRT in eight patrols. In January 1944 he became commander of training unit 25. Unterseebootsflottille. In April 1945, during the last month of the war, Gysae commanded the Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1, a naval anti-tank regiment. After the war he served in the Deutscher Minenräumdienst ("German Mine Sweeping Administration") for more than two years. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, retiring in 1970 with the rank of Flottillenadmiral.[15]
| [[File:|100px|Robert Gysae]]
|
| 16
| Ernst Kals
| 5
| 20
| 145,656 tons
| Ernst Kals (1905–1979) took command of U-130 in June 1941, and sank 20 ships on five patrols, for a total of 145,656 tons of Allied shipping. On 12 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Casablanca, he attacked the heavily guarded transport ships in Fedala Roads in Morocco, sinking three large troop ships for a total of 34,507 tons in five minutes. In January 1943 he became commander of 2. Unterseebootsflottille, where he remained to the end of the war. From May 1945 to January 1948 Kals was held in French captivity.[16]
|
|
| 17
| Johann Mohr
| 6
| 27
| 129,292 tons
| Johann Mohr (1916–1943) assumed command of U-124 in September 1941, and sank 27 ships on six patrols, for a total of 129,292 GRT of Allied shipping. This includes four ships from Convoy ONS-92 sunk on the night of 12 May 1942, totalling 21,784 tons. Mohr was killed when U-124 was sunk with all hands on 2 April 1943 west of Oporto, Portugal, by the British corvette HMS Stonecrop and the sloop HMS Black Swan.[17]
| [[File:|100px|Johann Mohr]]
|
| 18
| Klaus Scholtz
| 8
| 25
| 128,190 tons
| Klaus Scholtz (1908–1987) commanded U-108 from October 1940, sinking 25 ships on 8 patrols, for a total of 128,190 tons of Allied shipping. In October 1942 he formed and took command of 12. Unterseebootsflottille. In August 1944 he attempted to lead his men back to Germany on foot, but they captured by American forces, and he spent the next 18 months in US captivity. Scholtz served in the Bundesgrenzschutz-See from 1953 to 1956, then transferred to the Bundesmarine, serving as commander of several naval bases, including Kiel, Cuxhaven, and Wilhelmshaven. He retired in 1966.[18]
|
|
| 19
| Adolf Cornelius Piening
| 8
| 25
| 126,664 tons
| Adolf Piening (1910–1984) took command of U-155 in June 1941, and sank 25 ships for a total of 126,664 GRT in 8 patrols. From March 1944 Piening was the commander of 7. Unterseebootsflottille. Piening made his last patrol in April 1945, laying mines off Saint-Nazaire in U-255. After the war Piening spent more than two years in Allied captivity. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving for 13 years.[19]
|
|
| 20
| Helmut Witte
| 4
| 23
| 119,554 tons
| Helmut Witte (1915–2005) commissioned U-159 in October 1941 and in four patrols sank 23 ships totalling 119,554 GRT. From June 1943 he served in several staff positions. At the end of the war he spent two months in British captivity, then became a farm hand and factory worker. Later he had a successful business career.[20]
|
|
| 21
| Günther Hessler
| 3
| 21
| 118,822 tons
| Günther Hessler (1909–1968) commissioned U-107 in 1940, and on his first patrol sank four ships for a total of 18,514 tons. He became famous for his second patrol - the most successful of the entire war - sinking 14 ships for a total of 86,699 tons. His third patrol accounted for another three ships for a total of 13,641 tons, giving Hessler grand total of 21 ships sunk totalling 118,822 GRT. Hessler then transferred to the BdU to serve on the staff of his father-in-law Karl Dönitz. After the war Hessler spent over a year in Allied captivity, and testified at the Nuremberg Trials. In 1947 Hessler was commissioned by the British Royal Navy to write The U-Boat War in the Atlantic. Assisted by Alfred Hoschatt, former BdU staff officer and commander of U-378, he completed the three volume work in 1951.[21]
|
| 22
| Ernst Bauer
| 5
| 25
| 118,560 tons
| Ernst Bauer (1914–1988) was given command of U-126 in March 1941, and conducted five combat patrols, sinking 25 merchant ships for a total of 118,560 GRT. In October 1944 he became commander of the training unit 27. Unterseebootsflottille, and during the last month of war he was transferred to 26. Unterseebootsflottille. Bauer rejoined the Bundesmarine in 1956 and held several staff positions before retiring in 1972.[22]
|
|
| 23
| Engelbert Endrass
| 10
| 22
| 118,528 tons
| Engelbert Endrass (1911–1941) was 1.WO of U-47 when Günther Prien took her into Scapa Flow and sank HMS Royal Oak. In May 1940 Endrass took command of U-46, and in eight war patrols sank 21 ships, before taking over U-567 in October 1941. He sank only one more ship, making 22 ships sunk totalling 118,528 tons in 10 patrols. He was killed when U-567 was sunk with all hands on 21 December 1941, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Deptford and corvette HMS Samphire, northeast of the Azores.[23]
| File:Engelbert
|
| 24
| Reinhard Hardegen
| 5
| 22
| 115,656 tons
| Reinhard Hardegen (1913–) took command of U-147 in 1940 for a single patrol, then U-123 for another four patrols in 1941, sinking 22 merchant ships for a total of 115,656 GRT. In mid-1942, he became an instructor in 27. Unterseebootsflottille, and from March 1943, served as chief of the torpedo school at Marineschule Mürwik. Hardegen served for few months in the Torpedowaffenamt (Torpedo Weapon Department) before serving as Battalion Commander in Marine Infanterie Regiment 6 from February 1945, taking part in the fighting around Bremen. Hardegen spent a year and a half in British captivity before starting a successful oil trading business, as well as serving as a member of Bremen's city council (the Bürgerschaft) for 32 years.[24]
|
|
| 25
| Werner Hartmann
| 4
| 26
| 115,337 tons
| Werner Hartmann (1902–1963) was commander of both U-37 and 2. Unterseebootsflottille from January–May 1940, but this proved inefficient, and BdU decided to direct the U-boats from land. After three patrols, and sinking 19 ships totalling 78,559 GRT, Hartmann moved to the BdU staff. In November 1940 he became commander of 2. Unterseeboots-Lehr-Division ("2nd U-boat Training Division"), and a year later took command of the 27. Unterseebootsflottille. In November 1942 he took command of U-198 for a patrol to the Indian Ocean lasting 200 days, the third longest patrol ever undertaken, and sank 7 ships totalling 36,778 GRT, giving him a grand total of 26 ships sunk for 115,337 tons. In 1944 Hartmann became FdU Mittelmeer ("Commander of U-boats in the Mediterranean"). After the war he spent several years in the Bundesmarine.[25]
|
|
| 26
| Hans Jenisch
| 6
| 17
| 110,139 tons
| Hans Jenisch (1913–1982) took command of U-32 in early 1940. During six patrols he sank 17 ships, including the 42,348 ton RMS Empress of Britain, the largest ship sunk by a U-boat, for a career total of 110,139 GRT. Jenisch was taken prisoner in October 1940 when U-32 was sunk north-west of Ireland by two British destroyers. He then spent six and a half years in British captivity. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, holding mainly staff positions, but also commanding the frigate Hipper for a few months. He retired in 1972.[26]
|
|
| 27
| Robert-Richard Zapp
| 5
| 16
| 106,200 tons
| Robert-Richard Zapp (1904–1964) served on one patrol in U-46 under Engelbert Endrass, before taking command of U-66 in January 1941. In five patrols, including two as part of "Operation Drumbeat", he sank 16 ships for a total of 106,200 GRT. Zapp became commander of 3. Unterseebootsflottille in June 1942. The flotilla was disbanded in October 1944, and he then commanded Marine Regiment Zapp, defending the U-boat base, until May 1945. He then spent more than two years in French captivity.[27]
|
|
| 28
| Victor Oehrn
| 4
| 23
| 103,821 tons
| Victor Oehrn (1907–1997) became commander of U-14 in January 1936, patrolling during the Civil War in July–September 1936. In August 1939 he joined the staff of BdU. In May 1940 Oehrn took command of U-37, in order to restore the U-boat men's trust in the G7e/T2 torpedo, which had performed abysmally, often detonating prematurely, or not at all. In four patrols he sank 23 ships for a total of 103,821 GRT before returning to the staff in August. From November 1941 Oehrn served on the Mediterranean U-boat staff, but during a mission to North Africa in July 1942, he was severely wounded and captured by the British. He was released in a prisoner exchange in October 1943 and returned to Germany. Oehrn spent the remainder of the war serving in several staff positions.[28]
|
|
| 29
| Jürgen Oesten
| 13
| 19
| 101,744 tons
| Jürgen Oesten (1913–2010) , commanded U-61 on nine patrols, and sank five ships, before commanding U-106 on three patrols, and sinking another ten ships. In October 1941 he became the commander of the 9. Unterseebootsflottille based in Brest, France. In March 1942 Oesten joined the staff of FdU Nordmeer directing the U-boat war in Arctic waters, but returned to U-boat duty in September 1943, sailing U-861 to Penang to join the Monsun Gruppe, and sinking another four ships, bringing his total to 19 ships sunk, totalling 101,744 GRT. U-861 left Soerabaya, Dutch East Indies, in January 1945 and reached Trondheim, Norway, in April, just before the German surrender.[29] Oesten was the technical advisor for the 2005 submarine simulator Silent Hunter III.[30]
|
|
| 30
| Wilhelm Rollmann
| 8
| 22
| 101,519 tons
| Rollmann (1907–1943) took command of U-34 in October 1938. After seven successful patrols Rollmann became an instructor in 2. Unterseeboots-Lehr-Division ("2nd U-boat Training Division"). In February 1943 he commissioned U-848, sinking one ship of 4,573 tons on his first and only patrol, bringing his career total to 22 ships sunk for 101,519 tons. Rollmann and his crew were all killed on 5 November 1943 when U-848 was sunk by US aircraft south-west of Ascension in the mid-Atlantic.[31]
|
|
| 31
| Erwin Rostin
| 2
| 17
| 101,321 tons
| Erwin Rostin (1907–1942) sailed on his first war patrol as commander of U-158 in February 1942, and sank four ships for a total of 29,234 tons off the US east coast. His second patrol began in May 1942 and was one of the most successful patrols of the war, with 12 ships sunk for a total of 62,536 tons, giving him a career total of 17 ships sunk for 101,321 tons. Rostin and his crew were killed on 30 June 1942 when the U-boat was sunk by a United States Navy Mariner bomber.[32]
|
|
| 32
| Hans-Ludwig Witt
| 3
| 19
| 100,773 tons
| Hans-Ludwig Witt (1909–1980) took command of U-161 in 1941 as part of a training flotilla, before transferring to command of U-129 in 1942. Witt sailed on three successful patrols in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean in 1942 and 1943, sinking 19 ships for a total of 100,773 GRT. After a year on the BdU staff, he returned to active duty in 1945 in U-3524, one of the new Type XXI Elektroboote, but sailed on no combat patrols.[33]
|
|
| 33
| Günther Krech
| 10
| 19
| 100,771 tons
| Günther Krech (1914–2000) commissioned U-558 in February 1941, and in ten patrols, mostly in the Atlantic and in Caribbean waters, sank 19 merchant ships for a total of 100,771 tons. U-558 was sunk by US aircraft on 20 July 1943 in the Bay of Biscay. Only Krech, the LI (engineer officer) and three men of the gun crew survived. Krech remained in Allied captivity until after the war.[34]
|
|
| 34
| Harald Gelhaus
| 11
| 19
| 100,373 tons
| Harald Gelhaus (1915–1997) commanded U-143 and U-107, sailing in ten patrols between March 1941 and June 1943, and sinking 19 ships for a total of 100,373 tons. He then joined the staff of the OKM, the High Command of the German Navy. From February 1944, he was a training officer in 22 and 27. Unterseebootsflottille. He spent the final months of the war in staff positions, the last one being in Naval High Command North. After the war he spent three months in Allied captivity.[35]
|
|
| 35
| Werner Hartenstein
| 5
| 20
| 97,504 tons
| Werner Hartenstein (1908–1943) commissioned U-156 in September 1941. In five patrols he sank 20 ships for a total of 97,504 tons. On the second patrol Hartenstein attacked the refinery at Aruba with gunfire. On the fourth patrol he was involved in the Laconia incident. During the fifth patrol, on 8 March 1943, Hartenstein and all his crew were killed when U-156 was sunk by depth charges dropped from a United States Navy PBY Catalina, east of the island of Barbados.[36]
|
|
| 36
| Fritz-Julius Lemp
| 10
| 20
| 96,639 tons
| Fritz-Julius Lemp (1913–1941) commanded U-30 and U-110 on 10 patrols, sinking 20 ships totalling 96,639 tons. His first attack, on 3 September 1939, only two days after the British declaration of war, was the most controversial. Lemp sank what he thought was an armed merchant cruiser, but was in fact the passenger liner SS Athenia; 112 of her passengers died. The sinking caused dramatic publicity throughout the English-speaking world, while the German High Command systematically attempted to cover up this appalling error. Not until January 1946, during the Nuremberg Trials, did Admiral Dönitz finally admit that Athenia had been torpedoed by U-30. Lemp was killed in May 1941 when U-110, on her second patrol, was captured east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by the British destroyers HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway.[37]
|
|
| 37
| Adalbert Schnee
| 12
| 23
| 96,547 tons
| Adalbert Schnee (1913–1982) commanded U-6, U-60, U-201 in 11 patrols, sinking 21 merchant ships totalling 90,189 tons, and damaged three others (28,820 tons). He also sank two British auxiliary warships, Springbank and Laertes. After serving on the BdU staff from October 1942, Schnee took command of the Type XXI U-2511, in September 1944, sailing on only a single short patrol between 3 and 6 May 1945 before surrendering.[38]
|
|
| 38
| Reinhard Suhren
| 6
| 18
| 95,544 tons
|
| File:Reinhard
|
| 39
| Karl-Heinz Moehle
| 10
| 21
| 93,197 tons
|
|
|
| 40
| Georg-Wilhelm Schulz
| 8
| 19
| 89,886 tons
|
|
|
| 41
| Georg Schewe
| 10
| 16
| 85,779 tons
|
|
|
| 42
| Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske
| 4
| 16
| 85,299 tons
|
|
|
| 43
| Ulrich Heyse
| 5
| 12
| 83,639 tons
|
|
|
| 44
| Ulrich Folkers
| 5
| 17
| 82,873 tons
|
|
|
| 45
| Herbert Kuppisch
| 14
| 16
| 82,108 tons
|
| File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-3495-04, Uboot U 96, Herbert
|
| 46
| Jürgen Wattenberg
| 3
| 14
| 82,027 tons
|
|
| 47
| Rolf Mützelburg
| 8
| 19
| 81,987 tons
|
| [[File:|100px|Rolf Mützelburg]]
|
| 48
| Werner Winter
| 5
| 15
| 79,302 tons
|
|
|
| 49
| Fritz Frauenheim
| 9
| 19
| 78,853 tons
|
|
|
| 50
| Jürgen von Rosenstiel
| 4
| 14
| 78,843 tons
| Jürgen von Rosenstiel (1912–1942), commander of U-502, sank 14 ships for a total of 78,843 GRT in only four patrols. On the last of these, on 5 July 1942, U-502 was sunk by a British Wellington bomber in the Bay of Biscay. Rosenstiel and his crew were all killed.[39]
|
|