Throughout the wartime period 1939 to 1945 Germany produced a large number of outstanding U-Boat commanders. The List of U-boat aces -sometimes known as the Aces of the Deep- were the ten German U-Boat commanders during WW2 who sank the most enemy merchant ships during their naval careers, ranked according to the total tonnage of the ships they sank. There is much variance in interpreting the composition of such a list however I have used the currently widely accepted list as the basis of the following instalments.
I am planning to undertake ten separate weekly instalments covering each of these “Aces of the Deep” starting with number ten and counting down to number one.
I will provide images of each individual, biographical details and relevant statistics.
By way of background to put things in perspective from this era here are some relevant statistics:
U-Boat Captains and U-Boat numbers.
In the period 1935 to 1945, 1,418 U-Boat officers were trained and qualified as Captains.
Of the 1,156 boats that entered service, some 538 of their Captains died at sea, with a further 11 more dying from accidents.
During the war, 5 died from natural causes, 2 were shot after being court martialled, and 2 were dismissed from this service.
It appears that 4 were all shot in differing circumstances, and finally 4 committed suicide post war.
Award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its three superior awards.
125 members of the U-Boat arm of the navy received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, 29 received the award with Oak Leaves added, 5 received the awards of both with Oak Leaves and with Swords, and with Diamonds.
Ships sunk & tonnage.
2779 ships were sent to the bottom of the sea by U-Boats, to reach a total staggering figure of 14,119,413 tons.
Killed in Action.
30,003 officers and sailors from the U-Boat service were killed during WW2.
U-Boats lost.
630 were lost at sea, 603 of these to enemy action, 20 sank from unknown causes, and another 7 were lost from accidents, mines claimed a further 81 boats.
Now lets roll onto the first of our instalments.
I trust you enjoy reading these as much as I have putting them together.
Cheers
Sean
