List of successful U-boat commanders
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List of successful U-boat commanders contains lists of the most successful German U-boat commanders in the two World Wars based on total tonnage.
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.
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[edit] World War I
This list contains the most successful German U-boats commanders during the First World War based on total tonnage. Only sunk commercial vessels are included, not military (warships) nor damaged ships.
| # | Commander | Patrols | Ships sunk | Tonnage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière | 15 | 194 | 453.716 tons |
| 2 | Walther Forstmann | * | * | 384.300 tons |
| 3 | Max Valentiner | * | 150 | 299.300 tons |
| 4 | Otto Steinbrinck | * | * | 231.614 tons |
| 5 | Hans Rose | * | * | 213.900 tons |
| 6 | Walther Schwieger | 34 | 49 | 183.883 tons |
| 7 | Reinhold Saltzwedel | * | 111 | 170.526 tons |
| 8 | Johannes Lohs | * | * | 165.000 tons |
| 9 | Waldemar Kophamel | * | 54 | 148.852 tons |
[edit] World War II
This list contains the most successful German U-boats commanders during the Second World War based on total tonnage. Only sunk commercial vessels are included, not military (warships) nor damaged ships.
| # | Commander | Patrols | Ships sunk | Tonnage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otto Kretschmer | 16 | 46 | 273.043 tons |
| 2 | Wolfgang Lüth | 15 | 46 | 225.204 tons |
| 3 | Erich Topp | 12 | 35 | 197.460 tons |
| 4 | Heinrich Liebe | 9 | 34 | 187.267 tons |
| 5 | Viktor Schütze | 7 | 35 | 180.073 tons |
| 6 | Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock | 10 | 25 | 179.125 tons |
| 7 | Karl-Friedrich Merten | 5 | 27 | 170.151 tons |
| 8 | Herbert Schultze | 8 | 26 | 169.709 tons |
| 9 | Günther Prien | 10 | 30 | 162.769 tons |
| 10 | Georg Lassen | 4 | 26 | 156.082 tons |
| 11 | Joachim Schepke | 14 | 37 | 155.882 tons |
| 12 | Werner Henke | 7 | 24 | 155.714 tons |
| 13 | Carl Emmermann | 5 | 26 | 152.080 tons |
| 14 | Heinrich Bleichrodt | 8 | 24 | 151.260 tons |
| 15 | Robert Gysae | 8 | 25 | 146.815 tons |
| 16 | Ernst Kals | 5 | 20 | 145.656 tons |
| 17 | Johann Mohr | 6 | 27 | 129.292 tons |
| 18 | Klaus Scholtz | 8 | 25 | 128.190 tons |
| 19 | Adolf Cornelius Piening | 8 | 25 | 126.664 tons |
| 20 | Helmut Witte | 4 | 23 | 119.554 tons |
| 21 | Günter Hessler | 3 | 21 | 118.822 tons |
| 22 | Ernst Bauer | 5 | 25 | 118.560 tons |
| 23 | Engelbert Endrass | 10 | 22 | 118.528 tons |
| 24 | Reinhard Hardegen | 5 | 22 | 115.656 tons |
| 25 | Werner Hartmann | 4 | 26 | 115.337 tons |
| 26 | Hans Jenisch | 6 | 17 | 110.139 tons |
| 27 | Richard Zapp | 5 | 16 | 106.200 tons |
| 28 | Victor Oehrn | 4 | 23 | 103.821 tons |
| 29 | Jürgen Oesten | 13 | 19 | 101.744 tons |
| 30 | Wilhelm Rollmann | 8 | 22 | 101.519 tons |
| 31 | Erwin Rostin | 2 | 17 | 101.321 tons |
| 32 | Hans-Ludwig Witt | 3 | 19 | 100.773 tons |
| 33 | Günther Krech | 10 | 19 | 100.771 tons |
| 34 | Harald Gelhaus | 11 | 19 | 100.373 tons |
| 35 | Werner Hartenstein | 5 | 20 | 97.504 tons |
| 36 | Fritz-Julius Lemp | 10 | 20 | 96.639 tons |
| 37 | Adalbert Schnee | 12 | 23 | 96.547 tons |
| 38 | Reinhard Suhren | 6 | 18 | 95.544 tons |
| 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 |
| 46 | Jürgen Wattenberg | 3 | 14 | 82.027 tons |
| 47 | Rolf Mützelburg | 8 | 19 | 81.987 tons |
| 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 |
[edit] See also
- Aces of the Deep - More detailed article about the ten most successful U-boat commanders during World War II called Aces of the Deep.
[edit] External links
- uboat.net webpage most successful in WWI - containing most successful u-boat commanders during World War I
- uboat.net webpage more commander info. - containing more details about successful u-boat commanders during World War I showing differences from above list
- uboat.net webpage > 100.000 tons in WWII - containing u-boat commanders who sank over 100.000 tons during World War II
- uboat.net webpage > 50.000 tons in WWII - containing u-boat commanders who sank over 50.000 tons during World War II
