U Boat Aces

WWI:
Most Successful U Boat Commanders Tonnage Sunk or Captured Commander Successes 1. Kptlt. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perire Kptlt. Walter Forstmann 195 ships sunk or captured (455,868 tons) 8 ships damaged (34,312 tons) 149 ships sunk or captured (391,607 tons) 7 ships damaged (30,552 tons) 144 ships sunk or captured (299,473 tons) 6 ships damaged (33,151 tons) 206 ships sunk or captured (244,778 tons) 11 ships damaged (61,519 tons) 82 ships sunk or captured (221,106 tons) 9 ships damaged (45,606 tons) 56 ships sunk or captured (188,895 tons) 10 ships damaged (36,363 tons) 49 ships sunk or captured (185,212 tons) 4 ships damaged (3,488 tons) 51 ships sunk or captured (183,832 tons)

2.

3.

KrvKpt. Max Valentiner

4.

Kptlt. Otto Steinbrinck

5.

Kptlt. Hans Rose

6.

Kptlt. Gustav Sie

7.

Kptlt. Walther Schwieger

8.

Wolfgang Steinbauer

12 ships damaged (60,480 tons) 9. Kptlt. Claus Rcker 80 ships sunk or captured (174,655 tons) 3 ships damaged (9,951 tons) 111 ships sunk or captured (173,057 tons) 10 ships damaged (17,131 tons) 48 ships sunk or captured (163,128 tons) 6 ships damaged (27,902 tons) 56 ships sunk or captured (157,771 tons) 5 ships damaged (7,998 tons) 58 ships sunk or captured (154,813 tons) 6 ships damaged (31,405 tons) 77 ships sunk or captured (153,630 tons) 6 ships damaged (25,317 tons) 77 ships sunk or captured (148,310 tons) 16 ships damaged (89,369 tons) 46 ships sunk or captured (147,869 tons) 3 ships damaged (9,420 tons) 57 ships sunk or captured (143,667 tons) 3 ships damaged (10,771 tons) 45 ships sunk or captured (140,783

10.

Oblt. Reinhold Saltzwedel

11.

Kptlt. Kurt Hartwig

12.

KrvKpt. Waldemar Kophamel

13.

Kptlt. Hans von Mellenthin

14.

Kptlt. Otto Wnsche

15.

Oblt. Johannes Lohs

16.

Kptlt. Robert Moraht

17.

Kptlt. Konrad Gansser

18.

Kptlt. Rudolf Schneider

tons) 5 ships damaged (21,956 tons) 19. Kptlt. Otto Schultze 54 ships sunk or captured (137,817 tons) 8 ships damaged (26,945 tons) 90 ships sunk or captured (136,203 tons) 5 ships damaged (15,297 tons)

20.

Oblt. Erwin Waner

These 20 commanders sank 1,731 ships for a total of 4,002,474 tons. Most Successful U Boat Commanders Ships Sunk or Captured Otto Steinbrinck 206 Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere 195 Walter Forstmann 149 Max Valentiner 144 Reinhold Saltzwedel 111 Erwin Waner 90 Hans Rose 82 Claus Rucker 80

WWII:
Most Successful U Boat Commanders Tonnage Sunk Commander 1. Otto Kretschmer 2. Wolfgang Lth 3. Erich Topp 4. Heinrich Liebe 5. Viktor Schtze 6. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock 7. Karl-Friedrich Merten 8. Herbert Schultze 9. Gnther Prien 10. Georg Lassen 11. Joachim Schepke 12. Werner Henke Patrols Ships sunk/damaged 16 patrols 46 ships sunk (273.043 tons) 5 ships damaged (37.965 tons) 16 patrols 46 ships sunk (225.204 tons) 2 ships damaged (17.343 tons) 13 patrols 35 ships sunk (197.460 tons) 4 ships damaged (32.317 tons) 9 patrols 34 ships sunk (187.267 tons) 1 ship damaged (3.670 tons) 7 patrols 35 ships sunk (180.073 tons) 2 ships damaged (14.213 tons) 10 patrols 25 ships sunk (179.125 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.864 tons) 5 patrols 27 ships sunk (170.151 tons) 9 patrols 26 ships sunk (169.709 tons) 1 ship damaged (9.456 tons) 10 patrols 30 ships sunk (162.769 tons) 8 ships damaged (62.751 tons) 4 patrols 26 ships sunk (156.082 tons) 5 ships damaged (34.419 tons) 14 patrols 37 ships sunk (155.882 tons) 4 ships damaged (17.229 tons) 7 patrols 24 ships sunk (155.714 tons) 2 ships damaged (7.954 tons)

13. Carl Emmermann 14. Heinrich Bleichrodt 15. Robert Gysae 16. Ernst Kals 17. Johann Mohr 18. Klaus Scholtz 19. Adolf Cornelius Piening 20. Helmut Witte 21. Gnter Hessler 22. Ernst Bauer 23. Engelbert Endrass 24. Reinhard Hardegen 25. Werner Hartmann 26. Hans Jenisch 27. Richard Zapp

5 patrols 26 ships sunk (152.080 tons) 8 patrols 24 ships sunk (151.260 tons) 2 ships damaged (11.684 tons) 8 patrols 25 ships sunk (146.815 tons) 1 ship damaged (2.588 tons) 5 patrols 20 ships sunk (145.656 tons) 1 ship damaged (6.986 tons) 6 patrols 27 ships sunk (129.976 tons) 3 ships damaged (26.167 tons) 8 patrols 25 ships sunk (128.190 tons) 9 patrols 25 ships sunk (126.664 tons) 1 ship damaged (6.736 tons) 4 patrols 23 ships sunk (119.554 tons) 1 ship damaged (265 tons) 3 patrols 21 ships sunk (118.822 tons) 5 patrols 25 ships sunk (118.560 tons) 4 ships damaged (31.304 tons) 10 patrols 22 ships sunk (118.528 tons) 4 ships damaged (25.491 tons) 5 patrols 22 ships sunk (115.656 tons) 5 ships damaged (46.500 tons) 4 patrols 26 ships sunk (115.337 tons) 6 patrols 17 ships sunk (110.139 tons) 3 ships damaged (22.749 tons) 5 patrols 16 ships sunk (106.200 tons) 1 ship damaged (12.502 tons)

28. Victor Oehrn 29. Jrgen Oesten 30. Wilhelm Rollmann 31. Erwin Rostin 32. Hans-Ludwig Witt 33. Gnther Krech 34. Harald Gelhaus

4 patrols 23 ships sunk (103.821 tons) 1 ship damaged (9.494 tons) 14 patrols 19 ships sunk (101.744 tons) 4 ships damaged (51.668 tons) 8 patrols 22 ships sunk (101.519 tons) 2 patrols 17 ships sunk (101.321 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.264 tons) 3 patrols 19 ships sunk (100.773 tons) 10 patrols 19 ships sunk (100.771 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.070 tons) 10 patrols 19 ships sunk (100.373 tons) 1 ship damaged (10.068 tons)

On 262 war patrols these 34 men sank 873 ships for a total of 4.826.238 tons.

Commander 1.

Patrols Werner Hartenstein

Ships sunk/damaged 5 patrols 20 ships sunk (97.504 tons) 4 ships damaged (20.001 tons) 10 patrols 20 ships sunk (96.639 tons) 4 ships damaged (45.417 tons) 12 patrols 23 ships sunk (95.889 tons) 3 ships damaged (28.820 tons) 6 patrols 18 ships sunk (95.544 tons) 4 ships damaged (28.907 tons) 10 patrols 21 ships sunk (93.197 tons) 8 patrols 19 ships sunk (89.886 tons) 1 ship damaged (3.900 tons) 10 patrols 16 ships sunk (85.779 tons) 4 patrols 16 ships sunk (85.299 tons) 1 ship damaged (7.176 tons) 5 patrols 12 ships sunk (83.639 tons)

2.

Fritz-Julius Lemp

3.

Adalbert Schnee

4.

Reinhard Suhren

5. 6.

Karl-Heinz Moehle Georg-Wilhelm Schulz

7. 8.

Georg Schewe Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske

9.

Ulrich Heyse

10. 11. 12. 13.

Ulrich Folkers Herbert Kuppisch Jrgen Wattenberg Rolf Mtzelburg

5 patrols 17 ships sunk (82.873 tons) 14 patrols 16 ships sunk (82.108 tons) 3 patrols 14 ships sunk (82.027 tons) 8 patrols 19 ships sunk (81.961 tons) 3 ships damaged (17.052 tons) 6 patrols 15 ships sunk (79.302 tons) 9 patrols 19 ships sunk (78.853 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.655 tons) 4 patrols 14 ships sunk (78.843 tons) 2 ships damaged (23.797 tons) 6 patrols 12 ships sunk (78.553 tons) 2 ships damaged (12.885 tons) 5 patrols 19 ships sunk (77.143 tons) 1 ship damaged (6.561 tons) 7 patrols 15 ships sunk (76.882 tons) 1 ship damaged (8.022 tons)

14. 15.

Werner Winter Fritz Frauenheim

16.

Jrgen von Rosenstiel

17.

Hermann Rasch

18.

Harro Schacht

19.

Otto Ites

20.

Erich Wrdemann

5 patrols 15 ships sunk (76.714 tons) 4 ships damaged (30.179 tons) 6 patrols 14 ships sunk (74.087 tons) 3 patrols 13 ships sunk (74.067 tons) 3 ships damaged (10.236 tons) 8 patrols 23 ships sunk (73.428 tons) 14 patrols 15 ships sunk (73.015 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.187 tons) 7 patrols 13 ships sunk (72.138 tons) 5 ships damaged (29.726 tons) 6 patrols 14 ships sunk (71.450 tons) 2 ships damaged (16.689 tons) 8 patrols 15 ships sunk (71.036 tons) 3 ships damaged (28.682 tons) 5 patrols 11 ships sunk (69.589 tons) 1 ship damaged (7.197 tons)

21. 22.

Georg Staats Friedrich Markworth

23. 24.

Asmus Nicolai Clausen Claus Korth

25.

Gnther Mller-Stckheim

26.

Otto von Blow

27.

Siegfried von Forstner

28.

Hans-Hartwig Trojer

29.

Ernst Mengersen

11 patrols 12 ships sunk (68.071 tons) 3 ships damaged (20.159 tons) 8 patrols 20 ships sunk (67.991 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.666 tons) 7 patrols 12 ships sunk (67.277 tons) 4 patrols 10 ships sunk (67.191 tons) 2 ships damaged (13.672 tons) 5 patrols 12 ships sunk (66.174 tons) 3 ships damaged (22.490 tons) 10 patrols 21 ships sunk (66.032 tons) 3 ships damaged (20.455 tons) 6 patrols 13 ships sunk (63.412 tons) 7 ships damaged (44.427 tons) 3 patrols 9 ships sunk (62.761 tons) 1 ship damaged (6.840 tons) 10 patrols 12 ships sunk (61.390 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.273

30.

Heinz-Otto Schultze

31. 32.

Otto Schuhart Alfred Eick

33.

Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen

34.

Herbert Wohlfarth

35.

Albrecht Achilles

36.

August Maus

37.

Karl Thurmann

tons) 38. Hans Rudolf Rsing 2 patrols 12 ships sunk (60.701 tons) 1 ship damaged (5.888 tons) 13 patrols 11 ships sunk (57.089 tons) 1 ship damaged (9.718 tons) 7 patrols 13 ships sunk (56.333 tons) 4 patrols 11 ships sunk (56.318 tons) 2 ships damaged (10.332 tons) 9 patrols 13 ships sunk (56.272 tons) 3 ships damaged (19.644 tons) 8 patrols 10 ships sunk (56.168 tons) 3 patrols 13 ships sunk (55.659 tons) 1 ship damaged (490 tons) 2 patrols 9 ships sunk (54.753 tons) 1 ship damaged (9.687 tons) 6 patrols 10 ships sunk (54.420 tons) 1 ship damaged (7.191 tons) 14 patrols 9 ships sunk (53.782 tons)

39.

Udo Heilmann

40. 41.

Otto Salman Jost Metzler

42.

Gnter Kuhnke

43. 44.

Siegfried Strelow Hans Oestermann

45.

Gerhard Wiebe

46.

Reinhart Reche

47.

Heinrich Timm

48. 49.

Reiner Dierksen Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissmann

3 patrols 11 ships sunk (53.307 tons) 4 patrols 8 ships sunk (52.346 tons) 2 ships damaged (15.440 tons) 3 patrols 8 ships sunk (51.859 tons) 1 ship damaged (1.999 tons)

50.

Siegfried Rollmann

On 341 war patrols these 50 men sank 717 ships for a total of 3.586.751 tons. Most Successful U Boat Commanders Ships Sunk Otto Kretschmer 47 Wolfgang Luth 47 Joachim Schepke 37 Erich Topp 36 Viktor Schutze 35 Heinrich Liebe 34 Gunther Prien 31 Johann Mohr - 29 Karl-Friedrich Merten 27 Herbert Schultze 26

Georg Lassen 26 Ernst Bauer 26 Werner Hartmann 26 Carl Emmermann 26 Adolf Piening - 26

Most Successful U Boat Commanders Warships Sunk Otto Kretschmer 4 warships (3 Aux. Warships, and 1 Destroyer) Albrecht Brandi 4 warships (2 Destroyers, 1 Minelayer, and 1 Aux. Warship) Gerd Kelbling 4 warships (2 Destroyers, 1 Minesweeper, and 1 Landing Ship) Werner Henke 3 warships (2 Aux. Warships, and 1 Sloop) Ernst Kals 3 warships (3 Aux. Warships) Waldemar Mehl 3 warships (1 Destroyer, 1 Aux. Warship, and 1 Minesweeper) Wilhelm Rollmann 3 warships (1 Destroyer, 1 Minelayer, and 1 Submarine)

Most Successful U Boat Commanders Warship Tonnage Sunk Otto Kretschmer 47,815 tons, 4 warships sunk (3 Aux. Warships, and 1 Destroyer) Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen 40,235 tons, 2 warships sunk (1 Battleship, HMS Barham, and 1 Aux. Warship) Ernst Kals 34,407 tons, 3 warships sunk (3 Aux. Warships) Gunther Prien 29,150 tons, 1 warship sunk (1 Battleship, HMS Royal Oak) Friedrich Guggenberger 23,750 tons, 2 warships sunk (1 Aircraft Carrier, HMS Ark Royal, and 1 Aux. Warship) Helmut Rosenbaum 22,600 tons, 1 warship sunk (1 Aircraft Carrier, HMS Eagle) Otto Schuhart 22,500 tons, 1 warship sunk (1 Aircraft Carrier, HMS Courageous) Werner Henke 20,627 tons, 3 warships sunk (2 Aux. Warships, and 1 Sloop) Adolf Piening 13,785 tons, 1 warship sunk (1 Escort Carrier, HMS Avenger) Gerhard Bigalk 11,000 tons, 1 warship sunk (1 Escort Carrier, HMS Audacity) Detlev Krankenhagen 9,393 tons, 1 warship sunk (1 Escort Carrier, USS Block Island)

Largest Merchants ships hit by U-boat in WWII

Allied merchant ships of 15,000 GRT and more sunk by German U-boats during the Second World War. This list includes auxiliary warships such as armed merchant cruisers (AMC's).

Date

Name of vessel and U-boat responsible

28 Oct 1940 Empress of Britain (42,348 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-32 (Jenisch) 21 Dec 1942 Strathallan (23,722 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-562 (Hamm) 10 Oct 1942 Orcades (23,456 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-172 (Emmermann) 7 Mar 1941 Terje Viken (20,638 GRT) a whale factory ship sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer) 6 Jun 1940 HMS Carinthia (20,277 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-46 (Endrass) 10 Oct 1942 Duchess of Atholl (20,119 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-178 (Ibbeken) 14 Nov 1942 Warwick Castle (20,107 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-413 (Poel) 12 Sep 1942 Laconia (19,695 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-156 (Hartenstein) 11 Nov 1942 Viceroy of India (19,627 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-407 (Brller) 3 Nov 1940 HMS Laurentic (F 51) (18,724 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer)

7 Dec 1942 Ceramic (18,713 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-515 (Henke) 13 Jun 1940 HMS Scotstoun (17,046 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-25 (Beduhn) 17 Mar 1944 Dempo (17,024 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-371 (Mehl) 29 Oct 1942 Kosmos II (16,966 GRT) a whale factory ship sunk by U-624 (Soden-Fraunhofen) 10 Aug 1940 HMS Transylvania (F 56) (16,923 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-56 (Harms) 13 Apr 1941 HMS Rajputana (F 35) (16,644 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-108 (Scholtz) 2 Dec 1940 HMS Forfar (F 30) (16,402 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer) 8 Sep 1944 Empire Heritage (15,702 GRT) a steam tanker sunk by U-482 (Matuschka) 2 Jul 1940 Arandora Star (15,501 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-47 (Prien) 3 Feb 1942 Amerikaland (15,355 GRT) a motor merchant sunk by U-106 (Rasch) 27 Aug 1940 HMS Dunvegan Castle (15,007 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-46 (Endrass) 21 ships larger than 15,000 GRT sunk (409,996 total GRT)

Warships sunk in WWII

Warships of 4,000 tons and more sunk by German U-boats during the Second World War.

Commander 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Gnther Prien Friedrich Guggenberger Helmut Rosenbaum Otto Schuhart Adolf Cornelius Piening Gerhard Bigalk Detlev Krankenhagen Johann Jebsen

Boat U-47 U-81 U-73 U-29

Date

Capital ship

Tons

Type

Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen U-331 25 Nov 1941 HMS Barham (04) 14 Oct 1939 HMS Royal Oak (08) 13 Nov 1941 HMS Ark Royal (91) 11 Aug 1942 HMS Eagle (94) 17 Sep 1939 HMS Courageous (50)

31,100 Battleship 29,150 Battleship 22,600 Aircraft carrier 22,600 Aircraft carrier 22,500 Aircraft carrier 13,785 Escort carrier 11,000 Escort carrier 9,393 Escort carrier 5,450 Light cruiser 5,450 Light cruiser 5,270 Light cruiser 5,220 Light cruiser 4,850 Light cruiser 2,650 Cruiser-minelayer

U-155 15 Nov 1942 HMS Avenger (D 14) U-751 21 Dec 1941 HMS Audacity (D 10) U-549 29 May 1944 USS Block Island (CVE 21)

U-565 11 Mar 1942 HMS Naiad (93) U-205 16 Jun 1942 HMS Hermione (74) U-410 18 Feb 1944 HMS Penelope (97) U-557 15 Dec 1941 HMS Galatea (71) U-124 24 Nov 1941 HMS Dunedin (D 93) U-617 1 Feb 1943 HMS Welshman (M 84)

10. Franz-Georg Reschke 11. Horst-Arno Fenski 12. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen 13. Johann Mohr 14. Albrecht Brandi

14 warships larger than 2,500 tons sunk (191,018 total tons).