Rolf Rüggeberg

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 26)

Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 12,789 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,174 GRT

Born	4 Mar 1907		Barcelona, Spain
Died	6 Dec 1979	(72)

Ranks

26 Oct 1926		Seekadett
1 Apr 1928		Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1930		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1933		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1936		Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1941		Korvettenkapitän
1 Nov 1944		Fregattenkapitän

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-513	10 Jan 1942	14 May 1943	3 patrols (159 days)

Rolf Rüggeberg joined the Reichsmarine in 1926. From Jan to June 1940 he was a training leader with the Naval Academy San Fernando at Cadiz, Spain. He was assistant to the Naval Attaché in Madrid until Oct 1940, then acting Naval Attaché at Lisbon, Portugal Nov 1940 - March 1941.

He joined the U-boat force in April 1941, and received standard training until Aug 1941. From Aug to Nov 1941 he was posted to U-107 (Hessler) as a Kommandantenschüler (U-boat commander-in-training). In Dec 1941 he began Baubelehrung (U-boat construction familiarization) at Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg on his own boat, the type IXC U-boat U-513, commissioning her on 10 Jan 1942.

Rüggeberg commanded U-513 until 14 May 1943, taking the boat out on three patrols, spending a total of 159 days at sea. He sank three ships with a total of almost 20,000 GRT.

Lucky escape from a mine
On his return from her third and last patrol on 14 April 1943 KrvKpt. Rolf Rüggeberg's U-513 was met by one of her sister type IX boats, Kptlt Hans Möglich's U-526, as they waited for a minesweeper to escort them to base at Lorient, France. Being the senior officer, Rüggeberg should have been first in line behind the minesweeper, but Möglich, eager to enter port after 63 days at sea, rushed ahead of Rüggeberg. One mile from port, the minesweeper had left the boats for them to continue to dock when U-526 hit a newly-laid British mine and exploded in a huge blast, ripping the boat in two. 42 died, including Möglich, and only twelve survived, nine of them wounded. U-513 moored unscathed amid frantic rescue operations. (Blair, 1998)

From June 1943 until the end of war FrgKpt. Rüggeberg commanded the 13th Flotilla at Trondheim, Norway.

Rolf Rüggeberg was a Naval Attache in London in the early 1960s.

Sources

Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.
Busch, R & Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Rolf Rüggeberg

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-513	7 Aug 1942	Kiel	22 Oct 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	77 days
2.	U-513	21 Nov 1942	Lorient	18 Dec 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	28 days
3.	U-513	20 Feb 1943	Lorient	14 Apr 1943	Lorient	Patrol 3,	54 days
3 patrols, 159 days at sea

Ships hit by Rolf Rüggeberg

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
5 Sep 1942	U-513	Saganaga	5,454	br
5 Sep 1942	U-513	Lord Strathcona	7,335	ca
29 Sep 1942	U-513	Ocean Vagabond (d.)	7,174	br	HX-209
			19,963
2 ships sunk (12,789 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,174 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.