Eckehard Wolf

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 37b)

No ships sunk or damaged.

Born	11 Mar 1918		Crossen
Died	26 Mar 1978	(60)

Ranks

9 Oct 1937		Offiziersanwärter
28 Jun 1938		Seekadett
1 Apr 1939		Fähnrich zur See
1 Mar 1940		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 May 1940		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1942		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jan 1945		Kapitänleutnant

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-966	4 Mar 1943	10 Nov 1943	1 patrol (37 days)

Eckehard wolf had graduated from Kriegsmarine promotion 1937b. Between March an October 1941 served as third officer in the U560, then became a second officer until July 1942. From August 1942 to March 1943 followed a few courses in the "8 K.L.A." and served aboard the U-459. March 4, took over the U-966. Kiel receive the ship wich was to be his emblem "Gut Holz", recalling the words spoken by the Commander to the seafaring in his introduction. Having sunk his boat in Cape Ortegal, Wolf and all the uboat crew was retained in Naval Station La Graña in Ferrol in December, 22 1943.

On September 12 1944 Wolf was suffering from a lung ailment, the Authorities gave a save passage to travel to Madrid, where he was was treated at the military hospital. Official documents indicated Wolf died there. But the reality was very different. A Lufthansa plane destined for Hamburg was carrying a passenger named Erich Weber, who was Eckehard Wolf. He was promoted to Kapitanleutnant and given command of a company of Marines to defend Hamburg the Allied troops.

After the war Wolf married and had two children. Years later he returned to "O Barqueiro" (Cape Ortegal), accompanied by his wife Anneliese. The visit was repeated many summers. So many that one of his sons ended marrying with a girl from O Barqueiro. In the summer of 1978 Eckehard Wolf dies. His last will and testament was to be cremated and thrown into the sea where the U-966 lies.

Patrol info for Eckehard Wolf

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-966	9 Sep 1943	Kiel	15 Sep 1943	Molde		7 days
2.	U-966	17 Sep 1943	Molde	18 Sep 1943	Trondheim		2 days
3.	U-966	5 Oct 1943	Trondheim	10 Nov 1943	Sunk	Patrol 1,	37 days

About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.