Erich Faust

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew XII/39)



No ships sunk or damaged.


Born  22 Apr 1921 Cuxhaven
Died  14 Aug 1944(23)Bay of Biscay


Oblt. Erich Faust with 2 men of U-618

Ranks

1 Dec 1939 Offiziersanwärter
1 Nov 1940 Fähnrich zur See
1 Nov 1941 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1942 Leutnant zur See
1 Dec 1943 Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

27 Jul 1943 Iron Cross 2nd Class
12 Oct 1943 U-boat War Badge 1939
1944 Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-618 16 Apr 1944 14 Aug 1944  (+)  4 patrols (13 days) 

Erich Faust joined the Kriegsmarine in 1939. Following standard U-boat and officer training from Dec 1939 to May 1942, he was assigned as supernumerary Watch Officer (WO) to U-412 until August 1942, during that boat's working up exercises in the Baltic (Busch & Röll, 1999).


The crew of U-618. Three officers are wearing brocade dress belts. To left: LzS Hans Baresel, centre: the captain, Oblt. Faust.

Faust then attended Baubelehrung (U-boat construction familiarization) with the rest of her crew before joining the new U-667 on 21 October as 1WO (1st Watch Officer) (Busch & Röll, 1999). U-667 sank no ships during Faust's time aboard her, but at that point in the war, U-boats did well just to avoid being sunk themselves.

Oblt. Faust went through U-Boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla from Feb to April 1944 before taking command of the veteran U-618 from Kptlt. Kurt Baberg (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Erich Faust died when U-618 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Duckworth, HMS Essington and a British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn. 53/G). 61 dead (all hands lost) (Niestlé, 1998).

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.

Patrol info for Erich Faust

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-618 25 May 1944  St. Nazaire  25 May 1944  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,1 days
2. U-618 26 Jul 1944  St. Nazaire  30 Jul 1944  Brest  Patrol 2,5 days
3. U-618 2 Aug 1944  Brest  4 Aug 1944  Brest  Patrol 3,3 days
4. U-618 11 Aug 1944  Brest  14 Aug 1944  Sunk  Patrol 4,4 days
4 patrols, 13 days at sea


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.

Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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