Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew V/41)

No ships sunk or damaged.

Born	21 May 1924		Wilhelmshaven-Rüstringen
Died	17 May 2010	(85)	Frankfurt am Main, Germany

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Ranks

1 May 1942		Fähnrich zur See
1 Nov 1943		Leutnant zur See
1945		Oberleutnant zur See

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-155	15 Aug 1944	Nov, 1944	1 patrol (43 days)
U-4710	1 May 1945	5 May 1945	No war patrols

Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg was the son of Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg. He joined the Kriegsmarine in 1941 and went through U-boat and Officer training from May 1941 to June 1943.

In June 1943 he was sent to the type IXC/40 boat U-548 (Oblt. Eberhard Zimmermann) as its Second Watch Officer (2WO). With this boat he went out on one patrol of 96 days, during which they sank the Canadian corvette HMCS Valleyfield (K 329) on 7 May 1944. The boat arrived to Lorient, France on 24 June 1944. From July to August 1944 von Friedeburg served as the First Watch Officer (1WO) but the boat did not go out on patrol during this time (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Ludwig von Friedeburg, then only 20 years old, was assigned to take the veteran boat U-155 from besieged France to Germany.

Ltn. Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg was the youngest U-boat commander during WWII when he left for his patrol with U-155 from Lorient, France on 9 Sept 1944. He was only 20 years old at the time. He brought his boat to Flensburg, Germany 43 days later (Busch & Röll, 1997).

From Nov 1944 to Jan 1945 he went through U-boat Commander courses at the 24th Flotilla and then the U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) for the small type XXIII Elektro boats from Feb to April 1945 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

On 1 May he took command of the new type XXIII Elektro boat U-4710 at Kiel. He did not go out on patrol with this boat before the war ended. Oblt. Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg was detained by the Allies until 12 Sep 1947, among the last to be released (Busch & Röll, 1999).

After the war he was a well-known sociologist and politician (SPD) and served between 1969 and 1974 as minister for culture in the state of Hesse (Wikipedia). Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg died on 17 May 2010 (Wikipedia). He was 85 years old.