Werner Hartenstein

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 28)

Successes
19 ships sunk, total tonnage 97,489 GRT
3 ships damaged, total tonnage 18,811 GRT
1 warship damaged, total tonnage 1,190 tons

Born	27 Feb 1908		Plauen, Vogtland
Died	8 Mar 1943	(35)	Atlantic, east of Barbados

Werner Hartenstein

Ranks

10 Oct 1928		Seekadett
1 Jan 1930		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1932		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1932		Leutnant zur See
1 Sep 1934		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun 1937		Kapitänleutnant
1 Jun 1942		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

6 Jun 1939		Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
16 Nov 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
27 Apr 1940		Iron Cross 1st Class
2 Feb 1942		German Cross in Gold
17 Mar 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
17 Sep 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-156	4 Sep 1941	8 Mar 1943 (+)	5 patrols (294 days)

Werner Hartenstein began his naval career in April 1928. He served a few years on the light cruiser Karlsruhe and then on a number of torpedo boats, in which he completed 65 patrols in the first years of the war. In March 1941 he transferred to the U-boat force.

On 4 September 1941 he commissioned the type IXC U-boat U-156. On her second patrol the boat shelled the oil refinery on Aruba island, off Venezuela, and between February and Sep. 1942 sank 21 ships, including one destroyer, mostly in Caribbean waters (92,050 GRT). On her fourth patrol he sank the British troopship Laconia, resulting in the Laconia Incident. On her fifth patrol U-156 was sunk with all hands on 8 March 1943 by a US Navy aircraft east of Barbados (Niestlé, 1998).

Werner Hartenstein briefs the crew of U-156 on a new operational area

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 Werner Hartenstein

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-156	24 Dec 1941	Kiel	10 Jan 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	18 days
2.	U-156	19 Jan 1942	Lorient	17 Mar 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	58 days
3.	U-156	22 Apr 1942	Lorient	7 Jul 1942	Lorient	Patrol 3,	77 days
4.	U-156	20 Aug 1942	Lorient	16 Nov 1942	Lorient	Patrol 4,	89 days
5.	U-156	16 Jan 1943	Lorient	8 Mar 1943	Sunk	Patrol 5,	52 days
5 patrols, 294 days at sea

Ships hit by Werner Hartenstein

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
16 Feb 1942	U-156	Pedernales (d.)	4,317	br
16 Feb 1942	U-156	Oranjestad	2,396	br
16 Feb 1942	U-156	Arkansas (d.)	6,452	am
20 Feb 1942	U-156	Delplata	5,127	am
25 Feb 1942	U-156	La Carriere	5,685	br
27 Feb 1942	U-156	Macgregor	2,498	br
28 Feb 1942	U-156	Oregon	7,017	am
13 May 1942	U-156	Koenjit	4,551	nl
13 May 1942	U-156	City of Melbourne	6,630	br
15 May 1942	U-156	Siljestad	4,301	nw
15 May 1942	U-156	Kupa	4,382	yu
17 May 1942	U-156	Barrdale	5,072	br
18 May 1942	U-156	Quaker City	4,961	am
18 May 1942	U-156	San Eliseo (d.)	8,042	br
21 May 1942	U-156	Presidente Trujillo	1,668	do
25 May 1942	U-156	USS Blakeley (DD 150) (d.)	1,190	am
29 May 1942	U-156	Norman Prince	1,913	br
1 Jun 1942	U-156	Alegrete	5,970	bz
3 Jun 1942	U-156	Lillian	80	br
24 Jun 1942	U-156	Willimantic	4,857	br
27 Aug 1942	U-156	Clan Macwhirter	5,941	br	SL-119
12 Sep 1942	U-156	Laconia	19,695	br
19 Sep 1942	U-156	Quebec City	4,745	br
			117,490
19 ships sunk (97,489 tons) and 4 ships damaged (20,001 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.