Oskar Herwartz

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)


Successes
1 ship sunk, total tonnage 8,261 GRT

Born  1 Jan 1915 Hildesheim
Died   2002(86)near Bonn, Germany


Ranks

5 Apr 1935 Offiziersanwärter
25 Sep 1935 Seekadett
1 Apr 1936 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1938 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Dec 1942 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

  Iron Cross 2nd Class
  U-boat War Badge 1939
  Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-843 24 Mar 1943 9 Apr 1945   3 patrols (291 days) 

Oskar Herwartz joined the Kriegsmarine in 1935. He was seconded to the Luftwaffe, German Air Force, until Feb 1942. He went through U-boat training from March to August 1942 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

From Aug to Dec 1942 he was the First Watch Officer on the U-67 (KrvKpt. Günther Müller-Stöckheim). During his service on U-67 the boat sank 4 ships for over 20,000 tons and damaged 2 ships for almost 12,000 tons (Rohwer, 1998). Herwartz went through U-boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla in Jan 1943, finishing his courses in Feb when he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) for his own command (Busch & Röll, 1999).

First U-boat Command

On 24 March 1943 Kptlt. Oskar Herwatz commissioned the new type IXC/40 boat U-843 at Bremen. After training in the Baltic he left for his first patrol from Trondheim, Norway on 15 Oct 1943 (Busch & Röll, 1997).

Operations in the Far East

On 19 Feb 1944 Herwatz sailed U-843 from Lorient, France to Batavia in the Far East as part of the Monsun group. He reached base 114 days later on 11 June 1944 having sunk one 8,261 ton ship. On 10 Dec 1944 Herwatz left Batavia again heading for Europe. On 3 April 1945 Harwatz arrived at Bergen, Norway.

On 9 April 1945 the boat was sunk in the Kattegat by rockets from a British Mosquito aircraft (RAF Sqdn 235/A, pilot F/O A.J. Rendell), 44 dead and 12 survived (Niestlé, 1998).


U-843 during its raising from the Kattegat in August, 1958.

Oskar apparently passed away at his home near Bonn in 2002.

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.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Oskar Herwartz

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-843 7 Oct 1943  Kiel  12 Oct 1943  Trondheim   6 days
2. U-843 15 Oct 1943  Trondheim  15 Dec 1943  Lorient  Patrol 1,62 days
3. U-843 19 Feb 1944  Lorient  11 Jun 1944  Batavia  Patrol 2,114 days
4. U-843 13 Jun 1944  Batavia  15 Jun 1944  Singapur   3 days
5. U-181 30 Aug 1944  Penang  31 Aug 1944  Singapore   2 days
6. U-843 1 Nov 1944  Singapur  1 Nov 1944  Batavia   1 days
7. U-843 10 Dec 1944  Batavia  3 Apr 1945  Bergen  Patrol 3,115 days
8. U-843 6 Apr 1945  Bergen  9 Apr 1945  Sunk   4 days
3 patrols, 291 days at sea

Ships hit by Oskar Herwartz

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
8 Apr 1944U-843 Nebraska8,261brOS-71
 8,261

1 ship sunk (8,261 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.


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.

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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