The Men - U-boat Commanders

Ernst Bauer

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)

Successes
24 ships sunk, total tonnage 111,564 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 450 tons (lost aboard transport ships)
4 ships damaged, total tonnage 31,304 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 6,996 GRT

Born	3 Feb 1914		Fürth, Bavaria
Died	12 Mar 1988	(74)	Westerland / Sylt, Germany

Kptlt. Ernst Bauer

Ranks

1 Apr 1933		Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1936		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Mar 1941		Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1945		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

8 Nov 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
8 Nov 1939		U-boat War Badge 1939
1 Aug 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
16 Mar 1942		Knights Cross
20 Apr 1944		War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords
1 Apr 1945		War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-120	20 Apr 1940	25 Nov 1940	No war patrols
U-126	22 Mar 1941	28 Feb 1943	5 patrols (391 days)

Kptlt. Ernst Bauer

Ernst Bauer began his naval career in April 1933. After more than a year on the light cruiser Königsberg, he transferred to the U-boat force in January 1938.

He was watch officer on U-10 and U-37 before commissioning the training boat U-120 in April 1940. He left the boat in November 1940 and then commissioned the type IXC U-boat U-126 in March 1941.

On his 5 successful patrols with U-126 he operated mostly in Caribbean and African waters. He left the boat in March 1943 and joined the 27th Flotilla where he served as a training officer.

In October 1944 he became the commander of the 27th Flotilla. He joined the 26th Flotilla in the last days of the war.

In 1955 he joined the German Bundesmarine and held several staff positions, retiring in 1972 as Kapitän zur See.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Ernst Bauer

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-126	5 Jul 1941	Kiel	24 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	51 days
2.	U-126	24 Sep 1941	Lorient	13 Dec 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	81 days
3.	U-126	2 Feb 1942	Lorient	29 Mar 1942	Lorient	Patrol 3,	56 days
4.	U-126	25 Apr 1942	Lorient	25 Jul 1942	Lorient	Patrol 4,	92 days
5.	U-126	19 Sep 1942	Lorient	7 Jan 1943	Lorient	Patrol 5,	111 days
5 patrols, 391 days at sea

Ships hit by Ernst Bauer

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
20 Jul 1941	U-126	Canadian Star (d.)	8,293	br
27 Jul 1941	U-126	Erato	1,335	br	OG-69
27 Jul 1941	U-126	Inga I	1,304	nw	OG-69
4 Aug 1941	U-126	Robert Max	172	br
14 Aug 1941	U-126	Sud	2,589	yu	HG-70
10 Oct 1941	U-126	HMS LCT-102 [Trans.]	450	br	OS-7
10 Oct 1941	U-126	Nailsea Manor	4,926	br	OS-7
19 Oct 1941	U-126	Lehigh	4,983	am
20 Oct 1941	U-126	British Mariner (t.)	6,996	br
13 Nov 1941	U-126	Peru	6,961	br

2 Mar 1942	U-126	Gunny	2,362	nw
5 Mar 1942	U-126	Mariana	3,110	am
7 Mar 1942	U-126	Barbara	4,637	am
7 Mar 1942	U-126	Cardonia	5,104	am
8 Mar 1942	U-126	Esso Bolivar (d.)	10,389	pa
9 Mar 1942	U-126	Hanseat	8,241	pa
12 Mar 1942	U-126	Texan	7,005	am
12 Mar 1942	U-126	Olga	2,496	am
13 Mar 1942	U-126	Colabee (d.)	5,518	am
3 Jun 1942	U-126	Høegh Giant	10,990	nw
15 Jun 1942	U-126	Dutch Princess	125	br
16 Jun 1942	U-126	Arkansan	6,997	am
16 Jun 1942	U-126	Kahuku	6,062	am
27 Jun 1942	U-126	Leiv Eiriksson	9,952	nw
29 Jun 1942	U-126	Mona Marie	126	ca
1 Jul 1942	U-126	Warrior	7,551	am
3 Jul 1942	U-126	Gulfbelle (d.)	7,104	am
1 Nov 1942	U-126	George Thatcher	7,176	am
4 Nov 1942	U-126	Oued Grou	792	br
5 Nov 1942	U-126	New Toronto	6,568	br
			150,314
26 ships sunk (119,010 tons) and 4 ships damaged (31,304 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost). [Trans.] indicates the vessel was lost while being transported on another vessel.