Horst Wilhelm Kessler

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 8,677 GRT

Born  15 Aug 1914 Bromberg
Died  24 May 2018(103)


Ranks

8 Apr 1934 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1935 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937 Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1942 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

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

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-704 18 Nov 1941 Apr, 1943   5 patrols (167 days) 
U-985 24 Jun 1943 19 Apr 1944   1 patrol (54 days) 

He was the last surviving member of Crew 34 as far as we know.

Patrol info for Horst Wilhelm Kessler

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-704 30 Jun 1942  Kiel  16 Aug 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,48 days
2. U-704 9 Sep 1942  St. Nazaire  15 Sep 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,7 days
3. U-704 5 Oct 1942  St. Nazaire  23 Nov 1942  La Pallice  Patrol 3,50 days
4. U-704 1 Jan 1943  La Pallice  2 Jan 1943  La Pallice  Patrol 4,2 days
5. U-704 7 Jan 1943  La Pallice  12 Feb 1943  St. Nazaire  Patrol 4,37 days
6. U-704 14 Mar 1943  St. Nazaire  5 Apr 1943  Bergen  Patrol 5,23 days
7. U-704 6 Apr 1943  Bergen  11 Apr 1943  Königsberg   6 days
8. U-985 30 Dec 1943  Kiel  5 Jan 1944  Bergen   7 days
9. U-985 19 Jan 1944  Bergen  12 Mar 1944  St. Nazaire  Patrol 6,54 days
6 patrols, 221 days at sea

Ships hit by Horst Wilhelm Kessler

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
26 Jul 1942U-704 Empire Rainbow6,942brON-113
 
8 Feb 1944U-985 Margit1,735brUR-108
 8,677

2 ships sunk (8,677 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


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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