Gerhard Meyer
Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve
Successes 2 ships sunk, total tonnage 17,651 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,085 tons 1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 1,085 tons |
Born | 15 Apr 1915 | Kiel | |
Died | 12 Apr 1945 | (29) | Norwegian Sea |
Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
U-boat | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
U-486 | 22 Mar 1944 | 12 Apr 1945 (+) | 2 patrols (55 days) |
Gerhard Meyer joined the Kriegsmarine in 1935. He served as a Watch Officer (WO) on the destroyer Z 15 Erich Steinbrinck from March 1942 to May 1943. He joined the U-boat force and went through U-boat training, including Commander courses, from May 1943 to Jan 1944 (Busch & Röll, 1999).
To prepare for his own U-boat Command he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) in Jan 1944. On 22 March 1944 he commissioned the brand new type VIIC boat U-486 at Kiel and started his work-up training in the Baltic (Busch & Röll, 1999).
On 26 Nov 1944 he sailed from Egersund, Norway for his first war patrol (Busch & Röll, 1997). His destination was the English Channel. This was to be one of the mos successful war patrols in the last year of the war. He sank or destroyed 4 ships; including the 11,506 BRT troopship Leopoldville on 24 Dec and the British frigates HMS Affleck (K-462) and HMS Capel (K 470) on 26 Dec (Rohwer, 1998). He returned to Bergen, norway on 15 Jan 1945 after 51 days at sea (Busch & Röll, 1997).
This performance, under constant Allied sub-hunting, should have ensured a Knight's Cross for him but the Allies spread disinformation that the Leopoldville was a hospital ship and also BdU seemed oddly unaware of his exploits.
On 9 April 1945 U-486 left Bergen for its second patrol. The boat was sunk with all hands (48 men) 3 days later on 12 April by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Tapir (Niestlé, 1998).
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 Gerhard Meyer
U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | U-486 | 6 Nov 1944 | Kiel | 9 Nov 1944 | Horten | 4 days | ||
2. | U-486 | 17 Nov 1944 | Horten | 20 Nov 1944 | Egersund | 4 days | ||
3. | U-486 | 26 Nov 1944 | Egersund | 15 Jan 1945 | Bergen | Patrol 1, | 51 days | |
4. | U-486 | 9 Apr 1945 | Bergen | 12 Apr 1945 | Sunk | Patrol 2, | 4 days | |
2 patrols, 55 days at sea |
Ships hit by Gerhard Meyer
Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
18 Dec 1944 | U-486 | Silverlaurel | 6,142 | br | BTC-10 | |||
24 Dec 1944 | U-486 | Leopoldville | 11,509 | be | WEP-3 | |||
26 Dec 1944 | U-486 | HMS Affleck (K 462) (t.) | 1,085 | br | ||||
26 Dec 1944 | U-486 | HMS Capel (K 470) | 1,085 | br | ||||
19,821 | ||||||||
4 ships sunk (19,821 tons). Legend |
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