Heinz-Eberhard Müller
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)
| Successes 2 ships sunk, total tonnage 13,011 GRT 1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,174 GRT |
| Born | 14 Mar 1916 | Stuttgart | |
| Died | 3 May 1988 | (72) |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-662 | 10 Mar 1943 | 21 Jul 1943 | 2 patrols (84 days) |
Heinz-Eberhard Müller joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, and was part of the Olympia Crew. After standard training he served as a Watch Officer with the 5th (Training) Flotilla Emmsman in Kiel. He then attended the U-Schule (U-boat school) at Neustadt for ten months, leaving for Baubelehrung (U-boat construction familiarization) for U-69 in Oct 1940. He served as II WO (2nd Watch Officer) on her, then as reserve Watch Officer on U-145 and U-160 between Apr 1942 and Feb 1943. After briefly serving as a Training Commander with the Ist Training Unit at Plön and the 24th (Training) Flotilla, Kptlnt. Müller took command of U-662 (Hermann) on 10 Mar 1943.
U-662 was sunk after three days of aircraft attacks off the coast of Brazil. Müller successfully repelled at least three attacks before one of the attacking Catalinas of VP-94 (pilot R. H. Howland) scored a fatal hit. Müller and the other four men topside were thrown overboard when the depth charges exploded (the previous gun crew had been killed by gunfire), and U-662 broke in two and sank.
One man died shortly afterwards, leaving Müller and the three others drifting on a raft dropped by the aircraft in shark-infested waters for 16 days before being sighted by a B-24 Liberator and rescued by the former luxury yacht USS Siren, which was escorting convoy TJ-4. One man died aboard Siren, leaving only Müller and two men from U-662's crew of 47 (Blair, 1998).
Müller had been severely wounded during the sinking and was repatriated to Germany in March 1944 as he was no longer fit for active service. After some time in naval hospital at Glücksburg, he served as an aide at BdU (Commander in Chief U-boats) until the end of the war.
Sources
Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.
Patrol info for Heinz-Eberhard Müller
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | U-662 | 23 Mar 1943 | St. Nazaire | 19 May 1943 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 58 days | |
| 2. | U-662 | 26 Jun 1943 | St. Nazaire | 21 Jul 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 2, | 26 days | |
| 2 patrols, 84 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Heinz-Eberhard Müller
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Mar 1943 | U-662 |  | Empire Whale | 6,159 |  | br | SL-126 | |
| 29 Mar 1943 | U-662 | Ocean Viceroy (d.) | 7,174 | | br | SL-126 | ||
| 29 Mar 1943 | U-662 | Umaria | 6,852 | | br | SL-126 | ||
| 20,185 | ||||||||
2 ships sunk (13,011 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,174 tons). Legend | ||||||||
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
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