Hans-Werner Offermann

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew X/39)

Successes
1 ship sunk, total tonnage 3,401 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,176 GRT

Born	2 Jul 1921		Offingen, Danube
Died	22 Apr 1945	(23)	North Atlantic

Ranks

16 Sep 1939		Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1940		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1941		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Mar 1942		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1943		Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

		Iron Cross 2nd Class
		Iron Cross 1st Class
6 Nov 1943		German Cross in Gold

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-518	13 Jan 1944	22 Apr 1945 (+)	3 patrols (250 days)

Oblt. Hans-Werner Offermann was one of the youngest U-boat commanders during WWII when he left on patrol with U-518 from Lorient, France on 23 Jan 1944. He was only 22 years old at the time. He brought his boat to Lorient 106 days later. He commanded the boat on another 102 day patrol before being lost with his entire crew 42 days into this third patrol on 22 April 1945 when U-518 was sunk by the US destroyer escorts USS Carter and USS Neal A. Scott (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.

Patrol info for Hans-Werner Offermann

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-518	23 Jan 1944	Lorient	7 May 1944	Lorient	Patrol 1,	106 days
2.	U-518	4 Jul 1944	Lorient	10 Jul 1944	Lorient		7 days
3.	U-518	15 Jul 1944	Lorient	24 Oct 1944	Kristiansand	Patrol 2,	102 days
4.	U-518	25 Oct 1944	Kristiansand	28 Oct 1944	Flensburg		4 days
5.	U-518	5 Mar 1945	Kiel	10 Mar 1945	Kristiansand		6 days
6.	U-518	12 Mar 1945	Kristiansand	22 Apr 1945	Sunk	Patrol 3,	42 days
3 patrols, 250 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Werner Offermann

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons
7 Mar 1944	U-518	Valera	3,401	pa
12 Sep 1944	U-518	George Ade (d.)	7,176	am
			10,577
1 ship sunk (3,401 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,176 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

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.