Hermann Rasch

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
12 ships sunk, total tonnage 78,553 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 4,639 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged, total tonnage 8,246 GRT

Born  26 Aug 1914 Wilhelmshaven
Died  10 Jun 1974(59)Hamburg, Germany


Kapitänleutnant Hermann Rasch

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 Mar 1942 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

  Iron Cross 2nd Class
6 Jun 1939 Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
11 Jul 1941 Iron Cross 1st Class
29 Dec 1942 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-106 20 Oct 1941 Apr, 1943   6 patrols (308 days) 

Hermann Rasch began his naval career in April 1934. In April 1940 he joined the U-boat force and after some months of training he became I WO on U-106 in September 1940. In July 1941 he left the U-boat to begin commander training. Three months later he took over U-106 from Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten.

On six patrols, mostly in the North and Western Atlantic, he sank 11 ships. On his second patrol he achieved notable success, sinking two large ships of 10,354 and 15,355 tons apiece in three days. He was awarded the Knights Cross in Dec 1942. He left U-106 in April 1943.

For the next year he was an Asto (Admiral staff officer) at OKM (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, Naval High Command), and from June 1944 he was 4th Asto on the staff of BdU (BdU op, Commander-in-Chief U-boats, Operations).

In October 1944 he became commander of the KdK (Kommando der Kleinkampfverbände, Midget Combat Units Command), where he was responsible for the midget U-boat types Seehund and Biber until the end of the war.

He spent over a year in Allied captivity and then worked as a journalist in Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf until his death in 1974.

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Hermann Rasch

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-106 21 Oct 1941  Lorient  22 Nov 1941  Lorient  Patrol 1,33 days
2. U-106 3 Jan 1942  Lorient  22 Feb 1942  Lorient  Patrol 2,51 days
3. U-106 15 Apr 1942  Lorient  29 Jun 1942  Lorient  Patrol 3,76 days
4. U-106 25 Jul 1942  Lorient  29 Jul 1942  Lorient  Patrol 4,5 days
5. U-106 22 Sep 1942  Lorient  26 Dec 1942  Lorient  Patrol 5,96 days
6. U-106 17 Feb 1943  Lorient  4 Apr 1943  Lorient  Patrol 6,47 days
6 patrols, 308 days at sea

Ships hit by Hermann Rasch

Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
28 Oct 1941U-106Hermann Rasch King Malcolm5,120brSC-50
30 Oct 1941U-106Hermann Rasch USS Salinas (AO 19) (d.)8,246amON-28
 
24 Jan 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Empire Wildebeeste5,631brON-53
26 Jan 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Traveller3,963br
30 Jan 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Rochester6,836am
3 Feb 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Amerikaland15,355sw
6 Feb 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Opawa10,354br
5 May 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Lady Drake7,985ca
21 May 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Faja de Oro6,067me
26 May 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Carrabulle5,030am
27 May 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Atenas (d.)4,639am
28 May 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Mentor7,383br
1 Jun 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Hampton Roads2,689am
11 Oct 1942U-106Hermann Rasch Waterton2,140brBS-31
 91,438

12 ships sunk (78,553 tons) and 2 ships damaged (12,885 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.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

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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