Erich Würdemann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)

Successes
14 ships sunk, total tonnage 69,893 GRT
3 ships damaged, total tonnage 23,358 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 6,821 GRT

Born	15 Jan 1914		Hamburg
Died	12 Jul 1943	(29)	North Atlantic near Spain

Kapitänleutnant Erich Würdemann

Ranks

1 Apr 1933		Offiziersanwärter
23 Sep 1933		Seekadett
1 Jul 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1936		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov 1940		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

24 Apr 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
26 Mar 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
18 Jun 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class
14 Mar 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-506	15 Sep 1941	12 Jul 1943 (+)	5 patrols (344 days)

Erich Würdemann began his naval career in April 1933. Later he served on the destroyer Paul Jacoby, where he made 11 patrols in the first year of the war. In November 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. After the usual training he served for one patrol on U-43 under Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth.

In September 1941 he commissioned the ocean-going U-boat U-506 and operated on his first patrol in the North Atlantic. On his second patrol he sank no less than nine ships. On the third patrol U-506 was involved in the famous Laconia incident. Later the boat operated as a Monsun boat in the Indian Ocean.

Six days after leaving base on her fifth patrol, U-506 was bombed in the Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain by a USAAF aircraft on 12 July 1943. Kptlt. Erich Würdemann and all but 6 of his crew perished (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 Erich Würdemann

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-506	2 Mar 1942	Hamburg	3 Mar 1942	Helgoland		2 days
2.	U-506	9 Mar 1942	Helgoland	25 Mar 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	17 days
3.	U-506	6 Apr 1942	Lorient	15 Jun 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	71 days
4.	U-506	28 Jul 1942	Lorient	7 Nov 1942	Lorient	Patrol 3,	103 days
5.	U-506	14 Dec 1942	Lorient	8 May 1943	Lorient	Patrol 4,	146 days
6.	U-506	6 Jul 1943	Lorient	12 Jul 1943	Sunk	Patrol 5,	7 days
5 patrols, 344 days at sea

Ships hit by Erich Würdemann

Date	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons
3 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Sama	567	ni
10 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Aurora (d.)	7,050	am
13 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Gulfpenn	8,862	am
14 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	David McKelvy (t.)	6,821	am
16 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Sun (d.)	9,002	am
16 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	William C. McTarnahan (d.)	7,306	am
17 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Gulfoil	5,189	am
19 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Heredia	4,732	am
20 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Halo	6,986	am
28 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Yorkmoor	4,457	br
31 May 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Fred W. Green	2,292	br
21 Aug 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	City of Wellington	5,733	br
23 Aug 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Hamla	4,416	br
5 Sep 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Myrmidon	6,278	br
13 Sep 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Lima	3,764	sw
30 Sep 1942	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Siam II	6,637	br

7 Mar 1943	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Sabor	5,212	br
9 Mar 1943	U-506	Erich Würdemann	Tabor	4,768	nw
				100,072
15 ships sunk (76,714 tons) and 3 ships damaged (23,358 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).

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.