Most Successful U-boat Commanders in the Mediterranean

The following table shows the most successful U-boat Commanders in the Mediterranean. Warships are included in these figures. After each man the U-boats he scored his successes in are shown. All men who sank ships in the Med are shown here. The data is calculated from the date a boat under his command entered the Mediterranean (and all subsequent attacks in the theatre).

  Commander Patrols   Ships sunk/damaged
1.Oblt. Horst-Arno Fenski (U-410, U-371)

5 patrols  8 ships sunk (46,516 tons)
2 ships damaged (2,500 tons)
2.KrvKpt. Waldemar Mehl (U-371)

12 patrols  9 ships sunk (42,451 tons)
4 ships damaged (28,072 tons)
3.Kptlt. Friedrich Guggenberger (U-81)

7 patrols  11 ships sunk (40,854 tons)
4.Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen (U-331)

9 patrols  2 ships sunk (40,235 tons)
1 ship damaged (372 tons)
5.Kptlt. Gerd Kelbling (U-593)

13 patrols  13 ships sunk (39,253 tons)
2 ships damaged (1,677 tons)
6.Kptlt. Horst Hamm (U-562)

7 patrols  4 ships sunk (28,234 tons)
1 ship damaged (3,359 tons)
7.Kptlt. Otto Hartmann (U-77)

4 patrols  5 ships sunk (25,397 tons)
2 ships damaged (6,419 tons)
8.Oblt. Johann-Otto Krieg (U-81)

8 patrols  14 ships sunk (23,279 tons)
1 ship damaged (6,671 tons)
9.KrvKpt. Helmut Rosenbaum (U-73)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (22,600 tons)
10.Kptlt. Ernst-Ulrich Brüller (U-407)

8 patrols  1 ship sunk (19,627 tons)
2 ships damaged (17,900 tons)
11.KrvKpt. Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach (U-453)

14 patrols  6 ships sunk (18,390 tons)
2 ships damaged (16,610 tons)
12.Kptlt. Josef Röther (U-380)

9 patrols  2 ships sunk (18,247 tons)
1 ship damaged (7,191 tons)
13.Kptlt. Hans Heidtmann (U-559)

8 patrols  6 ships sunk (17,404 tons)
14.KrvKpt. Gunter Jahn (U-596)

5 patrols  3 ships sunk (16,930 tons)
2 ships damaged (14,180 tons)
15.FrgKpt. Albrecht Brandi (U-617, U-967)

9 patrols  8 ships sunk (16,610 tons)
16.KrvKpt. Heinz-Joachim Neumann (U-372)

5 patrols  1 ship sunk (14,650 tons)
17.Oblt. Hubertus Korndörfer (U-407)

3 patrols  3 ships sunk (14,441 tons)
1 ship damaged (6,207 tons)
18.Kptlt. Jürgen Koenenkamp (U-375)

11 patrols  9 ships sunk (14,378 tons)
1 ship damaged (2,650 tons)
19.Oblt. (R) Max Dobbert (U-969)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (14,352 tons)
20.Kptlt. Victor-Wilhelm Nonn (U-596)

5 patrols  8 ships sunk (14,085 tons)
21.KrvKpt. Georg-Werner Fraatz (U-652)

7 patrols  5 ships sunk (13,515 tons)
22.KrvKpt. Wilhelm Franken (U-565)

10 patrols  4 ships sunk (12,887 tons)
2 ships damaged (17,565 tons)
23.KrvKpt. Robert Bartels (U-561)

5 patrols  2 ships sunk (11,754 tons)
1 ship damaged (4,043 tons)
24.Kptlt. Hans-Georg Trox (U-97)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (10,174 tons)
25.KrvKpt. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen (U-557)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (9,252 tons)
26.Kptlt. Horst Deckert (U-73)

7 patrols  3 ships sunk (9,029 tons)
3 ships damaged (22,928 tons)
27.Kptlt. Hanns-Ferdinand Massmann (U-409)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (8,772 tons)
28.FrgKpt. Wilhelm Dommes (U-431)

8 patrols  4 ships sunk (8,077 tons)
2 ships damaged (4,010 tons)
29.Oblt. Dierk Lührs (U-453)

3 patrols  5 ships sunk (7,439 tons)
30.Kptlt. Oskar Curio (U-952)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (7,176 tons)
31.Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus (U-83)

7 patrols  5 ships sunk (6,477 tons)
1 ship damaged (2,590 tons)
32.Kptlt. Karl-Jürg Wächter (U-223)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (6,270 tons)
33.Oblt. Walther Huth (U-414)

2 patrols  1 ship sunk (5,979 tons)
1 ship damaged (7,134 tons)
34.KrvKpt. Franz-Georg Reschke (U-205)

6 patrols  1 ship sunk (5,450 tons)
35.Kptlt. Johann Jebsen (U-565)

2 patrols  1 ship sunk (5,450 tons)
36.KrvKpt. Heinrich Heinsohn (U-573)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (5,289 tons)
37.Kptlt. Friedrich Bürgel (U-97)

6 patrols  3 ships sunk (3,974 tons)
38.Kptlt. Paul Siegmann (U-230)

4 patrols  3 ships sunk (3,585 tons)
39.Kptlt. Konstantin von Puttkamer (U-443)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (2,679 tons)
40.KrvKpt. Helmuth Ringelmann (U-75)

2 patrols  3 ships sunk (2,331 tons)
41.Kptlt. Siegfried Koitschka (U-616)

8 patrols  2 ships sunk (2,181 tons)
2 ships damaged (17,754 tons)
42.Kptlt. Walter Göing (U-755)

4 patrols  2 ships sunk (2,075 tons)
43.KrvKpt. Udo Heilmann (U-97)

5 patrols  2 ships sunk (1,966 tons)
44.Oblt. Peter Gerlach (U-223)

2 patrols  1 ship sunk (1,935 tons)
45.Kptlt. Hermann Hesse (U-133)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (1,920 tons)
46.KrvKpt. Heinrich Schonder (U-77)

6 patrols  8 ships sunk (1,764 tons)
2 ships damaged (1,845 tons)
47.Kptlt. Philipp Schüler (U-602)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (1,540 tons)
48.Oblt. Unno von Fischel (U-374)

2 patrols  2 ships sunk (992 tons)
49.Kptlt. Joachim Preuss (U-568)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (925 tons)
50.Kptlt. Wolfgang Kaufmann (U-79)

3 patrols  1 ship sunk (625 tons)
51.Oblt. Dietrich Schöneboom (U-431)

6 patrols  4 ships sunk (265 tons)
52.Kptlt. Heinz Schomburg (U-561)

6 patrols  1 ship sunk (39 tons)

On 283 war patrols these 52 men sank 194 ships with a total of 649,719 tons.


U-boats in the Mediterranean