Waldemar Kophamel

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 4/98)

Successes
55 ships sunk with a total of 157,473 GRT
1 warship sunk with a total of 298 tons
4 ships damaged with a total of 8,701 GRT
2 warships damaged with a total of 1,475 tons

Born:	16 Aug 1880	Graudenz
Died:	4 Nov 1934	Plön

Ranks

12 Apr 1898		Kadett
18 Apr 1899		Fähnrich zur See
13 Sep 1901		Leutnant zur See
28 Mar 1903		Oberleutnant zur See
30 Mar 1908		Kapitänleutnant
17 Oct 1915		Korvettenkapitän
31 Aug 1920		Fregattenkapitän (Charakter)
31 Aug 1920		Out of naval service

Decorations

29 Sep 1904		Lifesaving Medal
5 Sep 1911		Order of the Red Eagle
		Iron Cross 2nd class
		Iron Cross 1st class
19 Nov 1915		Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
		Hanseatic Cross
		Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
29 Dec 1917		Pour le Mérite

U-boat Commands

U 35	3 Nov 1914	-	12 Nov 1915
U 151	21 Jul 1917	-	26 Dec 1917
U 140	28 Mar 1918	-	11 Nov 1918

Notes

Waldemar Kophamel entered the Navy April 12, 1898 with the rank of Kadett and began his training with the SMS Stosch under the command of Captain Ehrlich participating in various cruises in Norway, Scotland, Mediterranean, North Africa, Spain and Canary Islands.

Between 1900 and 1901 he attended several specialized courses including those of artillery, torpedoes, and naval infantry. Promoted Leutnant zur See in September 1901 was aboard the battleship SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm. Later he obtained his first command on the torpedo boat S 3 is part of the II Division Torpedo in Wilhelmshaven, conducted by the Fregattenkapitän Franz von Hipper, then in 1904 he was transferred to the Second Torpedo Flotilla. Was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See for boarding on the light cruisers SMS Niobe and SMS Thetis with which he took part in operations in East Africa.

In 1906 he experienced in the first German U Boot U-1 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Boehm Bezing and subsequently perfected his knowledge on the U boats U-2 and U-9. In 1910 he was assigned to the battleship SMS Westfalen. He attended the Naval Academy in Kiel from 1911 to 1913, then was part of the General Staff of the Second Fleet on the battleship SMS Ostfriesland under the command of Vice Admiral von Lans.

At the beginning of hostilities he was assigned to the command of SM U-35 which he held until November 12, 1915, when he was appointed commander of the Submarine Flotilla at Pola. In July 1917 he again took command of a U-boat, this time the large cruiser U-151 and later that of the U-140 he held until the end of the war. During the war sank 56 ships over 160,000 tons. Kophamel was the seventh officer submariner in 1917 to obtain the coveted decoration 'Order Pour le Mérite. He received the Pour le Mérite personally from the German emperor Wilhelm II. The U 151 successfully completed a patrol of 117 days and covered 12,000 nautical miles.

Remaining in service after the war, he was commander of the intersection Strassburg, until August 1920 he was discharged with the rank of Fregattenkapitän. He died in Plön on November 4, 1934. In his memory was christened with his name the submarine support ship Waldemar Kophamel, launched May 15, 1939, which was later sunk in 1944 by a British air attack in the port of Gothanhafen.

Ships hit by Waldemar Kophamel

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Type of ship	Tons

9 Mar 1915	U 35	Blackwood	Steamer	1,230	br
9 Mar 1915	U 35	Gris Nez	Trawler	208	fr
15 Mar 1915	U 35	Hyndford (d.)	Steamer	4,286	br
30 Apr 1915	U 35	Laila	Steamer	748	nw
2 Jun 1915	U 35	Cubano	Steamer	4,352	nw
4 Jun 1915	U 35	George & Mary	Sailing vessel	100	br
6 Jun 1915	U 35	Sunlight	Sailing vessel	1,433	br
7 Jun 1915	U 35	Trudvang	Steamer	1,041	nw
8 Jun 1915	U 35	Express	Sailing vessel	115	br
8 Jun 1915	U 35	La Liberte	Sailing vessel	302	fr
8 Jun 1915	U 35	Strathcarron	Steamer	4,347	br
8 Jun 1915	U 35	Susannah	Sailing vessel	115	br
10 Jun 1915	U 35	Thomasina	Sailing vessel	1,869	ru
12 Jun 1915	U 35	Bellglade	Sailing vessel	664	nw
12 Jun 1915	U 35	Crown Of India	Sailing vessel	2,034	br
13 Jun 1915	U 35	Diamant	Sailing vessel	324	fr
13 Jun 1915	U 35	Hopemount	Steamer	3,300	br
13 Jun 1915	U 35	Pelham	Steamer	3,534	br
10 Aug 1915	U 35	Baltzer (d.)	Sailing vessel	343	ru
10 Aug 1915	U 35	Francois	Sailing vessel	2,212	fr
10 Aug 1915	U 35	Morna	Sailing vessel	1,512	nw
17 Sep 1915	U 35	Ravitailleur	Steamer	2,815	fr
19 Sep 1915	U 35	Ramazan	Steamer	3,477	br
20 Sep 1915	U 35	Linkmoor	Steamer	4,306	br
18 Oct 1915	U 35	Scilla	Steamer	1,220	it
23 Oct 1915	U 35	Marquette	Troopship	7,057	br
3 Nov 1915	U 35	Woolwich	Steamer	2,936	br
5 Nov 1915	U 35	Tara	Armed boarding steamer	1,862	br
5 Nov 1915	U 35	Abbas	Coast guard vessel	298	ag
5 Nov 1915	U 35	Noor-el-bahr (d.)	Coast guard vessel	450	ag
6 Nov 1915	U 35	Caria	Steamer	3,032	br
6 Nov 1915	U 35	Clan Macalister	Steamer	4,835	br
6 Nov 1915	U 35	Lumina	Tanker	6,218	br
7 Nov 1915	U 35	Moorina	Steamer	4,994	br
8 Nov 1915	U 35	Den Of Crombie	Steamer	4,949	br
8 Nov 1915	U 35	Sir Richard Awdry	Steamer	2,234	br
8 Nov 1915	U 35	Wacousta	Steamer	3,521	nw
9 Nov 1915	U 35	Californian	Passenger steamer	6,223	br

19 Sep 1917	U 151	Blanche	Sailing vessel	3,104	fr
1 Oct 1917	U 151	Etna	Steamer	5,604	it
2 Oct 1917	U 151	Viajante	Sailing vessel	377	pt
4 Oct 1917	U 151	Bygdønes	Steamer	2,849	nw
12 Oct 1917	U 151	Parthian (hms) (d.)	Destroyer	1,025	br
13 Oct 1917	U 151	Caprera	Steamer	5,040	it
19 Oct 1917	U 151	Harpon (d.)	Steamer	1,484	fr
20 Oct 1917	U 151	Moyori Maru	Steamer	3,746	jp
21 Oct 1917	U 151	Gryfevale	Steamer	4,437	br
2 Nov 1917	U 151	Acary	Steamer	4,275	bz
2 Nov 1917	U 151	Guahyba	Steamer	1,891	bz
16 Nov 1917	U 151	Margaret L. Roberts	Sailing vessel	535	am
21 Nov 1917	U 151	Sobral	Steamer	1,075	nw
22 Nov 1917	U 151	Tijuca	Sailing vessel	2,543	fr
23 Nov 1917	U 151	Trombetas	Sailing vessel	235	pt
26 Nov 1917	U 151	Johan Mjelde	Steamer	2,049	nw
4 Dec 1917	U 151	Claudio (d.)	Steamer	2,588	sp

27 Jul 1918	U 140	Porto	Sailing vessel	1,079	pt
2 Aug 1918	U 140	Tokuyama Maru	Steamer	7,029	jp
4 Aug 1918	U 140	O. B. Jennings	Tanker	10,289	am
5 Aug 1918	U 140	Stanley M. Seaman	Sailing vessel	1,060	am
6 Aug 1918	U 140	Diamond Shoals LV71	Light vessel	590	am
6 Aug 1918	U 140	Merak	Steamer	3,024	am
21 Aug 1918	U 140	Diomed	Steamer	7,523	br
				167,947
56 ships sunk (157,771 tons) and 6 ships damaged (10,176 tons). Legend (d.) means the ship was damaged. We have a picture of this vessel.