WWI U-boat commanders
Most Successful U-boat Commanders
Men that sank over 100,000 tons during World War One
Commander | Successes | |
1. | Kptlt. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière | 195 ships sunk or captured (455,871 tons) 8 ships damaged (34,312 tons) |
2. | Kptlt. Walter Forstmann | 149 ships sunk or captured (391,607 tons) 7 ships damaged (30,552 tons) |
3. | Kptlt. Max Valentiner | 144 ships sunk or captured (299,483 tons) 8 ships damaged (40,681 tons) |
4. | Kptlt. Otto Steinbrinck | 206 ships sunk or captured (244,797 tons) 13 ships damaged (69,524 tons) |
5. | Kptlt. Hans Rose | 82 ships sunk or captured (221,942 tons) 9 ships damaged (45,606 tons) |
6. | Kptlt. Gustav Sieß | 56 ships sunk or captured (188,295 tons) 10 ships damaged (36,363 tons) |
7. | Kptlt. Walther Schwieger | 49 ships sunk or captured (185,212 tons) 4 ships damaged (3,488 tons) |
8. | Kptlt. Wolfgang Steinbauer | 51 ships sunk or captured (183,871 tons) 12 ships damaged (60,480 tons) |
9. | Kptlt. Claus Rücker | 80 ships sunk or captured (174,655 tons) 3 ships damaged (9,951 tons) |
10. | Oblt. Reinhold Saltzwedel | 111 ships sunk or captured (172,824 tons) 10 ships damaged (17,131 tons) |
11. | KrvKpt. Waldemar Kophamel | 56 ships sunk or captured (157,771 tons) 6 ships damaged (10,176 tons) |
12. | Kptlt. Hans von Mellenthin | 57 ships sunk or captured (154,619 tons) 7 ships damaged (31,556 tons) |
13. | Kptlt. Kurt Hartwig | 44 ships sunk or captured (153,082 tons) 6 ships damaged (27,902 tons) |
14. | Kptlt. Otto Wünsche | 76 ships sunk or captured (151,144 tons) 7 ships damaged (29,919 tons) |
15. | Kptlt. Robert Moraht | 46 ships sunk or captured (147,870 tons) 3 ships damaged (9,420 tons) |
16. | Kptlt. Konrad Gansser | 57 ships sunk or captured (143,667 tons) 3 ships damaged (10,771 tons) |
17. | Oblt. Johannes Lohs | 77 ships sunk or captured (143,606 tons) 19 ships damaged (95,070 tons) |
18. | Kptlt. Rudolf Schneider | 46 ships sunk or captured (140,976 tons) 5 ships damaged (21,956 tons) |
19. | KrvKpt. Otto Schultze | 54 ships sunk or captured (137,814 tons) 9 ships damaged (31,293 tons) |
20. | Kptlt. Erwin Waßner | 90 ships sunk or captured (136,073 tons) 6 ships damaged (16,159 tons) |
21. | Kptlt. Ernst Hashagen | 55 ships sunk or captured (135,302 tons) 5 ships damaged (16,483 tons) |
22. | Kptlt. Leo Hillebrand | 52 ships sunk or captured (132,255 tons) 1 ship damaged (7,378 tons) |
23. | Kptlt. Wilhelm Werner | 63 ships sunk or captured (130,499 tons) 7 ships damaged (26,161 tons) |
24. | Kptlt. Heinrich Jeß | 44 ships sunk or captured (121,088 tons) 3 ships damaged (16,220 tons) |
25. | Kptlt. Wilhelm Marschall | 44 ships sunk or captured (120,460 tons) 1 ship damaged (765 tons) |
26. | Kptlt. Alfred von Glasenapp | 51 ships sunk or captured (118,626 tons) 6 ships damaged (47,429 tons) |
27. | Kptlt. Otto Hersing | 40 ships sunk or captured (113,580 tons) 2 ships damaged (8,918 tons) |
28. | Kptlt. Matthias Graf von Schmettow | 78 ships sunk or captured (111,628 tons) 8 ships damaged (31,271 tons) |
29. | Kptlt. Carl-Siegfried Ritter von Georg | 75 ships sunk or captured (111,221 tons) 9 ships damaged (19,917 tons) |
30. | Kptlt. Raimund Weisbach | 36 ships sunk or captured (107,763 tons) 2 ships damaged (3,481 tons) |
31. | Oblt. Herbert Pustkuchen | 84 ships sunk or captured (107,520 tons) 13 ships damaged (43,543 tons) |
32. | Kptlt. Karl Neumann | 71 ships sunk or captured (106,491 tons) 4 ships damaged (12,140 tons) |
33. | Oblt. Otto Launburg | 39 ships sunk or captured (104,144 tons) 9 ships damaged (38,371 tons) |
34. | Kptlt. Kurt Ramien | 57 ships sunk or captured (103,455 tons) 6 ships damaged (26,509 tons) |
35. | Kptlt. Hans Walther | 42 ships sunk or captured (103,262 tons) 4 ships damaged (13,451 tons) |
36. | Kptlt. Ernst Wilhelms | 31 ships sunk or captured (102,875 tons) 1 ship damaged (1,648 tons) |
37. | Kptlt. Ralph Wenninger | 98 ships sunk or captured (102,635 tons) 7 ships damaged (27,849 tons) |
These 37 commanders sank 2,686 ships with a total of 5,917,983 tons. Rank shown is the highest rank achieved during the war.
Comparison with WWII Commanders
See how the Commanders of WWI compare against the most successful U-boat Commanders of WWII.