Helmuth Ringelmann
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)
| Successes 7 ships sunk, total tonnage 37,884 GRT 2 warships sunk, total tonnage 744 tons |
| Born | 21 Apr 1912 | Munich | |
| Died | 28 Dec 1941 | (29) | Mediterranean |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-75 | 19 Dec 1940 | 28 Dec 1941 (+) | 5 patrols (141 days) |
Helmuth Ringelmann joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1931. He served with the 24th flotilla from Sept to Oct 1940. In Nov he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) at Bremen where his new U-boat was being built.
On 19 Dec 1940 Kptlt. Helmut Ringelmann took command of the new boat U-75. With this boat he went out on 3 patrols in the North Atlantic sinking 6 ships including the passenger ship City of Nagur and the large tanker Inversuir.
The Mediterranean
On 27 Sept 1941 Ringelmann took his U-75 out on its 4th patrol from St. Nazaire, France. On 3 Oct he successfully passed through the heavily guarded Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean (Busch and Röll, 1997). During this patrol he sank 2 small British landing craft off Tobruk. He then entered its new base at Salamis, Greece on 2 Nov after 37 days at sea.
His 5th patrol with U-75 was to be his last. After only 7 days at sea the boat was sunk the same day as his last victim, 28 Dec 1941, in the Mediterranean near Mesra Matruh by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Kipling. 14 died and 30 survived the sinking (Niestlé, 1998). Kptlt. Helmuth Ringelmann was not among the survivors.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestle, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Patrol info for Helmuth Ringelmann
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-75 | 10 Apr 1941 | Kiel | 12 May 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 33 days | |
| 2. | U-75 | 29 May 1941 | St. Nazaire | 3 Jul 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 2, | 36 days | |
| 3. | U-75 | 29 Jul 1941 | St. Nazaire | 25 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 3, | 28 days | |
| 4. | U-75 | 27 Sep 1941 | St. Nazaire | 2 Nov 1941 | Salamis | Patrol 4, | 37 days | |
| 5. | U-75 | 22 Dec 1941 | Salamis | 28 Dec 1941 | Sunk | Patrol 5, | 7 days | |
| 5 patrols, 141 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Helmuth Ringelmann
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Apr 1941 | U-75 |  | City of Nagpur | 10,146 |  | br | |
| 3 Jun 1941 | U-75 | | Eibergen | 4,801 |  | nl | OB-327 |
| 3 Jun 1941 | U-75 | | Inversuir | 9,456 | | br | OB-327 |
| 25 Jun 1941 | U-75 | | Schie | 1,967 | | nl | OB-336 |
| 5 Aug 1941 | U-75 | Cape Rodney | 4,512 | | br | SL-81 | |
| 5 Aug 1941 | U-75 | | Harlingen | 5,415 | | br | SL-81 |
| 12 Oct 1941 | U-75 | HMS TLC-2 (A 2) | 372 | | br | ||
| 12 Oct 1941 | U-75 | HMS TLC-7 (A 7) | 372 | | br | ||
| 28 Dec 1941 | U-75 | Volo | 1,587 | | br | ME-8 | |
| 38,628 | |||||||
9 ships sunk (38,628 tons). Legend | |||||||
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.
Media links
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