Wilhelm Rollmann

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 26)


Successes
20 ships sunk, total tonnage 96,562 GRT
2 warships sunk, total tonnage 1,770 tons
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 4,957 GRT
1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 595 tons

Born  5 Aug 1907 Wilhelmshaven
Died  5 Nov 1943(36)South Atlantic


Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Rollmann

Ranks

1 Apr 1926 Offiziersanwärter
12 Oct 1926 Seekadett
1 Apr 1928 Fähnrich zur See
1 May 1930 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1930 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1932 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1936 Kapitänleutnant
1 Dec 1940 Korvettenkapitän
1 Nov 1943 Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

26 Sep 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
12 Nov 1939 U-boat War Badge 1939
7 Feb 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
31 Jul 1940 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-34 26 Oct 1938 28 Sep 1940   7 patrols (190 days) 
U-847 26 Jan 1943 26 Jan 1943   No war patrols (Transit)
U-848 20 Feb 1943 5 Nov 1943  (+)  1 patrol (49 days) 

Wilhelm Rollmann joined the Reichsmarine in in April 1926. After serving on several ships, including the light cruiser Karlsruhe, in May 1937 he transferred to the U-boat force. After a thorough pre-war training he took over command of the type VIIA U-boat U-34 in October 1938. Two of his more notable successes were the sinking of the British destroyer HMS Whirlwind and the British submarine Spearfish.

After seven successful patrols he left the boat and became an instructor in the 2nd ULD (Unterseeboots-Lehr-Division).

On 20 February 1943 he commissioned the large type IXD2 U-848. The boat was sunk with all hands on her first patrol by US aircraft southwest of Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic on 5 November 1943. (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 Wilhelm Rollmann

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-34 19 Aug 1939  Wilhelmshaven  26 Sep 1939  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 1,39 days
2. U-34 17 Oct 1939  Wilhelmshaven  12 Nov 1939  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 2,27 days
3. U-34 1 Jan 1940  Wilhelmshaven  6 Feb 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 3,37 days
4. U-34 11 Mar 1940  Wilhelmshaven  30 Mar 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 4,20 days
5. U-34 3 Apr 1940  Wilhelmshaven  30 Apr 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 5,28 days
6. U-34 22 Jun 1940  Wilhelmshaven  18 Jul 1940  Lorient  Patrol 6,27 days
7. U-34 23 Jul 1940  Lorient  3 Aug 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 7,12 days
8. U-848 18 Sep 1943  Kiel  5 Nov 1943  Sunk  Patrol 8,49 days
8 patrols, 239 days at sea

Ships hit by Wilhelm Rollmann

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
7 Sep 1939U-34 Pukkastan5,809br
8 Sep 1939U-34 Kennebec5,548br
24 Sep 1939U-34 Hanonia (c.)1,781es
20 Oct 1939U-34 Gustaf Adolf926sw
20 Oct 1939U-34 Sea Venture2,327br
27 Oct 1939U-34 Bronte5,317brOB-25
29 Oct 1939U-34 Malabar7,976brHX-5A
9 Nov 1939U-34 Snar (c.)3,176nw
 
20 Jan 1940U-34 Caroni River [Mine]7,807br
28 Jan 1940U-34 Eleni Stathatou5,625gr
13 Apr 1940U-34 HNoMS Frøya (t.)595nw
5 Jul 1940U-34 HMS Whirlwind (D 30)1,100br
6 Jul 1940U-34 Vapper4,543es
7 Jul 1940U-34 Lucrecia2,584nl
9 Jul 1940U-34 Tiiu1,865es
10 Jul 1940U-34 Petsamo4,596fi
11 Jul 1940U-34 Janna2,197nwHX-54
15 Jul 1940U-34 Evdoxia2,018gr
17 Jul 1940U-34 Naftilos3,531gr
26 Jul 1940U-34 Accra9,337brOB-188
26 Jul 1940U-34 Vinemoor4,359brOB-188
27 Jul 1940U-34 Sambre5,260brOB-188
27 Jul 1940U-34 Thiara10,364brOB-188
1 Aug 1940U-34 HMS Spearfish (N 69)670br
 
2 Nov 1943U-848 Baron Semple4,573br
 103,884

25 ships sunk (103,884 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(c.) means the ship was captured (included in ships & tonnage lost).
(t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.


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


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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