Eberhard Bopst

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)



No ships sunk or damaged.


Born  25 Dec 1913 Berlin-Charlottenburg
Died  12 Oct 1942(28)North Atlantic


Ranks

1 Apr 1933 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1934 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936 Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1941 Kapitänleutnant
1 Oct 1942 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

March 1937 4 year Wehrmacht Long Service Award
6 Jun 1939 Spanish Cross in Silver without Swords
Nov 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
April 1940 Destroyer War Badge
April 1940 Narvik Shield
Aug 1941 Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-6 Mar, 1941 Sep, 1941   No war patrols 
U-597 20 Nov 1941 12 Oct 1942  (+)  2 patrols (78 days) 

Eberhard Bopst joined the Kreigsmarine in Sept 1933 and prior to transferring to the U-boat section served on the destroyers Georg Thiele (as 3rd Watch Officer, 1936-1937), Leberecht Maaß (1937-1938) and Bernd Von Arnim (Dec 1938-1940).

On the Bernd Von Arnim he saw action in the Spanish Civil War, receiving the Spanish Cross in Silver, and at the Battle of Narvik, receiving the Narvik Shield.

After the Norwegian campaign he returned to Germany, joining the U-boat arm in July 1940. His first command was U-6, a type IIA "duck" coastal boat, but he commissioned the type VIIC U-597 in Nov 1941. He went down with her when she was sunk with all hands by an RAF Liberator in Oct 1942.

He chose an edelweiss for the conning tower emblem on his boat, recalling childhood stays in the Bavarian Alps.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Eberhard Bopst

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-597 27 Jun 1942  Kiel  16 Aug 1942  Brest  Patrol 1,51 days
2. U-597 16 Sep 1942  Brest  12 Oct 1942  Sunk  Patrol 2,27 days
2 patrols, 78 days at sea


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


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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