Gerhard Wiebe
Fregattenkapitän (Crew 25)
| Successes 9 ships sunk for a total of 54,753 GRT 1 ship damaged for a total of 9,687 GRT |
| Born | 24 Jan 1907 | Lautenburg |
|
Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-516 | 10 Mar 1942 | 23 Jun 1943 | 2 patrols (225 days) |
Personal information
Gerhard Wiebe joined the Kriegsmarine in 1925. From Oct 1938 to June 1941 he was group leader at the Torpedo Testing Branch. In June 1941 he joined the U-boat force and began his basic training, lasting until Jan 1942. From Jan to March 1942 Gerhard Wiebe went through U-boat commander training and then U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) at Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg.
On 10 March 1942 Gerhard Wiebe commissioned the brand new type IXC boat U-516 in Hamburg. He spent the summer working up the boat and its crew and finally on 15 August he left on his first war patrol from Kristiansand, Norway. On 2 patrols with the U-516 Wiebe would sink 9 ships for a total of 54,753 GRT and damage another one for 9,687 GRT.
During his second patrol, to South Africa, U-516 reported on 10 March 1943 that she had to withdraw from battle because the Commander, Wiebe, had "stomach pains" and his First Watch Officer took temporary command. About 10 days later, after sinking its 4 ship on the patrol, the engineering crew discovered "severe corrosion" in the pressure hull near the battery compartment the boat was forced to head home at highest speed, arriving to France on May 3 (Blair, 1998).
Gerhard Wiebe left the boat after its second patrol on 23 June 1943 partly due to his illness and served in several staff positions until the end of the war. He was detained by the Allies after the war and not released until Aug 1947.
Sources
Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.
Busch, R and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Patrol info for Gerhard Wiebe
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-516 | 12 Aug 1942 | Kiel | 13 Aug 1942 | Kristiansand | 2 days | ||
| 2. | U-516 | 15 Aug 1942 | Kristiansand | 14 Nov 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 1, | 92 days | |
| 3. | U-516 | 23 Dec 1942 | Lorient | 4 May 1943 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 133 days | |
| 2 patrols, 225 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Gerhard Wiebe
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Aug 1942 | U-516 |  | Port Jackson (d.) | 9,687 |  | br | |
| 31 Aug 1942 | U-516 | | Jack Carnes | 10,907 |  | am | |
| 19 Sep 1942 | U-516 | Wichita | 6,174 | | am | ||
| 28 Sep 1942 | U-516 | Antonico | 1,223 |  | bz | ||
| 30 Sep 1942 | U-516 | Alipore | 5,273 | | br | ||
| 24 Oct 1942 | U-516 | Holmpark | 5,780 | | br | ||
| 11 Feb 1943 | U-516 | Helmspey | 4,764 | | br | ||
| 17 Feb 1943 | U-516 | | Deer Lodge | 6,187 | | am | |
| 27 Feb 1943 | U-516 | | Colombia | 10,782 |  | nl | |
| 20 Mar 1943 | U-516 | Nortun | 3,663 |  | pa | ||
| 64,440 | |||||||
9 ships sunk (54,753 tons) and 1 ship damaged (9,687 tons). Legend | |||||||