Paul Hartwig

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)


Successes
8 ships sunk, total tonnage 26,383 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 900 tons

Born  14 Sep 1915 Steins, Vogtland
Died  9 Mar 2014(98)Altenholz, Germany


Paul Hartwig

Ranks

5 Apr 1935 Offiziersanwärter
25 Sep 1935 Seekadett
1 Jul 1936 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1938 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1942 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-517 21 Mar 1942 21 Nov 1942   2 patrols (78 days) 

Paul Hartwig joined the U-boat force in July 1940 and after five months of training he completed two patrols on the successful U-125.

In March 1942 he commissioned the type IXC boat U-517 and on the boat's first patrol in Canadian waters during the summer of 1942 he sank nine ships.

BdU Admiral Dönitz commented on the patrol: "Outstanding first patrol of commander with a new boat." Unfortunately U-517 was sunk just four days after leaving Lorient on her second patrol (Niestlé, 1998). Paul Hartwig spent the time from November 1942 to the end of the war in Allied captivity.

After the war Hartwig joined the newly formed Bundesmarine and during the 1970s rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.

He passed away on 9 March 2014 at the age of 98. His obituary contained these words: "He was blessed in that he could look back on his life as a success."

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 Paul Hartwig

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-517 8 Aug 1942  Kiel  19 Oct 1942  Lorient  Patrol 1,73 days
2. U-517 17 Nov 1942  Lorient  21 Nov 1942  Sunk  Patrol 2,5 days
2 patrols, 78 days at sea

Ships hit by Paul Hartwig

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
27 Aug 1942U-517 Chatham5,649amSG-6F
28 Aug 1942U-517 Arlyn3,304amSG-6
3 Sep 1942U-517 Donald Stewart1,781caLN-7
7 Sep 1942U-517 Mount Pindus5,729grQS-33
7 Sep 1942U-517 Oakton1,727caQS-33
7 Sep 1942U-517 Mount Taygetus3,286grQS-33
11 Sep 1942U-517 HMCS Charlottetown (K 244)900caSQ-35
15 Sep 1942U-517 Inger Elisabeth2,166nwSQ-36
15 Sep 1942U-517 Saturnus2,741nlSQ-36
 27,283

9 ships sunk (27,283 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.


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


As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.