Hans-Werner Kraus

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
7 ships sunk, total tonnage 12,606 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 96 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 2,590 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged, total tonnage 6,746 GRT

Born  1 Jul 1915 Beulwitz, Saalfeld
Died  25 May 1990(74)Wangen / Allgäu, Germany


Kapitänleutnant Hans Werner Kraus

Ranks

8 Apr 1934 Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934 Seekadett
1 Jul 1935 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937 Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov 1941 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

  Hitler Youth Honour Badge
29 Apr 1940 U-boat War Badge 1939
8 Jul 1940 Iron Cross 2nd Class
28 Sep 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Jun 1942 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-83 8 Feb 1941 21 Sep 1942   9 patrols (212 days) 
U-199 28 Nov 1942 31 Jul 1943   1 patrol (80 days) 

Hans Werner Kraus
Hans Werner Kraus on board

Hans Werner Kraus began his naval career in April 1934. Later he served on the light cruiser Königsberg. In October 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force. After the usual training he replaced 'Bertl' Endraß on U-47 as IWO. After five successful patrols with Günther Prien he left the boat in November 1940 and three months later commissioned U-83.

On 18 December, 1941, during his third patrol with U-83, he broke through the Straits of Gibraltar. After six patrols in the Mediterranean he left the boat.


Werner Kraus after a patrol off Cyrenaika, Libya.

On 28 November 1942 Kraus commissioned the type IXD boat U-199. The boat was sunk on her first patrol leaving only 12 survivors on 31 July, 1943 by aircraft near the Brazilian coast (Niestlé, 1998).

Hans Werner Kraus then spent nearly three years in American captivity. He arrived at Fort Hunt on 18 August, 1943 and was held there until 6 September. He was then transferred to Crossville, and then to Papago Park on 27 January, 1944. Kraus was one of the 25 POWs who escaped from this camp during the night of 23-24 December, 1944. A week later, Kraus and his companion Helmut Drescher had traveled 43 miles, but Drescher suffered an injury which compelled them to surrender. They were returned to Papago Park.

In February 1946 Kraus was sent to Camp Shanks, New York, and then to a compound in the British zone of Germany near Münster, before being released.

Hans-Werner Kraus died on 25 May 1990 (Rust, 2009).

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).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Rust, E. (2009) E-mail correspondence. Author of Naval Officers under Hitler.

Patrol info for Hans-Werner Kraus

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-83 26 Jul 1941  Kiel  9 Sep 1941  Brest  Patrol 1,46 days
2. U-83 28 Sep 1941  Brest  31 Oct 1941  Brest  Patrol 2,34 days
3. U-83 11 Dec 1941  Brest  23 Dec 1941  Messina  Patrol 3,13 days
4. U-83 25 Dec 1941  Messina  30 Dec 1941  Salamis  Patrol 4,6 days
5. U-83 12 Feb 1942  Salamis  24 Feb 1942  Salamis  Patrol 5,13 days
6. U-83 10 Mar 1942  Salamis  21 Mar 1942  Salamis  Patrol 6,12 days
7. U-83 24 Mar 1942  Salamis  28 Mar 1942  La Spezia   5 days
8. U-83 5 Apr 1942  La Spezia  30 May 1942  Salamis  Patrol 7,56 days
9. U-83 4 Jun 1942  Salamis  20 Jun 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 8,17 days
10. U-83 6 Aug 1942  La Spezia  20 Aug 1942  Salamis  Patrol 9,15 days
11. U-83 31 Aug 1942  Salamis  4 Sep 1942  La Spezia   5 days
12. U-199 13 May 1943  Kiel  31 Jul 1943  Sunk  Patrol 10,80 days
10 patrols, 292 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Werner Kraus

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
12 Oct 1941U-83 Corte Real2,044pt
26 Oct 1941U-83 HMS Ariguani (F 105) (d.)6,746brHG-75
 
17 Mar 1942U-83 Crista (d.)2,590brAT-34
8 Jun 1942U-83 Said231ag
8 Jun 1942U-83 Esther100pl
9 Jun 1942U-83 Typhoon175pl
13 Jun 1942U-83 HMS Farouk96br
17 Aug 1942U-83 Princess Marguerite5,875ca
 
4 Jul 1943U-199 Changri-Lá20bz
24 Jul 1943U-199 Henzada4,161br
 22,038

8 ships sunk (12,702 tons) and 2 ships damaged (9,336 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.


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


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.


The Faustball Tunnel

Moore, John Hammond

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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