| Born | 29 Jan 1916 | Posen | |
| Died | 14 Apr 1943 | (27) | Lorient |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-526 | 12 Aug 1942 | 14 Apr 1943 (+) | 1 patrol (63 days) |
Personal information
Hans Möglich joined the Navy in 1935. He served as a Watch Officer on the torpedo boat Albatros from Dec 1939 to Oct 1940 when he started his U-boat training.
In April 1941 he was assigned to observe the final construction of U-boat and from June 1941 he was IWO (First Watch Officer) on the newly commissioned U-130 under Kals from Jun 1941 to April 1942. He spent 77 days at sea on 2 patrols on the boat before leaving for U-boat commander training. U-130 had been a part of the first wave of U-boats to hit the American coastline in Jan 1942 as part of Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag).
Hans Möglich took command of his own boat, the new U-526, on 12 Aug 1942 and worked the boat and its crew up in the Baltic for the next few months.
On his only operational patrol Möglich and his boat had been part of Wolfpack Sturmer in the extensive operations against convoys SC-112 and HX-229. The boat scored no successes.
Möglich's boat blown up by a mine in port
On his return from the third and last patrol on 14 April 1943 KrvKpt. Rolf Rüggeberg's U-513 was met by one of its sister-boats, the U-526 commanded by the young Kptlt. Hans Möglich, as they waited for the minesweeper to escort them to base at Lorient, France. Being the senior officer Rüggeberg should have been first in line after the minesweeper but Möglich, eager to enter port after 63 days at sea, rushed ahead of Rüggebergs boat. One mile from the dock the minesweeper left the boats who headed to the dock when U-526 hit a newly laid british mine and exploded in a huge blast, ripping the boat in two. 42 died, including Möglich, and only 12 survived, 9 of them wounded. U-513 moored safely amid frantic rescue operations (Blair, 1998).
Sources
Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.
Busch, R & Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Patrol info for Hans Möglich
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-526 | 23 Jan 1943 | Kiel | 25 Jan 1943 | Kristiansand | 3 days | ||
| 2. | U-526 | 27 Jan 1943 | Kristiansand | 28 Jan 1943 | Bergen | 2 days | ||
| 3. | U-526 | 11 Feb 1943 | Bergen | 14 Apr 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 1, | 63 days | |
Ships hit by Hans Möglich
No entries found.
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.