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The Men - The Commander listing

Wilhelm Dommes

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 31)


Successes
8 ships sunk for a total of 40.103 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 313 GRT
2 warships sunk for a total of 3.548 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 3.560 GRT
1 warship damaged for a total of 450 tons

Born  16 Apr, 1907Buchberg, West Prussia
Died  23 Jan, 1990Hannover


Kptlt. Wilhelm Dommes

Ranks

23 Jan, 1933Offiziersanwärter
1 Apr, 1933Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan, 1935Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1935Leutnant zur See
1 Jan, 1937Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb, 1939Kapitänleutnant
1 Feb, 1943Korvettenkapitän
30 Jan, 1945Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

29 Nov, 1939Iron Cross 2nd Class
10 Feb, 1942Iron Cross 1st Class
10 Feb, 1942U-boat War Badge 1939
2 Dec, 1942Knights Cross
5 Mar, 1945U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-4315 Apr, 1941 - 6 Jan, 1943  10 patrols (257 days) 
U-17822 Feb, 1943 - 25 Nov, 1943  1 patrol (153 days) 

Personal information

Wilhelm Dommes began his naval career in January 1933 after serving in the merchant navy. The first years he spent mainly on the light cruiser Nürnberg and on the battle-cruiser Scharnhorst. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force where he successfully fought with his U-431 in the Mediterranean.

He departed from base at Bordeaux, France with U-178 for the Far East on 28 March, 1943 and finally arrived in Penang five months later. After that long patrol he became the base commander of Penang and in January 1945 the base commander of Singapore and Chief of all Monsun boats.


Patrol info


 U-boatDeparture Arrival  
1. U-431 19 Jun, 1941  Kiel 20 Jun, 1941  Horten  2 days
2. U-431 25 Jun, 1941  Horten 28 Jun, 1941  Trondheim  4 days
3. U-431 10 Jul, 1941  Trondheim 11 Aug, 1941  St. Nazaire Patrol,33 days
4. U-431 13 Sep, 1941  St. Nazaire 12 Oct, 1941  St. Nazaire Patrol,30 days
5. U-431 16 Nov, 1941  St. Nazaire 20 Dec, 1941  La Spezia Patrol,35 days
6. U-431 18 Jan, 1942  La Spezia 22 Jan, 1942  Messina  5 days
7. U-431 25 Jan, 1942  Messina 10 Feb, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,17 days
8. U-431 18 Mar, 1942  La Spezia 15 Apr, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,29 days
9. U-431 14 May, 1942  La Spezia 30 May, 1942  Salamis Patrol,17 days
10. U-431 4 Jun, 1942  Salamis 20 Jun, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,17 days
11. U-431 2 Sep, 1942  La Spezia 27 Sep, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,26 days
12. U-431 29 Sep, 1942  La Spezia 4 Nov, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,37 days
13. U-431 7 Nov, 1942  La Spezia 22 Nov, 1942  Pola Patrol,16 days
14. U-178 7 Mar, 1943  Bordeaux 9 Mar, 1943  Bordeaux  3 days
15. U-178 28 Mar, 1943  Bordeaux 27 Aug, 1943  Penang Patrol,153 days
16. U-178 9 Oct, 1943  Penang 11 Oct, 1943  Singapur  3 days
17. U-178 23 Oct, 1943  Singapur 25 Oct, 1943  Penang  3 days
18. U-178 6 Nov, 1943  Penang 8 Nov, 1943  Singapur  3 days
19. U-178 23 Nov, 1943  Singapur 24 Nov, 1943  Penang  2 days

11 patrols, 410 days at sea

Ships hit by Wilhelm Dommes


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
2 Oct, 1941 U-431Hatasu3.198 br ON-19 
13 Dec, 1941 U-431Myriel3.560 br damaged
 
29 Jan, 1942 U-431HMS Sotra313 br TA-21 
20 May, 1942 U-431Eocene4.216 br AT-46 
15 Jun, 1942 U-431HMS LCT-119450 br damaged
10 Nov, 1942 U-431HMS Martin (G 44)1.920 br Torch 
13 Nov, 1942 U-431HNMS Isaac Sweers (G 83)1.628 nl 
 
1 Jun, 1943 U-178Salabangka6.586 nl CD-20 
4 Jul, 1943 U-178Breiviken2.669 nw DN-50 
4 Jul, 1943 U-178Michael Livanos4.774 gr 
11 Jul, 1943 U-178Mary Livanos4.771 gr 
14 Jul, 1943 U-178Robert Bacon7.197 am 
17 Jul, 1943 U-178City of Canton6.692 br 
 47.974

* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.

Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.

Listing of all U-boat commanders