Friedrich Guggenberger

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
15 ships sunk for a total of 43.098 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 1.150 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 22.600 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 6.003 GRT

Born	6 Mar, 1915	Munich
Died	13 May, 1988	Erlenbach am Main

U-Boot Archiv

Kptlt. Friedrich Guggenberger

Ranks

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 Sep, 1941	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

23 Mar, 1940	Iron Cross 2nd Class
8 Jul, 1940	U-boat War Badge 1939
9 Sep, 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
10 Dec, 1941	Knights Cross
8 Jan, 1943	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-28	16 Nov, 1940	-	11 Feb, 1941	No war patrols
U-81	26 Apr, 1941	-	24 Dec, 1942	9 patrols (261 days)
U-847	23 Jan, 1943	-	1 Feb, 1943	No war patrols
U-513	15 May, 1943	-	19 Jul, 1943	1 patrol (63 days)

Friedrich Guggenberger with the IWO
before patrol

Friedrich Guggenberger began his U-boat career in October 1939 with the usual training. His first U-boat was U-28 under the command of Knights Cross holder Günther Kuhnke. During the autumn of 1940 Guggenberger took over U-28 and commanded the boat for a few months in a school flotilla.

In April 1941 he commissioned U-81. After three patrols in the Atlantic during which he sank two ships, he took the boat into the Mediterranean in November 1941. On 13 Nov, 1941, shortly after passing the Straits of Gibraltar, he torpedoed the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (22,600 tons), which sank one day later. After six further successful patrols in the Mediterranean, Guggenberger left the boat in early 1943 and for three months was a member of Dönitz's staff.

In May 1943 he took over U-513, a Type IXC boat, but was sunk on the first patrol in July 1943 in Brazilian waters by an American aircraft. The badly wounded Guggenberger, along with six additional survivors, spent one day in a life boat at sea before being picked up by the US cruiser USS Barnegate. After an operation and a long time in hospital he was transferred to Fort Hunt on 25 September, 1943; then to the POW camp at Crossville later that month; finally arriving in the Papago Park camp near Phoenix, Arizona (USA) in late January 1944.

On 12 February, 1944, Guggenberger and four other U-boat commanders escaped from this camp. Guggenberger and his traveling companion August Maus were recaptured in Tucson, Arizona. Guggenberger was also one of the 25 POWs who escaped from this camp during the night of 23-24 December, 1944. On 6 January, 1945 he and his companion Jürgen Quaet-Faslem were captured less than 10 miles from the Mexican border.

Guggenberger was transferred to Camp Shanks, New York in February, 1946; then to a compound in the British zone of Germany, near Münster. He was released from Allied captivity in August 1946.

After the war he became an architect, before joining the German Navy, now known as the Bundesmarine, once more in 1956. After graduating from the Naval War College in Newport (USA), he was as Konteradmiral the Deputy Chief of Staff in the NATO command AFNORTH for four years. In October 1972 Guggenberger retired.

On 13 May, 1988 he went on a stroll in the forest and never came back. His body was not found until two years later.