Paul Härtwig
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)
| Successes 8 ships sunk, total tonnage 26,383 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 900 tons |
| Born | 14 Sep 1915 | Stein, Vogtland |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
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 Härtwig
| 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 Härtwig
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Aug 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | Chatham | 5,649 |  | am | SG-6F | |
| 28 Aug 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig |  | Arlyn | 3,304 | | am | SG-6 |
| 3 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | | Donald Stewart | 1,781 |  | ca | LN-7 |
| 7 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | Mount Pindus | 5,729 |  | gr | QS-33 | |
| 7 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | | Oakton | 1,727 | | ca | QS-33 |
| 7 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | | Mount Taygetus | 3,286 | | gr | QS-33 |
| 11 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | | HMCS Charlottetown (K 244) | 900 | | ca | SQ-35 |
| 15 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | Inger Elisabeth | 2,166 |  | nw | SQ-36 | |
| 15 Sep 1942 | U-517 | Paul Härtwig | | Saturnus | 2,741 |  | nl | SQ-36 |
| 27,283 | ||||||||
9 ships sunk (27,283 tons). Legend | ||||||||
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.