| Born | 15 Aug 1905 | Posen | |
| Died | 2 May 1993 | (87) |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-68 | 11 Feb 1941 | 21 Jan 1943 | 5 patrols (368 days) |
Personal information
 Korvkpt. Karl-Friedrich Merten |
After a ten-year stint on warships and serving on the WWI battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on the Polish "Westerplatte" in September 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1 May, 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Oceans. U-68 was in the U-boat wolfpack "Eisbär" (Polar bear), which in the course of a few weeks during September/October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa.
In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat-Flotilla in Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten moved to the 24th U-boat-Flotilla in Memel where he also was the flotilla commander. This was the training flotilla for future Commanders-to-be.
After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine river along with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. Later he worked in the shipbuilding industry.
Karl-Friedrich Merten during the funeral of Großadmiral Dönitz in 1981,
behind him Oblt. Otto Westphalen (U-968)
Patrol info for Karl-Friedrich Merten
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-68 | 30 Jun 1941 | Kiel | 1 Aug 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 1, | 33 days | |
| 2. | U-68 | 11 Sep 1941 | Lorient | 25 Dec 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 106 days | |
| 3. | U-68 | 11 Feb 1942 | Lorient | 13 Apr 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 3, | 62 days | |
| 4. | U-68 | 14 May 1942 | Lorient | 10 Jul 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 4, | 58 days | |
| 5. | U-68 | 20 Aug 1942 | Lorient | 6 Dec 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 5, | 109 days | |
| 5 patrols, 368 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Karl-Friedrich Merten
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 22 Sep, 1941 | U-68 | Silverbelle | 5,302 |  | br | SL-87 | |
| 22 Oct, 1941 | U-68 | Darkdale | 8,145 | | br | ||
| 28 Oct, 1941 | U-68 | Hazelside | 5,297 | | br | ||
| 1 Nov, 1941 | U-68 | Bradford City | 4,953 | | br | ||
| 3 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Helenus | 7,366 | | br | ||
| 8 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Baluchistan | 6,992 | | br | ||
| 16 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Baron Newlands | 3,386 | | br | ||
| 17 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Allende | 5,081 | | br | ||
| 17 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Ile de Batz | 5,755 | | br | ||
| 17 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Scottish Prince | 4,917 | | br | ||
| 30 Mar, 1942 | U-68 | Muncaster Castle | 5,853 | | br | ST-18 | |
| 5 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | L.J. Drake | 6,693 |  | am | ||
| 6 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | C.O. Stillman | 13,006 |  | pa | ||
| 10 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | Ardenvohr | 5,025 | | br | ||
| 10 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | Port Montreal | 5,882 | | br | ||
| 10 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | Surrey | 8,581 | | br | ||
| 15 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | Frimaire | 9,242 |  | fr | ||
| 23 Jun, 1942 | U-68 | Arriaga | 2,345 | | pa | ||
| 12 Sep, 1942 | U-68 | Trevilley | 5,296 | | br | OS-38 | |
| 15 Sep, 1942 | U-68 | Breedijk | 6,861 |  | nl | ||
| 8 Oct, 1942 | U-68 | Gaasterkerk | 8,679 | | nl | ||
| 8 Oct, 1942 | U-68 | Koumoundouros | 3,598 |  | gr | ||
| 8 Oct, 1942 | U-68 | Sarthe | 5,271 | | br | ||
| 8 Oct, 1942 | U-68 | Swiftsure | 8,207 | | am | ||
| 9 Oct, 1942 | U-68 | Belgian Fighter | 5,403 |  | be | ||
| 9 Oct, 1942 | U-68 | Examelia | 4,981 | | am | ||
| 6 Nov, 1942 | U-68 | City of Cairo | 8,034 | | br | ||
| 170,151 | |||||||
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. | |||||||
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Decorations and ranks information is in many cases not complete. If you can help on any of those missing that would be great.
