The Men - The Commander listing

Karl-Friedrich Merten

Kapitän zur See (Crew 26)

Successes
27 ships sunk for a total of 170.151 GRT

Born	15 Aug, 1905	Posen
Died	2 May, 1993

Karl Friedrich Merten

Ranks

1 Apr, 1928	Fähnrich zur See
1 Jun, 1930	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct, 1930	Leutnant zur See
1 Apr, 1933	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr, 1936	Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr, 1941	Korvettenkapitän
1 Jan, 1944	Fregattenkapitän
15 Apr, 1945	Kapitän zur See

Decorations

2 Oct, 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
2 Aug, 1941	U-boat War Badge 1939
31 Dec, 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
13 Jun, 1942	Knights Cross
16 Nov, 1942	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
30 Jan, 1943	U-boat War Badge with Diamonds

U-boat Commands

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

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-68	30 Jun, 1941	Kiel	1 Aug, 1941	Lorient	Patrol,	33 days
2.	U-68	11 Sep, 1941	Lorient	25 Dec, 1941	Lorient	Patrol,	106 days
3.	U-68	11 Feb, 1942	Lorient	13 Apr, 1942	Lorient	Patrol,	62 days
4.	U-68	14 May, 1942	Lorient	10 Jul, 1942	Lorient	Patrol,	58 days
5.	U-68	20 Aug, 1942	Lorient	6 Dec, 1942	Lorient	Patrol,	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
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.