The Men - The Commander listing

Karl-Heinz Moehle

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 30)

Successes
21 ships sunk for a total of 93.197 GRT

Born	31 Jul, 1910	Norden,Ostfriesland
Died	17 Nov, 1996

Oberfähnrich zur See Karl-Heinz Moehle

Ranks

9 Oct, 1930	Seekadett
1 Jan, 1932	Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1934	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct, 1934	Leutnant zur See
1 Jun, 1936	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr, 1939	Kapitänleutnant
1 Mar, 1943	Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

23 Sep, 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
17 Oct, 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
24 Oct, 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
26 Feb, 1941	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-20	1 Oct, 1937	-	17 Jan, 1940	6 patrols (71 days)
U-123	30 May, 1940	-	19 May, 1941	4 patrols (126 days)

Personal information

Karl-Heinz Moehle began his naval career in April 1930. After some months on the line ship Schleswig Holstein, he transferred to the U-boat force in March 1936, and in October 1937 commissioned U-20. He made six patrols, mostly in the North Sea, and sank eight ships.

He left U-20 in January 1940 and four months later commissioned U-123, one of the most famous U-boats of the war.

Moehle's second patrol in the North Atlantic was outstanding. On the morning of 23 November, 1940 he attacked the convoy OB-244 and in five hours sank five ships for a total of 23,084 tons. Due to damage sustained in a submerged collision with a sunken ship, U-123 was then forced to return to base. After four patrols Moehle turned over command of U-123 to Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen.

From June 1941 to the end of war Moehle was the commander both of the 5th flotilla and of the U-boat base Kiel. In June 1945 he was arrested and in the autumn of 1946 tried for passing on the Laconia order to the U-boat commanders. He was condemned to five years imprisonment, being released in November 1949.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-20	25 Aug, 1939	Kiel	31 Aug, 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol,	7 days
2.	U-20	1 Sep, 1939	Wilhelmshaven	20 Sep, 1939	Kiel	Patrol,	20 days
3.	U-20	29 Sep, 1939	Kiel	17 Oct, 1939	Kiel	Patrol,	19 days
4.	U-20	6 Nov, 1939	Kiel	7 Nov, 1939	Wilhelmshaven		2 days
5.	U-20	18 Nov, 1939	Wilhelmshaven	24 Nov, 1939	Kiel	Patrol,	7 days
6.	U-20	7 Dec, 1939	Kiel	13 Dec, 1939	Kiel	Patrol,	7 days
7.	U-20	6 Jan, 1940	Kiel	16 Jan, 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol,	11 days
8.	U-123	21 Sep, 1940	Kiel	23 Oct, 1940	Lorient	Patrol,	33 days
9.	U-123	14 Nov, 1940	Lorient	28 Nov, 1940	Lorient	Patrol,	15 days
10.	U-123	14 Jan, 1941	Lorient	28 Feb, 1941	Lorient	Patrol,	46 days
11.	U-123	10 Apr, 1941	Lorient	11 May, 1941	Lorient	Patrol,	32 days
					10 patrols, 197 days at sea

Ships hit by Karl-Heinz Moehle

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
29 Nov, 1939	U-20	Ionian [Mine]	3.114		br	FN-43
9 Dec, 1939	U-20	Magnus	1.339		da
10 Dec, 1939	U-20	Føina	1.674		nw
10 Dec, 1939	U-20	Willowpool [Mine]	4.815		br	HG-9

13 Jan, 1940	U-20	Sylvia	1.524		sw
6 Oct, 1940	U-123	Benlawers	5.943		br	OB-221
10 Oct, 1940	U-123	Graigwen	3.697		br	SC-6
19 Oct, 1940	U-123	Boekelo	2.118		nl	SC-7
19 Oct, 1940	U-123	Clintonia	3.106		br	SC-7
19 Oct, 1940	U-123	Sedgepool	5.556		br	SC-7
19 Oct, 1940	U-123	Shekatika	5.458		br	SC-7
22 Nov, 1940	U-123	Cree	4.791		br	SL-53
23 Nov, 1940	U-123	Anten	5.135		sw	OB-244
23 Nov, 1940	U-123	King Idwal	5.115		br	OB-244
23 Nov, 1940	U-123	Oakcrest	5.407		br	OB-244
23 Nov, 1940	U-123	Tymeric	5.228		br	OB-244

24 Jan, 1941	U-123	Vespasian	1.570		nw
4 Feb, 1941	U-123	Empire Engineer	5.358		br	SC-20
15 Feb, 1941	U-123	Alnmoor	6.573		br	SC-21
24 Feb, 1941	U-123	Grootekerk	8.685		nl
17 Apr, 1941	U-123	Venezuela	6.991		sw
			93.197
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. [Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine.