The Men - The Commander listing

Hermann Rasch

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
12 ships sunk for a total of 78.553 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 4.639 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 8.246 GRT

Born	26 Aug, 1914	Wilhelmshaven
Died	10 Jun, 1974	Hamburg

Kapitänleutnant Hermann Rasch

Ranks

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 Mar, 1942	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

6 Jun, 1939	Spanish Cross
11 Jul, 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
29 Dec, 1942	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-106

20 Oct, 1941

Apr, 1943

6 patrols (307 days)

Personal information

Hermann Rasch began his naval career in April 1934. In April 1940 he joined the U-boat force and after some months of training he became I WO on U-106 in September 1940. In July 1941 he left the U-boat to enter commander training. Three months later he took over U-106 from Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten.

In six patrols, mostly in the North and Western Atlantic, he sank 11 ships. On his second patrol he achieved notable success, in three days sinking two large ships of 10,354 and 15,355 tons. In April 1943 he left U-106.

For the next year he was an Asto (Admiral staff officer) in the OKM (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine), and beginning in June 1944 he was the 4th Asto on the staff of BdU (BdU op). In October 1944 he became a commander in the KdK (Kommando der Kleinkampfverbände, Command of Midget Battle Units), where he was responsible for the midget U-boats (Seehund, Biber) until the end of the war.

He spent over a year in Allied captivity and then worked as a journalist in Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf until his death in 1974.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-106	21 Oct, 1941	Lorient	22 Nov, 1941	Lorient	Patrol	33 days
2.	U-106	3 Jan, 1942	Lorient	22 Feb, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	51 days
3.	U-106	15 Apr, 1942	Lorient	29 Jun, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	76 days
4.	U-106	25 Jul, 1942	Lorient	28 Jul, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	4 days
5.	U-106	22 Sep, 1942	Lorient	26 Dec, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	96 days
6.	U-106	17 Feb, 1943	Lorient	4 Apr, 1943	Lorient	Patrol	47 days

Ships hit by Hermann Rasch

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
28 Oct, 1941	U-106	King Malcolm	5.120		br	SC-50
30 Oct, 1941	U-106	USS Salinas (AO 19)	8.246		am	ON-28	damaged

24 Jan, 1942	U-106	Empire Wildebeeste	5.631		br	ON-53
26 Jan, 1942	U-106	Traveller	3.963		br
30 Jan, 1942	U-106	Rochester	6.836		am
3 Feb, 1942	U-106	Amerikaland	15.355		sw
6 Feb, 1942	U-106	Opawa	10.354		br
5 May, 1942	U-106	Lady Drake	7.985		ca
21 May, 1942	U-106	Faja de Oro	6.067		me
26 May, 1942	U-106	Carrabulle	5.030		am
27 May, 1942	U-106	Atenas	4.639		am		damaged
28 May, 1942	U-106	Mentor	7.383		br
1 Jun, 1942	U-106	Hampton Roads	2.689		am
11 Oct, 1942	U-106	Waterton	2.140		br	BS-31
			91.438
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.