Wilhelm von Trotha
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)
| Successes 1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 140 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 600 tons |
| Born | 7 Aug 1916 | Kiel | |
| Died | 4 Feb 1945 | (28) | Baltic Sea |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-733 | 14 Nov 1942 | 11 May 1943 | No war patrols |
| U-745 | 19 Jun 1943 | 4 Feb 1945 (+) | 4 patrols (118 days) |
After a time on the cruiser Königsberg and on the school ship Schleswig-Holstein, Wilhelm von Trotha transferred to the U-boat force in 1941. His first command was U-733. In June 1943 he took command of U-745. In June 1944 he made one patrol in Norwegian waters, but in August 1944 his new operational area was designated as the Baltic Sea.
U-745 left Libau on 24 December 1944 and never returned. It has been conjectured that U-745 was lost in a German minefield in the Baltic.
There were reports that the body of von Trotha was washed ashore on the Estonian coast in early February 1945. His body was actually found 10 February 1945 south of Föglö in the archipelago of Åland Island in Finland by local fishermen. The body was frozen, blood in the mouth and throat, but apart from that unharmed. It is possible that he died while trying to reach the surface after his boat sank for some reason.
The white arrow shows where the body of von Trotha was found
The darker blue shows probable area of loss for U-745
This is a so-called foreigners grave in Föglö.
von Trotha was buried there as victim Number 8 on 13 February, 1945.
The church in Föglö
Special thanks to Mr. Stefan Abrahamsson in Finland for bringing this information to our attention.
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.
Patrol info for Wilhelm von Trotha
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-745 | 24 May 1944 | Kiel | 26 May 1944 | Larvik | 3 days | ||
| 2. | U-745 | 9 Jun 1944 | Larvik | 7 Jul 1944 | Bergen | Patrol 1, | 29 days | |
| 3. | U-745 | 15 Jul 1944 | Bergen | 17 Jul 1944 | Marviken | 3 days | ||
| 4. | U-745 | 29 Jul 1944 | Marviken | 1 Aug 1944 | Kiel | 4 days | ||
| 5. | U-745 | 3 Aug 1944 | Kiel | 7 Aug 1944 | Helsinki | 5 days | ||
| 6. | U-745 | 8 Aug 1944 | Helsinki | 9 Aug 1944 | Gotenhafen | 2 days | ||
| 7. | U-745 | 14 Aug 1944 | Gotenhafen | 18 Aug 1944 | Helsinki | 5 days | ||
| 8. | U-745 | 20 Aug 1944 | Helsinki | 20 Aug 1944 | Kalasika | 1 days | ||
| 9. | U-745 | 23 Aug 1944 | Kalasika | 27 Aug 1944 | Riisiö | Patrol 2, | 5 days | |
| 10. | U-745 | 29 Aug 1944 | Riisiö | 29 Aug 1944 | Helsinki | 1 days | ||
| 11. | U-745 | 11 Sep 1944 | Helsinki | 20 Oct 1944 | Danzig | Patrol 3, | 40 days | |
| 12. | U-745 | 23 Dec 1944 | Danzig | 4 Feb 1945 | Sunk | Patrol 4, | 44 days | |
| 4 patrols, 118 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Wilhelm von Trotha
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Aug 1944 | U-745 | Wilhelm von Trotha | T-45 Antikajnen (No 48) | 140 |  | sj | ||
| 11 Jan 1945 | U-745 | Wilhelm von Trotha | T-76 Korall | 600 | | sj | ||
| 740 | ||||||||
2 ships sunk (740 tons). | ||||||||
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.
Media links
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