Erich Würdemann
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)
| Successes 14 ships sunk for a total of 69,893 GRT 3 ships damaged for a total of 23,358 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 6,821 GRT |
| Born | 15 Jan 1914 | Hamburg | |
| Died | 12 Jul 1943 | (29) | North Atlantic near Spain |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-506 | 15 Sep 1941 | 12 Jul 1943 (+) | 5 patrols (344 days) |
Personal information
Erich Würdemann began his naval career in April 1933. Later he served on the destroyer Paul Jacoby, where he made 11 patrols in the first year of the war. In November 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. After the usual training he served for one patrol on U-43 under Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth.
In September 1941 he commissioned the ocean-going U-boat U-506 and operated on his first patrol in the North Atlantic. On his second patrol he sank no less than nine ships. On the third patrol U-506 was involved in the famous Laconia incident. Later the boat operated as a Monsun boat in the Indian Ocean.
Six days after leaving base on her fifth patrol, U-506 was bombed in the Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain by a USAAF aircraft. Kptlt. Erich Würdemann and most of his crew perished (6 survived).
Patrol info for Erich Würdemann
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-506 | 2 Mar 1942 | Hamburg | 3 Mar 1942 | Helgoland | 2 days | ||
| 2. | U-506 | 9 Mar 1942 | Helgoland | 25 Mar 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 1, | 17 days | |
| 3. | U-506 | 6 Apr 1942 | Lorient | 15 Jun 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 71 days | |
| 4. | U-506 | 28 Jul 1942 | Lorient | 7 Nov 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 3, | 103 days | |
| 5. | U-506 | 14 Dec 1942 | Lorient | 8 May 1943 | Lorient | Patrol 4, | 146 days | |
| 6. | U-506 | 6 Jul 1943 | Lorient | 12 Jul 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 5, | 7 days | |
| 5 patrols, 344 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Erich Würdemann
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 3 May, 1942 | U-506 | Sama | 567 |  | ni | ||
| 10 May, 1942 | U-506 | Aurora | 7,050 |  | am | damaged | |
| 13 May, 1942 | U-506 | Gulfpenn | 8,862 | | am | ||
| 14 May, 1942 | U-506 | David McKelvy | 6,821 | | am | total loss | |
| 16 May, 1942 | U-506 | Sun | 9,002 | | am | damaged | |
| 16 May, 1942 | U-506 | William C. McTarnahan | 7,306 | | am | damaged | |
| 17 May, 1942 | U-506 | Gulfoil | 5,189 | | am | ||
| 19 May, 1942 | U-506 | Heredia | 4,732 | | am | ||
| 20 May, 1942 | U-506 | Halo | 6,986 | | am | ||
| 28 May, 1942 | U-506 | Yorkmoor | 4,457 |  | br | ||
| 31 May, 1942 | U-506 | Fred W. Green | 2,292 | | br | ||
| 21 Aug, 1942 | U-506 | City of Wellington | 5,733 | | br | ||
| 23 Aug, 1942 | U-506 | Hamla | 4,416 | | br | ||
| 5 Sep, 1942 | U-506 | Myrmidon | 6,278 | | br | ||
| 13 Sep, 1942 | U-506 | Lima | 3,764 |  | sw | ||
| 30 Sep, 1942 | U-506 | Siam II | 6,637 | | br | ||
| 7 Mar, 1943 | U-506 | Sabor | 5,212 | | br | ||
| 9 Mar, 1943 | U-506 | Tabor | 4,768 |  | nw | ||
| 100,072 | |||||||
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. | |||||||
Decorations and ranks information is in many cases not complete. If you can help on any of those missing that would be great.