Ormelittle, Interesting story. Yes, records personnel records were kept for both officers and enlisted sailors. I'm not sure to what degree these survive — I think at least the officer records may be in Aachen but these haven't been worked through in detail. (Most of the information on officers comes from the published sources like the Ehenrangliste and the yearly Ranglisten.) No ide
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Sergio, I handle much of the World War I material for uboat.net and can speak to the sources we use. In general, the coordinates/positions come from one of three sources: U-boat KTBs (war diaries) "Lloyd's War Losses: The First World War" "British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918" for British ships. This is the official British loss publication and also where we get
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Oliver, Agreed, it does seem to be ARIANE. Nice find. Best wishes, Michael
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Selim, I handle much of the WWI material for the site, work with divers to identify submarine wrecks and am working on a book on WWI U-boat losses. I’m also in contact with top experts on WWII U-boat and Allied submarine losses. Is any information available on the length of the wreck, whether any guns were fitted, the number of torpedo tubes bow and stern, and the number of rudders? Ther
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StOStrm = Stabsobersteuermann, a navigation-branch senior chief petty officer Best wishes, Michael
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Ken, There's no reason that Graf von Ballestrem couldn't continue to have been a reserve officer after his promotion. We've got plenty of reserve officer Oberleutnants zur See and Kapitänleutnants in the U-boat commanding officer database. Bacher might also have been a Kriegsoffizier that was killed before he could appear in the Rangliste. Best wishes, Michael
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Ken, Bad news on Graf von Ballestrem and Bacher: neither is listed in the 1939, 1940, or 1941 Rangliste. Would thus presume that both were reserve officers or, in the case of Bacher, recently taken into service from the merchant marine. Oblt.z.S. Jürgen Friis was crew 1937a (=iV/37). Schlumberger was a Kriegsoffizier. Best wishes, Michael
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Thanks for bringing this up. Had the correct attribution, but it didn't click that Jesus Maria was a drifter (steam-powered fishing vessels were still relatively rare in France at the time). Have now been able to find her in the Bureau Veritas register and have entered in some additional details. Best wishes, Michael
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Thanks, didn't know it was there. Best wishes, Michael
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Simon, Thanks! Did he provide any insight into the sinking from U 7's perspective? The document I have doesn't shed any more light into why König's boat behaved like it did. Best wishes, Michael
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On January 21, 1915, U 22 sank U 7 in a friendly-fire incident, with U 22 only realizing the submarine it had torpedoed was also German when the sole survivor from U 7 was pulled aboard. Does anyone have the name the crewman of U 7 that was rescued? I haven't come across it anywhere, including in a summary of the inquest into the sinking. Thanks in advance, Michael
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U 33 sailed on October 18, 1918 for a patrol off Greece. She arrived back in port on OIctober 27th, and sailed the next day on the trip back to Germany. Best wishes, Michael
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EASTERN SUN was a 9,100 grt tanker built in 1930 by the Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Chester, PA for the Motor Tankship Corp., Philadelphia and managed by Sun Oil Co. She survived the war. The tanker changed hands after 1954, and by 1957 had become the Liberian-registered TRANSPOLLUX. She stranded on rocks south of the Cape Corriente Lightship, Sicily on October 21, 1959 and became a
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Nom Anor, Per Spindler, UB 18. Will add this into the database. The NSM and Spindler give the Q-ship's name at the time as Balham and Bolham respectively. Best wishes, Michael
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Sorry I missed this thread earlier. Per the 1938 Rangliste: Werner Lott, Kapitänleutnant April 1, 1936, seniority #8 Johannes Franz, Kapitänleutnant April 1, 1936, seniority #32 Best wishes, Michael
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Sam, Yes, they do still exist. PM me. Best wishes, Michael
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Simon, Interesting, thanks again. Best wishes, Michael
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Simon, Thanks again! This ties into my book project reassessing WWI U-boat losses. I'm trying to include the names of all the non-Germans on board German U-boats when they were sunk. Related question: I seem to recall that there might have been an Austrian on UC 12 when it was lost. Any idea if this is correct? Best wishes, Michael
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Simon, Thanks! Would you happen to have Peshew's first name and rank? Best wishes, Michael
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A slight correction to the above: It's Michoff, not Mischoff.
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Per the Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine 1914-1918, two Bulgarian midshipmen (Fähnriche zur See) were killed while serving on U-boats in 1918. One of these was Dimiter Svetogorsky, who died when U 104 was sunk on April 25, 1918 — his name is listed among U 104's casualties. I can't find Michail Miscoff, the other Bulgarian Fahnrich zur See lists as killed. The Ehrenr
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Nom Anor, The answer, per both Spindler and the Naval Staff Monograph, is U 28. Will add this incident into the uboat.net database. Best wishes, Michael
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Josep, Gun armament on the U-series diesel-powered torpedo attack boats was very much a moving target. Given that U 63 was commissioned in March 1916, two 88mm guns is a likely initial gun armament. A retrofit to a single 105mm/45 caliber gun or possibly even a 105mm plus a 88mm in late 1963 or early 1917 is quite possible. The only way to be sure is to have a look at U 63's KTB and s
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Good catch. It's a typo in the database, which has now been fixed. The correct date is July 6, 1916. Best wishes, Michael
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Royal Navy gunners were attached to small sailing vessels for exactly one reason: to man a gun. I have a copy of UB 64's KTB on microfilm. It describes a firefight against a small armed sailing vessel on the afternoon of September 15, 1918. UB 64 sank this sailing vessel but was not able to determine its identity. I can get yo a copy of the KTB. Best wishes, Michael
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Almost certainly the same person.
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Very little — they were reserve officers, which limits the available information. Otto entered the German navy on April 1, 1890 and was promoted to Marine-Stabsarzt (doctor equivalent of a Kapitänleutnant on September 6, 1901). He was seemingly from Hamburg. Wallé entered the German navy on October 1, 1910 and was promoted to Marine Assistenarzt (doctor equivalent of a Leutnant zur See) on
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Peter, Remember that the Marinekorp Flandern was a multirole organization that included naval, land, and air units. The doctors referenced on the cup are: Prof. Dr. Moritz Otto, born October 29, 1869, Marine-Oberstabsarzt der Reserve as of April 16, 1915 — naval doctor equivalent to a Korvettenkapitän, reserve officer. Died on December 13, 1918. Dr. Karl Wallé, born January 10, 1885,
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Chez, What sort of information are you looking for? Best wishes, Michael
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Peter, I handle much of the WWI material for this site and also help out on the WWII commanders. What I think is throwing you is the did not go out on patrol part of the listing. This is correct — U 854 was lost to a British air-dropped mine in the Baltic before she ever left for an operational patrol. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: General Discussions