Greatest U-boat Commanders

Commanders with over 50,000 tons sunk

This listing should be complete as for commander who sank over 50,000 tons of confirmed allied shipping. The men who sank over 100,000 tons can be found on the Top U-boat Aces page. Warships are not included in these figures.

 CommanderPatrols  Ships sunk/damaged
1.Werner Hartenstein

5 patrols  19 ships sunk (97.489 tons)
3 ships damaged (18,811 tons)
2.Fritz-Julius Lemp

10 patrols  20 ships sunk (96.639 tons)
3 ships damaged (14,317 tons)
3.Adalbert Schnee

12 patrols  23 ships sunk (95.889 tons)
3 ships damaged (28,820 tons)
4.Reinhard Suhren

6 patrols  18 ships sunk (95.544 tons)
4 ships damaged (28,907 tons)
5.Karl-Heinz Moehle

10 patrols  21 ships sunk (92.086 tons)
6.Georg-Wilhelm Schulz

8 patrols  19 ships sunk (89.886 tons)
1 ship damaged (3,900 tons)
7.Georg Schewe

10 patrols  16 ships sunk (85.779 tons)
8.Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske

4 patrols  16 ships sunk (85.299 tons)
9.Ulrich Heyse

5 patrols  12 ships sunk (83.639 tons)
10.Ulrich Folkers

5 patrols  17 ships sunk (82.873 tons)
11.Herbert Kuppisch

14 patrols  16 ships sunk (82.108 tons)
12.Jürgen Wattenberg

3 patrols  14 ships sunk (82.027 tons)
13.Werner Winter

6 patrols  16 ships sunk (80.650 tons)
14.Rolf Mützelburg

8 patrols  17 ships sunk (79.268 tons)
3 ships damaged (17,052 tons)
15.Jürgen von Rosenstiel

4 patrols  14 ships sunk (78.843 tons)
2 ships damaged (23,797 tons)
16.Hermann Rasch

6 patrols  12 ships sunk (78.553 tons)
1 ship damaged (4,639 tons)
17.Fritz Frauenheim

9 patrols  18 ships sunk (78.248 tons)
1 ship damaged (4,155 tons)
18.Harro Schacht

5 patrols  19 ships sunk (77.143 tons)
1 ship damaged (6,561 tons)
19.Otto Ites

8 patrols  15 ships sunk (76.882 tons)
1 ship damaged (8,022 tons)
20.Erich Würdemann

5 patrols  15 ships sunk (76.714 tons)
3 ships damaged (23,358 tons)
21.Georg Staats

6 patrols  14 ships sunk (74.087 tons)
22.Friedrich Markworth

4 patrols  13 ships sunk (74.067 tons)
1 ship damaged (10,172 tons)
23.Asmus Nicolai Clausen

8 patrols  23 ships sunk (73.428 tons)
24.Claus Korth

15 patrols  15 ships sunk (73.015 tons)
1 ship damaged (4,996 tons)
25.Günther Müller-Stöckheim

7 patrols  13 ships sunk (72.138 tons)
5 ships damaged (29,726 tons)
26.Otto von Bülow

6 patrols  14 ships sunk (71.450 tons)
2 ships damaged (16,689 tons)
27.Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner

8 patrols  15 ships sunk (71.036 tons)
3 ships damaged (28,682 tons)
28.Hans-Hartwig Trojer

5 patrols  11 ships sunk (69.589 tons)
1 ship damaged (7,197 tons)
29.Heinz-Otto Schultze

8 patrols  20 ships sunk (67.991 tons)
2 ships damaged (15,666 tons)
30.Otto Schuhart

8 patrols  12 ships sunk (67.277 tons)
31.Alfred Eick

4 patrols  10 ships sunk (67.191 tons)
1 ship damaged (3,702 tons)
32.Ernst Mengersen

11 patrols  12 ships sunk (67.126 tons)
3 ships damaged (20,159 tons)
33.Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen

5 patrols  12 ships sunk (66.174 tons)
3 ships damaged (22,490 tons)
34.Herbert Wohlfarth

10 patrols  21 ships sunk (66.032 tons)
2 ships damaged (9,903 tons)
35.Albrecht Achilles

6 patrols  13 ships sunk (63.412 tons)
5 ships damaged (35,672 tons)
36.August Maus

3 patrols  9 ships sunk (62.761 tons)
1 ship damaged (6,840 tons)
37.Karl Thurmann

10 patrols  12 ships sunk (61.390 tons)
2 ships damaged (15,273 tons)
38.Hans Rudolf Rösing

2 patrols  12 ships sunk (60.701 tons)
1 ship damaged (5,888 tons)
39.Udo Heilmann

13 patrols  11 ships sunk (57.089 tons)
1 ship damaged (9,718 tons)
40.Otto Salman

7 patrols  13 ships sunk (56.333 tons)
41.Jost Metzler

4 patrols  11 ships sunk (56.318 tons)
1 ship damaged (4,887 tons)
42.Günter Kuhnke

9 patrols  13 ships sunk (56.272 tons)
2 ships damaged (10,067 tons)
43.Siegfried Strelow

8 patrols  10 ships sunk (56.168 tons)
44.Hans Oestermann

3 patrols  13 ships sunk (55.659 tons)
1 ship damaged (490 tons)
45.Gerhard Wiebe

3 patrols  9 ships sunk (54.753 tons)
1 ship damaged (9,687 tons)
46.Reinhart Reche

6 patrols  10 ships sunk (54.420 tons)
47.Heinrich Timm

14 patrols  9 ships sunk (53.782 tons)
48.Reiner Dierksen

3 patrols  11 ships sunk (53.307 tons)
49.Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissmann

4 patrols  8 ships sunk (52.346 tons)
2 ships damaged (15,440 tons)
50.Siegfried Rollmann

3 patrols  8 ships sunk (51.859 tons)
1 ship damaged (1,999 tons)

On 346 war patrols these 50 men sank 714 ships with a total of 3.582.730 tons.

This listing is as accurate as the data in our database allows, mistakes or omissions should be very few and far between. Changes in the database (ships moved from one U-boat to another etc.) are reflected immediately.

Please note: These tonnage figures (and sometimes the number of ships sunk) is still being debated among historians. This is one of several different possible figures but still very close whatever the "real truth is". This is often due to convoy battles at night when an attacking wolfpack fired torpedoes into the convoy and two commanders claimed the same ship, although post-war research has eliminated most of those doubtful victims there are still some in question.