The Men - U-boat Commanders

Josef Röther

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 14,063 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,191 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 7,178 GRT

Born	7 Oct 1907		Iserlohn / Westfalen, Germany
Died	20 Feb 1988	(80)	Iserlohn / Westfalen, Germany

Ranks

1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jul 1941		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

		Iron Cross 2nd Class
		Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Nov 1943		German Cross in Gold

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-380	22 Dec 1941	Nov, 1943	10 patrols (226 days)

Special thanks to Mr. Fernando Almeida for details on date of death.

Röther apparently joined the navy in 1927 but only became an officer candidate in 1936. His age and experience resulted in his being promoted more rapidly during the war.

Patrol info for Josef Röther

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-380	4 Aug 1942	Kiel	11 Aug 1942	Trondheim	Patrol 1,	8 days
2.	U-380	22 Aug 1942	Trondheim	7 Oct 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 1,	47 days
3.	U-380	5 Nov 1942	St. Nazaire	19 Nov 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 2,	15 days
4.	U-380	28 Nov 1942	La Spezia	23 Dec 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 3,	26 days
5.	U-380	1 Feb 1943	La Spezia	6 Feb 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 4,	6 days
6.	U-380	10 Mar 1943	La Spezia	5 Apr 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 5,	27 days
7.	U-380	5 May 1943	La Spezia	16 May 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 6,	12 days
8.	U-380	7 Jun 1943	La Spezia	6 Jul 1943	Toulon	Patrol 7,	30 days
9.	U-380	11 Aug 1943	Toulon	7 Sep 1943	Toulon	Patrol 8,	28 days
10.	U-380	30 Sep 1943	Toulon	11 Oct 1943	Toulon	Patrol 9,	12 days
11.	U-380	28 Oct 1943	Toulon	11 Nov 1943	Toulon	Patrol 10,	15 days
10 patrols, 226 days at sea

Ships hit by Josef Röther

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
18 Sep 1942	U-380	Olaf Fostenes	2,994	nw
11 Nov 1942	U-380	Nieuw Zeeland	11,069	nl	Torch

15 Mar 1943	U-380	Ocean Seaman (t.)	7,178	br	ET-14
23 Aug 1943	U-380	Pierre Soulé (d.)	7,191	am
			28,432
3 ships sunk (21,241 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,191 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).