Helmut Rosenbaum

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)

Successes
6 ships sunk, total tonnage 35,171 GRT
3 warships sunk, total tonnage 22,692 tons (lost aboard transport ships)

Born	11 May 1913		Döbeln, Leipzig
Died	10 May 1944	(30)	near Constanza (Romania)

Helmut Rosenbaum

Ranks

1 Apr 1932		Offiziersanwärter
4 Nov 1932		Seekadett
1 Jan 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Sep 1935		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1937		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb 1940		Kapitänleutnant
3 Aug 1944		Korvettenkapitän (posthumous)

Decorations

6 Jun 1939		Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
16 Apr 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
4 Mar 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
25 Apr 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
12 Aug 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-2	17 Mar 1939	5 Aug 1940	2 patrols (27 days)
U-73	30 Sep 1940	10 Sep 1942	8 patrols (238 days)

Kapitänleutnant Helmut Rosenbaum after patrol

Helmut Rosenbaum joined the Navy in August 1932. After some months on the light cruisers Königsberg and Nürnberg, in February 1937 he transferred to the U-boat force, where he completed the thorough pre-war training programme. He then served as watch officer on several U-boats before taking command of the small type IIB U-boat coastal boat U-2 in February 1939. He left the boat after two patrols, and two months later commissioned the larger type VIIB U-boat U-73.

After five patrols in the North Atlantic, Helmut Rosenbaum managed to break through the Straights of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean on 14 January 1942. There he scored his greatest victory when he sank the British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle on 11 August 1942. He received the Knights Cross the day after.

He left U-73 in October 1942 to become commander of the 30th Flotilla, which operated in the Black Sea. Helmut Rosenbaum was killed in an air crash on 10 May 1944.

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Helmut Rosenbaum

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-2	15 Mar 1940	Kiel	29 Mar 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	15 days
2.	U-2	4 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	15 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	12 days
3.	U-73	8 Feb 1941	Helgoland	2 Mar 1941	Lorient	Patrol 3,	23 days
4.	U-73	25 Mar 1941	Lorient	24 Apr 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	31 days
5.	U-73	20 May 1941	St. Nazaire	24 Jun 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	36 days
6.	U-73	29 Jul 1941	St. Nazaire	2 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire		5 days
7.	U-73	7 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	7 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	32 days
8.	U-73	11 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	11 Nov 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 7,	32 days
9.	U-73	4 Jan 1942	St. Nazaire	12 Feb 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 8,	40 days
10.	U-73	16 Mar 1942	La Spezia	26 Mar 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 9,	11 days
11.	U-73	4 Aug 1942	La Spezia	5 Sep 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 10,	33 days
10 patrols, 265 days at sea

Ships hit by Helmut Rosenbaum

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
24 Feb 1941	U-73	Waynegate	4,260	br	OB-288
3 Apr 1941	U-73	Alderpool	4,313	br	SC-26
3 Apr 1941	U-73	Westpool	5,724	br	SC-26
3 Apr 1941	U-73	Indier	5,409	be	SC-26
3 Apr 1941	U-73	British Viscount	6,895	br	SC-26
20 Apr 1941	U-73	Empire Endurance	8,570	br
20 Apr 1941	U-73	HMS ML-1003 [Trans.]	46	br
20 Apr 1941	U-73	HMS ML-1037 [Trans.]	46	br

11 Aug 1942	U-73	HMS Eagle (94)	22,600	br	WS-21S
			57,863
9 ships sunk (57,863 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. [Trans.] indicates the vessel was lost while being transported on another vessel.

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.