Karl Thurmann

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 28)

Successes
12 ships sunk, total tonnage 61,390 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 925 tons
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 15,273 GRT

Born	4 Sep 1909		Mühlheim, Ruhr
Died	20 Jan 1943	(33)	North Atlantic

Korvkpt. Karl Thurmann

Ranks

10 Oct 1928		Seekadett
1 Jan 1930		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1932		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1932		Leutnant zur See
1 Sep 1934		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun 1937		Kapitänleutnant
1 Aug 1942		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

21 Jul 1941		Iron Cross 2nd Class
23 Oct 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
23 Oct 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
24 Aug 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-553	23 Dec 1940	20 Jan 1943 (+)	10 patrols (344 days)

Korvkpt. Karl Thurmann after patrol
on 17 September, 1942 in St. Nazaire

Karl Thurmann began his naval career in April 1928. He served for some years on the light cruisers Emden and Köln and spent 18 months with a coastal artillery unit before transferring to the U-boat force in April 1940.

After standard training, and one patrol as Kommandantenschüler (Commander-in-Training) on U-29, he commissioned U-553 on 23 Dec. 1940.

For nine patrols U-553 operated successfully, mostly in the North Atlantic, where Kptlt. Thurmann was promoted to Korvettenkapitän and awarded the Knights Cross while at sea operating as part of Wolfpack Pirat in August 1942. Later patrols visited the US east coast and the Caribbean. U-553 left on her last patrol from La Pallice on 16 January 1943 - on 20 January Korvkpt. Thurmann sent his last radio message: "Serohr unklar" (Periscope not clear). The boat was never heard from again and was lost with all hands (Niestlé, 1998).

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).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.

Patrol info for Karl Thurmann

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-553	13 Apr 1941	Kiel	17 Apr 1941	Bergen		5 days
2.	U-553	19 Apr 1941	Bergen	2 May 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 1,	14 days
3.	U-553	7 Jun 1941	St. Nazaire	19 Jul 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 2,	43 days
4.	U-553	7 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	16 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 3,	41 days
5.	U-553	7 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	22 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	16 days
6.	U-553	1 Jan 1942	St. Nazaire	3 Feb 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	34 days
7.	U-553	24 Feb 1942	St. Nazaire	1 Apr 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	37 days
8.	U-553	19 Apr 1942	St. Nazaire	24 Jun 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 7,	67 days
9.	U-553	19 Jul 1942	St. Nazaire	17 Sep 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 8,	61 days
10.	U-553	23 Nov 1942	St. Nazaire	18 Dec 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 9,	26 days
11.	U-553	16 Jan 1943	La Pallice	20 Jan 1943	Sunk	Patrol 10,	5 days
10 patrols, 344 days at sea

Ships hit by Karl Thurmann

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
12 Jun 1941	U-553	Susan Mærsk	2,355	br	OG-64
12 Jun 1941	U-553	Ranella	5,590	nw	OG-64
15 Oct 1941	U-553	Silvercedar	4,354	br	SC-48
15 Oct 1941	U-553	Ila	1,583	nw	SC-48
17 Oct 1941	U-553	HMS Gladiolus (K 34)	925	br	SC-48

15 Jan 1942	U-553	Diala (d.)	8,106	br	ON-52
22 Jan 1942	U-553	Innerøy	8,260	nw
12 May 1942	U-553	Nicoya	5,364	br
12 May 1942	U-553	Leto	4,712	nl
2 Jun 1942	U-553	Mattawin	6,919	br
3 Aug 1942	U-553	Belgian Soldier (d.)	7,167	be	ON-115
18 Aug 1942	U-553	Empire Bede	6,959	br	TAW-13
18 Aug 1942	U-553	Blankaholm	2,845	sw	TAW-13
18 Aug 1942	U-553	John Hancock	7,176	am	TAW-13
9 Dec 1942	U-553	Charles L.D.	5,273	br	HX-217
			77,588
13 ships sunk (62,315 tons) and 2 ships damaged (15,273 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.