Wilhelm von Trotha

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

Successes
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 140 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 600 tons

Born	7 Aug 1916		Kiel
Died	31 Jan 1945	(28)	Baltic Sea

Wilhelm von Trotha (in 1938)

Ranks

3 Apr 1936		Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936		Seekadett
1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Sep 1943		Kapitänleutnant

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-733	14 Nov 1942	11 May 1943	No war patrols
U-745	19 Jun 1943	31 Jan 1945 (+)	4 patrols (114 days)

Wilhelm von Trotha joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, and was part of the Olympia Crew. After serving on the light cruiser Königsberg and the school ship Schleswig-Holstein, he transferred to the U-bootwaffe (U-boat force) in 1941. His first command was the school boat U-733. In June 1943 he took command of U-745. In June 1944 he made one patrol in Norwegian waters, but in August 1944 the boat's operational area was changed to the Baltic.

U-745 left Libau (Liepaja), Latvia on 24 December 1944 and never returned. It has been conjectured that U-745 was lost in a German minefield in the Baltic.

There were reports that von Trotha's body was washed ashore on the Estonian coast in early February 1945. It was actually found by local fishermen on 10 February 1945, in the sea off the island of Föglö, part of the Finnish Åland archipelago. The body was frozen, and there was blood in the mouth and throat, but was otherwise unmarked. It is possible that he died while ascending to the surface after his boat sank.

White arrow indicates where von Trotha's body was found

This is a so-called 'foreigners' grave' on Föglö.
von Trotha was buried there as interment Number 8 on 13 February 1945.

Föglö church

Special thanks to Mr. Stefan Abrahamsson in Finland for bringing this information to our attention.

Wreck of U-676 and U-745 discovered

In late 2012, after ten years of searching, the Finnish diving team Badewanne reported they had found both U-676 and U-745 in the Gulf of Finland south of Hanko. Both boats went missing in early 1945 with all hands lost. The boats apparently fell victim to the mine barrage Vantaa 3 laid by the Finnish minelayers Louhi and Ruotsinsalmi on 12 Jan 1945.

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 Wilhelm von Trotha

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-745	24 May 1944	Kiel	26 May 1944	Larvik		3 days
2.	U-745	9 Jun 1944	Larvik	7 Jul 1944	Bergen	Patrol 1,	29 days
3.	U-745	15 Jul 1944	Bergen	17 Jul 1944	Marviken		3 days
4.	U-745	29 Jul 1944	Marviken	1 Aug 1944	Kiel		4 days
5.	U-745	3 Aug 1944	Kiel	7 Aug 1944	Helsinki		5 days
6.	U-745	8 Aug 1944	Helsinki	9 Aug 1944	Gotenhafen		2 days
7.	U-745	14 Aug 1944	Gotenhafen	18 Aug 1944	Helsinki		5 days
8.	U-745	20 Aug 1944	Helsinki	20 Aug 1944	Kalasika		1 days
9.	U-745	23 Aug 1944	Kalasika	27 Aug 1944	Riisiö	Patrol 2,	5 days
10.	U-745	29 Aug 1944	Riisiö	29 Aug 1944	Helsinki		1 days
11.	U-745	11 Sep 1944	Helsinki	20 Oct 1944	Danzig	Patrol 3,	40 days
12.	U-745	23 Dec 1944	Danzig	31 Jan 1945	Sunk	Patrol 4,	40 days
4 patrols, 114 days at sea

Ships hit by Wilhelm von Trotha

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons
26 Aug 1944	U-745	T-45 Antikajnen (No 48)	140	sj

11 Jan 1945	U-745	T-76 Korall	600	sj
			740
2 ships sunk (740 tons). Legend We have a picture of this 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.