The Men - U-boat Commanders

Ernst Vogelsang

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 31)

Successes
7 ships sunk, total tonnage 32,356 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 557 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 2,216 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 6,690 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 4,367 GRT

Born	31 Aug 1911		Frankfurt am Main
Died	4 Nov 1942	(31)	Cape Farewell, North Atlantic

Kptlt. Ernst Vogelsang

Ranks

1 Apr 1931		Offiziersanwärter
14 Oct 1931		Seekadett
1 Jan 1933		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1935		Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1937		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

6 Jun 1936		Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
		Iron Cross 1st Class
		Iron Cross 2nd Class

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-18	18 Dec 1940	6 May 1941	No war patrols
U-132	29 May 1941	4 Nov 1942 (+)	4 patrols (168 days)

Ernst Vogelsang joined the German Navy in 1931 as an officer candidate (Crew 31). He served in the Spanish civil war and earned his Spanish Cross decoration (rare among U-boat men).

He then served on the destroyer Z5 Paul Jacobi from Oct 1938 until May 1940 where he took part in the battles of the Norwegian invasion.

Vogelsang was in U-boat training (U-Lehrdevision) from June – Nov 1940 and then at the commander school with the 24.U-Flottille from Nov – 8. December 1940 when he took command of the small training U-boat U-18. He commanded that boat for 6 months until 6 May, 1941 when he left to take command of the larger U-132.

In all probability Ernst Vogelsang died with his entire crew when the British ammunition ship Hatimura (his last ship hit) exploded in a huge explosion when hit by U-442 (Hesse) and U-132 was probably within the lethal radius (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.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Ernst Vogelsang

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-132	7 Sep 1941	Trondheim	21 Oct 1941	Kirkenes	Patrol 1,	45 days
2.	U-132	25 Oct 1941	Kirkenes	30 Oct 1941	Trondheim		6 days
3.	U-132	15 Jan 1942	Trondheim	8 Feb 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 2,	25 days
4.	U-132	10 Jun 1942	La Pallice	16 Aug 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 3,	68 days
5.	U-132	6 Oct 1942	La Pallice	4 Nov 1942	Sunk	Patrol 4,	30 days
4 patrols, 168 days at sea

Ships hit by Ernst Vogelsang

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
18 Oct 1941	U-132	Argun	3,487	sj
18 Oct 1941	U-132	SKR-11 (No 70)	557	sj

29 Jan 1942	U-132	USCGC Alexander Hamilton (WPG 34)	2,216	am	HX-170
6 Jul 1942	U-132	Anastassios Pateras	3,382	gr	QS-15
6 Jul 1942	U-132	Hainaut	4,312	be	QS-15
6 Jul 1942	U-132	Dinaric	2,555	br	QS-15
20 Jul 1942	U-132	Frederika Lensen (t.)	4,367	br	QS-19
30 Jul 1942	U-132	Pacific Pioneer	6,734	br	ON-113
4 Nov 1942	U-132	Empire Lynx	6,379	br	SC-107
4 Nov 1942	U-132	Hatimura (d.)	6,690	br	SC-107
4 Nov 1942	U-132	Hobbema	5,507	nl	SC-107
			46,186
10 ships sunk (39,496 tons) and 1 ship damaged (6,690 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).

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.