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-boatFromTo
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 Nat. Convoy
18 Oct 1941U-132 Argun3,487sj
18 Oct 1941U-132 SKR-11 (No 70)557sj
 
29 Jan 1942U-132 USCGC Alexander Hamilton (WPG 34)2,216amHX-170
6 Jul 1942U-132 Anastassios Pateras3,382grQS-15
6 Jul 1942U-132 Hainaut4,312beQS-15
6 Jul 1942U-132 Dinaric2,555brQS-15
20 Jul 1942U-132 Frederika Lensen (t.)4,367brQS-19
30 Jul 1942U-132 Pacific Pioneer6,734brON-113
4 Nov 1942U-132 Empire Lynx6,379brSC-107
4 Nov 1942U-132 Hatimura (d.)6,690brSC-107
4 Nov 1942U-132 Hobbema5,507nlSC-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.

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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