Helmut Friedrich Witte

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)

Successes
23 ships sunk, total tonnage 119,554 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 265 GRT

Born	6 Apr 1915		Bojendorf, Holstein, Fehmarn
Died	3 Oct 2005	(90)	Duisburg, Germany

Helmut Witte

Ranks

8 Apr 1934		Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934		Seekadett
1 Jul 1935		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Sep 1941		Kapitänleutnant
20 Apr 1945		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

6 Jun 1939		Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
12 Jan 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
10 Jul 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
22 Oct 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-159	4 Oct 1941	6 Jun 1943	4 patrols (261 days)

Witte" border="0" /> Helmut Witte after patrol

Helmut Witte began his naval career in April 1934. Later he served on the light cruiser Köln, on the destroyer Z-22, and on several torpedo boats. In July 1940 Witte transferred to the U-boat force. After the usual training he became IWO on the newly commissioned U-107 under Kptlt. Hessler. Before he left the boat in July 1941, he had taken part in the most successful patrol of the war.

He commissioned U-159 in October 1941 and operated in the waters of Panama on his second patrol. On his third patrol U-159 was a part of the wolfpack Eisbär, which operated in the waters off Capetown in September 1942. He left the boat in June 1943 and served from then until the end of the war in several staff positions.

After two months in British captivity, he worked for a time as a farm hand and factory worker. Later he built up a successful civil career and in the 1960s became personnel manager of a great German industry group.

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).

Patrol info for Helmut Friedrich Witte

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-159	22 Apr 1942	Kiel	3 May 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	12 days
2.	U-159	14 May 1942	Lorient	13 Jul 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	61 days
3.	U-159	24 Aug 1942	Lorient	5 Jan 1943	Lorient	Patrol 3,	135 days
4.	U-159	4 Mar 1943	Lorient	25 Apr 1943	Lorient	Patrol 4,	53 days
4 patrols, 261 days at sea

Ships hit by Helmut Friedrich Witte

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
21 May 1942	U-159	New Brunswick	6,529	br	OS-28
21 May 1942	U-159	Montenol	2,646	br	OS-28
2 Jun 1942	U-159	Illinois	5,447	am
5 Jun 1942	U-159	Paracury (d.)	265	bz
5 Jun 1942	U-159	Sally	150	ho
7 Jun 1942	U-159	Edith	3,382	am
11 Jun 1942	U-159	Fort Good Hope	7,130	br
13 Jun 1942	U-159	Sixaola	4,693	am
13 Jun 1942	U-159	Solon Turman	6,762	am
18 Jun 1942	U-159	Flora	1,417	nl
19 Jun 1942	U-159	Ante Matkovic	2,710	yu
22 Jun 1942	U-159	E.J. Sadler	9,639	am
7 Oct 1942	U-159	Boringia	5,821	br
8 Oct 1942	U-159	Clan Mactavish	7,631	br
9 Oct 1942	U-159	Coloradan	6,557	am
13 Oct 1942	U-159	Empire Nomad	7,167	br
29 Oct 1942	U-159	Ross	4,978	br
29 Oct 1942	U-159	Laplace	7,327	br
7 Nov 1942	U-159	La Salle	5,462	am
13 Nov 1942	U-159	Star of Scotland	2,290	am
13 Dec 1942	U-159	City of Bombay	7,140	br
15 Dec 1942	U-159	Star of Suez	4,999	ag
16 Dec 1942	U-159	East Wales	4,358	br	TRIN-27

28 Mar 1943	U-159	Silverbeech	5,319	br	RS-3
			119,819
23 ships sunk (119,554 tons) and 1 ship damaged (265 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

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.