The Men - U-boat Commanders

Wilhelm Zahn

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 30)


Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 3,452 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 3,829 GRT

Born  29 Jul 1910 Ebensfelde, Staffelstein
Died  14 Nov 1976(66)

Ranks

1 Apr 1930 Offiziersanwärter
10 Oct 1930 Seekadett
1 Jan 1932 Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1934 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1934 Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1936 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1943 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-56 26 Nov 1938 21 Jan 1940   5 patrols (70 days) 
U-69 28 Aug 1941 31 Mar 1942   3 patrols (126 days) 

Patrol info for Wilhelm Zahn

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-56 25 Aug 1939  Wilhelmshaven  8 Sep 1939  Kiel  Patrol 1,15 days
2. U-56 12 Sep 1939  Kiel  19 Sep 1939  Kiel  Patrol 2,8 days
3. U-56 23 Oct 1939  Kiel  13 Nov 1939  Kiel  Patrol 3,22 days
4. U-56 27 Nov 1939  Kiel  5 Dec 1939  Kiel  Patrol 4,9 days
5. U-56 27 Dec 1939  Kiel  11 Jan 1940  Kiel  Patrol 5,16 days
6. U-69 1 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  1 Oct 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 6,31 days
7. U-69 30 Oct 1941  St. Nazaire  8 Dec 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 7,40 days
8. U-69 18 Jan 1942  St. Nazaire  26 Jan 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 8,9 days
9. U-69 31 Jan 1942  St. Nazaire  17 Mar 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 8,46 days
8 patrols, 196 days at sea

Ships hit by Wilhelm Zahn

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
2 Dec 1939U-56 Eskdene (d.)3,829brHN-3
3 Dec 1939U-56 Rudolf2,119sw
 
23 Jan 1940U-56 Onto [Mine]1,333fi
 7,281

2 ships sunk (3,452 tons) and 1 ship damaged (3,829 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.


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


German U-boat Commanders of World War II
Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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