Richard Zapp

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 26)

Successes
16 ships sunk, total tonnage 106,200 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 12,502 GRT

Born	3 Apr 1904		Germersheim, Pfalz
Died	17 Jul 1964	(60)	Kiel, Germany

Korvettenkapitän Richard Zapp

Ranks

1 Apr 1926		Offiziersanwärter
12 Oct 1926		Seekadett
1 Apr 1928		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jun 1930		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1930		Leutnant zur See
1 May 1933		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1936		Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1941		Korvettenkapitän
1 Jan 1945		Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

14 May 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
6 Aug 1941		Iron Cross 2nd Class
6 Aug 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
23 Apr 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-66	2 Jan 1941	21 Jun 1942	5 patrols (264 days)

Richard Zapp began his naval career in May 1923. Later he served on minesweepers and in naval anti-aircraft units (Marineflak) before transferring to the U-boat force in April 1940. After standard training he served for one short patrol on U-46 under Oblt. Engelbert Endrass, where he participated in the battle against convoy HX 79 in October 1940.

Richard Zapp commissioned U-66 in January 1941. After three patrols in Atlantic waters, he was one of the five boats operating in the first wave of Operation Paukenschlag. On this patrol he sank five ships with a total of 33,456 tons. His second patrol in US waters was also successful: six ships sunk with a total of 43,946 tons. Korvkpt. Zapp left the boat after this to command the 3rd Flotilla in La Rochelle, France. In the last months of the war he also headed Marine Regiment Zapp which defended the U-boat base at La Rochelle up to the end of the war in May 1945. He then spent more than two years in French captivity.

Korvkpt. Richard Zapp on U-66 after patrol.

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Richard Zapp

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-66	13 May 1941	Kiel	11 Jun 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	30 days
2.	U-66	23 Jun 1941	Lorient	5 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	44 days
3.	U-66	28 Aug 1941	Lorient	9 Nov 1941	Lorient	Patrol 3,	74 days
4.	U-66	25 Dec 1941	Lorient	10 Feb 1942	Lorient	Patrol 4,	48 days
5.	U-66	21 Mar 1942	Lorient	27 May 1942	Lorient	Patrol 5,	68 days
5 patrols, 264 days at sea

Ships hit by Richard Zapp

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
29 Jun 1941	U-66	George J. Goulandris	4,345	gr	SL-78
29 Jun 1941	U-66	Kalypso Vergotti	5,686	gr	SL-78
30 Jun 1941	U-66	Saint Anselm	5,614	br	SL-78
19 Jul 1941	U-66	Holmside	3,433	br	OG-67
26 Sep 1941	U-66	I.C. White	7,052	pa

18 Jan 1942	U-66	Allan Jackson	6,635	am
19 Jan 1942	U-66	Lady Hawkins	7,988	ca
22 Jan 1942	U-66	Olympic	5,335	pa
24 Jan 1942	U-66	Empire Gem	8,139	br
24 Jan 1942	U-66	Venore	8,017	am
14 Apr 1942	U-66	Korthion	2,116	gr
16 Apr 1942	U-66	Amsterdam	7,329	nl
17 Apr 1942	U-66	Heinrich von Riedemann	11,020	pa
26 Apr 1942	U-66	Alcoa Partner	5,513	am
29 Apr 1942	U-66	Harry G. Seidel	10,354	pa
2 May 1942	U-66	Sandar	7,624	nw
3 May 1942	U-66	Geo. W. McKnight (d.)	12,502	br	ON-87
			118,702
16 ships sunk (106,200 tons) and 1 ship damaged (12,502 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.