Otto von Bülow

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 30)

Successes
14 ships sunk, total tonnage 71,450 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,120 tons
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 16,689 GRT

Born	16 Oct 1911		Wilhelmshaven
Died	5 Jan 2006	(94)	Hamburg, Germany

Otto von Bülow

Ranks

1 Apr 1930		Offiziersanwärter
10 Oct 1930		Seekadett
1 Jan 1932		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1934		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935		Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1936		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun 1939		Kapitänleutnant
1 Jun 1943		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

6 Apr 1942		Iron Cross 2nd Class
6 Apr 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class
6 Apr 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
20 Oct 1942		Knights Cross
26 Apr 1943		Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
May 1943		U-boat War Badge with Diamonds
20 Apr 1944		War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-3	11 Nov 1940	2 Jul 1941	No war patrols
U-404	6 Aug 1941	19 Jul 1943	6 patrols (280 days)
U-2545	29 Mar 1945	18 Apr 1945	No war patrols

For the first ten years of his naval career, Otto von Bülow served on the large warships Deutschland and Schleswig-Holstein, and in several navy anti-aircraft units. In April 1940 he joined the U-boat arm and seven months later took command of the school boat U-3 in the 21st (Training) Flotilla.

After the usual Baubelehrung, in August 1941 Bülow commissioned U-404 at Danzig. In January 1942 the boat left Kiel on her first war patrol. In the course of the next five patrols Bülow sank 14 ships, including the British destroyer HMS Veteran (1,120 tons).

On April 23 1943 Bülow attacked an Allied escort carrier with two FAT and two G7e torpedoes. The four torpedoes were directed at the HMS Biter, but von Bülow thought he was attacking the USS Ranger.

Upon hearing four explosions (probably the torpedoes dead end course), he considered them as hits, and transmitted the BdU the message "Ranger possible"; the answer was to confirm it (whether in his opinion he had sunk the carrier). Von Bülow answered with a "sinking assumed". The importance of this was that he received the Oak Leaves to this presumed sinking.

It was announced in The German Press, and Hitler himself awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves to von Bülow when the commander of U-404 returned home. The Americans reacted blaming the German commander as a coward, but it is well known that he really believed he had sunk the carrier, and for the rest had an excellent service record witnessing his bravery.

Later, when the truth was available for the Germans, their records were changed, and the attack correctly reported as being against the Biter. Bülow left the boat after this patrol.

In September 1943, Korvkpt. Bülow founded the 23rd Flotilla in Danzig, where future U-boat commanders got their first training. When he commissioned U-2545 in the spring of 1945 he was one of the highly decorated U-boat commanders (including Schnee, Cremer, Emmermann, Witt and Topp), who took command of the new Electro U-boats (type type XXI Elektro U-boat and the smaller type XXIII Elektro U-boat) in an attempt to turn the tide in the battle of the Atlantic.

In last weeks of war Bülow commanded the Marinesturmbataillon I (Naval Assault Battalion I). After the war he spent three months in British captivity. In July 1956 he joined the newly formed German navy (Bundesmarine). In 1960 at Charleston, South Carolina he commissioned the destroyer Z-6, the former US destroyer USS Charles Ausburne. In March 1963 he became commander of the 3. Zerstörer- geschwader (3rd Destroyer Squadron). Before he retired in 1970, he spent his last five years as Kapitän zur See and garrison chief of Hamburg.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Otto von Bülow

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-404	17 Jan 1942	Kiel	1 Feb 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	16 days
2.	U-404	14 Feb 1942	Lorient	4 Apr 1942	Brest	Patrol 2,	50 days
3.	U-404	6 May 1942	Brest	14 Jul 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 3,	70 days
4.	U-404	23 Aug 1942	St. Nazaire	13 Oct 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	52 days
5.	U-404	21 Dec 1942	St. Nazaire	6 Feb 1943	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	48 days
6.	U-404	21 Mar 1943	St. Nazaire	3 May 1943	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	44 days
6 patrols, 280 days at sea

Ships hit by Otto von Bülow

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
5 Mar 1942	U-404	Collamer	5,112	am	HX-178
13 Mar 1942	U-404	Tolten	1,858	cl
14 Mar 1942	U-404	Lemuel Burrows	7,610	am
17 Mar 1942	U-404	San Demetrio	8,073	br
30 May 1942	U-404	Alcoa Shipper	5,491	am
1 Jun 1942	U-404	West Notus	5,492	am
3 Jun 1942	U-404	Anna	1,345	sw
24 Jun 1942	U-404	Ljubica Matkovic	3,289	yu
25 Jun 1942	U-404	Nordal	3,845	pa
25 Jun 1942	U-404	Manuela	4,772	am
27 Jun 1942	U-404	Moldanger	6,827	nw
11 Sep 1942	U-404	Marit II (d.)	7,417	nw	ON-127
12 Sep 1942	U-404	Daghild (d.)	9,272	nw	ON-127
26 Sep 1942	U-404	HMS Veteran (D 72)	1,120	br	RB-1

29 Mar 1943	U-404	Nagara	8,791	br	SL-126
30 Mar 1943	U-404	Empire Bowman	7,031	br	SL-126
12 Apr 1943	U-404	Lancastrian Prince	1,914	br	ON-176
			89,259
15 ships sunk (72,570 tons) and 2 ships damaged (16,689 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.