| Born | 13 Apr 1915 | Sonderburg | |
| Died | 4 May 1945 | (30) | Lillebaelt, Denmark |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-228 | 12 Sep 1942 | Aug, 1944 | 5 patrols (224 days) |
| U-3028 | 27 Jan 1945 | 3 May 1945 | No war patrols |
Erwin Christophersen joined the Kriegsmarine in 1935. He was seconded to the Luftwaffe before joining the U-boat force in Dec 1940. He served as 1st Watch Officer on U-753 for a year before attending U-boat Commander school at the 24th (Training) Flotilla in 1942 and Baubelehrung (construction familiarization) for U-228 in preparation for his first command.
Oblt. Christophersen commissioned U-228 on 12 Sept 1942 and stayed with her until Aug 1944. U-228 operated with several wolfpacks in the North Atlantic during this period, but without sinking anything. After being on reserve from Sept to Nov 1944, Christophersen attended Baubelehrung for the new type XXI Elektro U-boat U-3028 Elektro boat, commissioning her on 27 Jan 1945. U-3028 never saw active service, and Christophersen scuttled her on 3 May 1945 at Kiel.
He died later that day as a passenger aboard U-2503 en route to Norway to take command of a new boat. Kptlt. Erwin Christophersen and the boat's commander, Kptlt. Karl-Jürg Wächter, were among twelve men who died when a rocket penetrated the control room in an air attack at approx 17.20 hrs.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Patrol info for Erwin Christophersen
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | U-228 | 6 Feb 1943 | Kiel | 29 Mar 1943 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 52 days | |
| 2. | U-228 | 4 May 1943 | St. Nazaire | 19 Jul 1943 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 77 days | |
| 3. | U-228 | 18 Sep 1943 | Lorient | 19 Sep 1943 | Brest | Patrol 3, | 2 days | |
| 4. | U-228 | 27 Sep 1943 | Brest | 29 Sep 1943 | Brest | Patrol 3, | 3 days | |
| 5. | U-228 | 11 Oct 1943 | Brest | 12 Oct 1943 | Brest | Patrol 3, | 2 days | |
| 6. | U-228 | 23 Oct 1943 | Brest | 20 Dec 1943 | Bordeaux | Patrol 3, | 59 days | |
| 7. | U-228 | 24 Feb 1944 | Bordeaux | 26 Feb 1944 | La Pallice | Patrol 4, | 3 days | |
| 8. | U-228 | 4 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | 7 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | Patrol 4, | 4 days | |
| 9. | U-228 | 11 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | 13 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | Patrol 4, | 3 days | |
| 10. | U-228 | 19 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | 26 Mar 1944 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 4, | 8 days | |
| 11. | U-228 | 6 Jun 1944 | St. Nazaire | 16 Jun 1944 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 5, | 11 days | |
| 5 patrols, 224 days at sea | ||||||||
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
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