Asmus Nicolai Clausen

Korvettenkapitän

Successes
23 ships sunk, total tonnage 73,428 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,379 tons

Born	2 Jun 1911		Flensburg
Died	16 May 1943	(31)	South Atlantic

Kapitänleutnant Nicolai Clausen

Ranks

1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1937		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jan 1941		Kapitänleutnant
5 Apr 1945		Korvettenkapitän (posthumous)

Decorations

28 Feb 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
18 Apr 1940		U-boat War Badge 1939
10 Jun 1940		Iron Cross 1st Class
13 Mar 1942		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-142	4 Sep 1940	13 Oct 1940	No war patrols
U-37	26 Oct 1940	2 May 1941	3 patrols (85 days)
U-129	21 May 1941	13 May 1942	4 patrols (180 days)
U-182	30 Jun 1942	16 May 1943 (+)	1 patrol (159 days)

Kptlt. 'Niko' Clausen on board

Nicolai Clausen joined the Reichsmarine in October 1929 as a seaman. He spent the next few years on torpedo boats (T-185 and G-10) and on the Segelschulschiff (sailing school ship) Gorch Fock. In September 1935 he transferred to the new U-boat force and after some months of training, joined U-26 under Kptlt. Werner Hartmann in April 1936.

In March 1937 he entered Marineschule (Naval Academy) Mürwik and received several months of officer training. In the next two years he served on the battlecruiser Admiral Graf Spee and the minesweeper M-134.

When war broke out in autumn 1939, his former commander Werner Hartmann requested his services, and Niko Clausen became the 1st Watch Officer (I WO) on U-37. He completed three patrols on U-37, mostly in the Atlantic, and on returning from the first patrol received his Iron Cross 2nd Class (EK II) from Karl Dönitz personally (see a photo).

He left U-37 in summer 1940 and in August commissioned the type IID U-boat U-142. After only two months he returned to U-37 to replace Victor Oehrn as commander. In May 1941 he left U-37, which then became a training boat. Three weeks later he commissioned the type IXC U-boat U-129.

The first three patrols on U-129, mostly in the Atlantic, ended without success, but during the fourth patrol, in Caribbean waters, Niko Clausen sank seven ships with a total of 25,613 tons. During this patrol he was awarded the Knights Cross. After returning from this patrol in May 1942 he turned over command of U-129 to Hans-Ludwig Witt.

In July 1942 Kptlt. Clausen commissioned U-182, another long range boat. On his first patrol, in the Indian Ocean, he sank five ships totalling 30,071 tons. On the return journey, U-182 was lost with all hands, sunk on 16 May 1943 by the American destroyers USS MacKenzie and Lamb.

Sources

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

Patrol info for Asmus Nicolai Clausen

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-37	28 Nov 1940	Lorient	7 Jan 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	41 days
2.	U-37	30 Jan 1941	Lorient	18 Feb 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	20 days
3.	U-37	27 Feb 1941	Lorient	22 Mar 1941	Kiel	Patrol 3,	24 days
4.	U-129	23 Jul 1941	Kiel	24 Jul 1941	Horten		2 days
5.	U-129	3 Aug 1941	Horten	30 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 4,	28 days
6.	U-129	27 Sep 1941	Lorient	8 Oct 1941	Lorient	Patrol 5,	12 days
7.	U-129	21 Oct 1941	Lorient	28 Dec 1941	Lorient	Patrol 6,	69 days
8.	U-129	25 Jan 1942	Lorient	5 Apr 1942	Lorient	Patrol 7,	71 days
9.	U-182	9 Dec 1942	Horten	16 May 1943	Sunk	Patrol 8,	159 days
8 patrols, 424 days at sea

Ships hit by Asmus Nicolai Clausen

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
1 Dec 1940	U-37	Palmella	1,578	br	OG-46
2 Dec 1940	U-37	Gwalia	1,258	sw	OG-46
2 Dec 1940	U-37	Jeanne M.	2,465	br	OG-46
4 Dec 1940	U-37	Daphne	1,513	sw	OG-46
16 Dec 1940	U-37	San Carlos	223	sp
19 Dec 1940	U-37	Rhône	2,785	fr
19 Dec 1940	U-37	Sfax (Q 182)	1,379	fr

9 Feb 1941	U-37	Courland	1,325	br	HG-53
9 Feb 1941	U-37	Estrellano	1,983	br	HG-53
10 Feb 1941	U-37	Brandenburg	1,473	br	HG-53
7 Mar 1941	U-37	Mentor	3,050	gr	OB-292
12 Mar 1941	U-37	Pétursey	91	is

20 Feb 1942	U-129	Nordvangen	2,400	nw
23 Feb 1942	U-129	George L. Torian	1,754	ca
23 Feb 1942	U-129	West Zeda	5,658	am
23 Feb 1942	U-129	Lennox	1,904	ca
28 Feb 1942	U-129	Bayou	2,605	pa
3 Mar 1942	U-129	Mary	5,104	am
7 Mar 1942	U-129	Steel Age	6,188	am

15 Jan 1943	U-182	Ocean Courage	7,173	br
17 Feb 1943	U-182	Llanashe	4,836	br
10 Mar 1943	U-182	Richard D. Spaight	7,177	am
5 Apr 1943	U-182	Aloe	5,047	br
1 May 1943	U-182	Adelfotis	5,838	gr
			74,807
24 ships sunk (74,807 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel.