Ernst Cordes

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

Successes
3 ships sunk, total tonnage 20,541 GRT

Born	26 Jun 1913		Hagen-Haspe
Died	6 Apr 1945	(31)	English Channel

Ranks

1 Dec 1934		Rekrut
23 Aug 1935		Marineoberartillerierist d. R. zugleich Reserveoffizieranwärter (ernennung)
3 Apr 1936		Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936		Seekadett
1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Sep 1943		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

24 Oct 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
29 Nov 1940		U-boat War Badge 1939
14 Jul 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Jul 1944		German Cross in Gold

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-560	25 Aug 1941	15 Jul 1942	No war patrols
U-763	13 Mar 1943	31 Oct 1944	3 patrols (101 days)
U-1195	1 Nov 1944	6 Apr 1945 (+)	1 patrol (41 days, * died during this patrol)

Ernst Cordes joined the Reichsmarine in 1934 and served on the square-rigger school ship Gorch Fock, the battleship Schleswig-Holstein and the destroyer Theodor Riedel. From May 1940 to Apri 1941 he served as Second Watch Officer on the famous U-123, and then moved to another famous boat, U-103, until June 1941.

(Ernst Cordes joined the navy as a rating and was therefore not part of Crew 34. He may have been belatedly attached to the Crew for administrative purposes by the Navy’s personnel office, but he did not share the common training experience of the Crew’s regular members.)

He left U-103 for U-boat commander training at the 24th Flotilla and in August 1941 he took command of the type VIIC U-boat training boat U-560 until July 1942. He then served as a liason officer for the commander of the Luftwaffe Fliegerführer Atlantik, the German Air Force equivalent to RAF Coastal Command.

In February 1942 he was given his first combat U-boat command, the type VIIC U-boat U-763, first stationed at Danzig with the 8th Training flotilla and then with the 3rd Flotilla at La Rochelle, France. He took the boat on three combat patrols, 98 days in total at sea.

Returning from patrol with U-763 on 7 Feb 1944 Ernst Cordes and his crew celebrate shooting down two Allied aircraft.

On 7 March 1942 Ernst Cordes married Irmgard Fikentscher and on 25 April 1944 she gave birth to a son, Gerhard.

Cordes took command of U-1195, another type VIIC U-boat, in November 1944, based first at Kiel for training, and then from January 1945 at Bergen, Norway as part of the 11th Flotilla.

He left Bergen for for the English Channel on his first and last patrol in her on 1 Jan 1945. He sank two ships, an unusual achievement at this stage of the war, but went down with his boat shortly after sinking the second, the ex-Cunard liner troop transport HMS Cuba on 6 April. There were 18 survivors from the boat, but 31 men were lost with Cordes. He was 31 years old.

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 Ernst Cordes

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-763	14 Dec 1943	Kiel	7 Feb 1944	La Pallice	Patrol 1,	56 days
2.	U-763	19 Mar 1944	La Pallice	27 Mar 1944	La Pallice	Patrol 2,	9 days
3.	U-763	10 Jun 1944	La Pallice	15 Jul 1944	Brest	Patrol 3,	36 days
4.	U-1195	4 Feb 1945	Kiel	8 Feb 1945	Horten		5 days
5.	U-1195	13 Feb 1945	Horten	14 Feb 1945	Kristiansand		2 days
6.	U-1195	16 Feb 1945	Kristiansand	22 Feb 1945	Bergen		7 days
7.	U-1195	25 Feb 1945	Bergen	7 Apr 1945	Sunk	Patrol 4,	41 days	*
4 patrols, 142 days at sea * Ernst Cordes died during this patrol on 6 Apr 1945

Ships hit by Ernst Cordes

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
5 Jul 1944	U-763	Glendinning	1,927	br	FTC-27

21 Mar 1945	U-1195	John R. Park	7,194	am	TBC-102
6 Apr 1945	U-1195	Cuba	11,420	br	VWP-116
			20,541
3 ships sunk (20,541 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel.