The Men - U-boat Commanders

Wilhelm Dommes

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 31)


Successes
8 ships sunk, total tonnage 40,103 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 313 GRT
2 warships sunk, total tonnage 3,548 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 3,560 GRT
1 warship damaged, total tonnage 450 tons

Born  16 Apr 1907 Buchberg, West Prussia
Died  23 Jan 1990(82)Hannover, Germany


Kptlt. Wilhelm Dommes

Ranks

23 Jan 1933 Offiziersanwärter
1 Apr 1933 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1935 Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jul 1938 Kapitänleutnant
1 Feb 1943 Korvettenkapitän
30 Jan 1945 Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

29 Nov 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
15 Jul 1941 Fleet War Badge
10 Feb 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
10 Feb 1942 U-boat War Badge 1939
27 Jul 1942 Italienische Tapferkeitsmedaille in Bronze Im Felde "Medaglia di Bronzo al Valore Militare sul campo"
2 Dec 1942 Knights Cross
29 May 1943 Italienische Tapferkeitsmedaille in Silber im Felde "Medaglia di Argento al Valore Militare sul campo"
30 Jan 1945 War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords
5 Mar 1945 U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-431 5 Apr 1941 6 Jan 1943   10 patrols (257 days) 
U-178 22 Feb 1943 25 Nov 1943   1 patrol (153 days) 

Wilhelm Dommes began his naval career in January 1933 after serving in the merchant navy. The first years he spent mainly on the light cruiser Nürnberg and on the battle-cruiser Scharnhorst. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force where he successfully fought with his U-431 in the Mediterranean.

He departed from base at Bordeaux, France with U-178 for the Far East on 28 March, 1943 and finally arrived in Penang five months later. After that long patrol he became the base commander of Penang and in January 1945 the base commander of Singapore and Chief of all Monsun boats.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).

Patrol info for Wilhelm Dommes

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-431 19 Jun 1941  Kiel  20 Jun 1941  Horten   2 days
2. U-431 25 Jun 1941  Horten  28 Jun 1941  Trondheim   4 days
3. U-431 10 Jul 1941  Trondheim  11 Aug 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,33 days
4. U-431 13 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  12 Oct 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,30 days
5. U-431 16 Nov 1941  St. Nazaire  20 Dec 1941  La Spezia  Patrol 3,35 days
6. U-431 18 Jan 1942  La Spezia  22 Jan 1942  Messina   5 days
7. U-431 25 Jan 1942  Messina  10 Feb 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 4,17 days
8. U-431 18 Mar 1942  La Spezia  15 Apr 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 5,29 days
9. U-431 14 May 1942  La Spezia  30 May 1942  Salamis  Patrol 6,17 days
10. U-431 4 Jun 1942  Salamis  20 Jun 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 7,17 days
11. U-431 2 Sep 1942  La Spezia  27 Sep 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 8,26 days
12. U-431 29 Sep 1942  La Spezia  4 Nov 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 9,37 days
13. U-431 7 Nov 1942  La Spezia  22 Nov 1942  Pola  Patrol 10,16 days
14. U-178 7 Mar 1943  Bordeaux  9 Mar 1943  Bordeaux   3 days
15. U-178 28 Mar 1943  Bordeaux  27 Aug 1943  Penang  Patrol 11,153 days
16. U-178 9 Oct 1943  Penang  11 Oct 1943  Singapur   3 days
17. U-178 23 Oct 1943  Singapur  25 Oct 1943  Penang   3 days
18. U-178 6 Nov 1943  Penang  8 Nov 1943  Singapur   3 days
19. U-178 23 Nov 1943  Singapur  24 Nov 1943  Penang   2 days
11 patrols, 410 days at sea

Ships hit by Wilhelm Dommes

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
2 Oct 1941U-431 Hatasu3,198brON-19
13 Dec 1941U-431 Myriel (d.)3,560br
 
29 Jan 1942U-431 HMS Sotra313brTA-21
20 May 1942U-431 Eocene4,216brAT-46
15 Jun 1942U-431 HMS LCT-119 (d.)450br
10 Nov 1942U-431 HMS Martin (G 44)1,920brTorch
13 Nov 1942U-431 HNMS Isaac Sweers (G 83)1,628nl
 
1 Jun 1943U-178 Salabangka6,586nlCD-20
4 Jul 1943U-178 Breiviken2,669nwDN-50
4 Jul 1943U-178 Michael Livanos4,774gr
11 Jul 1943U-178 Mary Livanos4,771gr
14 Jul 1943U-178 Robert Bacon7,197am
17 Jul 1943U-178 City of Canton6,692br
 47,974

11 ships sunk (43,964 tons) and 2 ships damaged (4,010 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.


About ranks and decorations
Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs
Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-boat Commanders of World War II
Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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