Klaus Heinrich Bargsten

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)


Successes
3 ships sunk, total tonnage 19,551 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 750 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,870 tons

Born  31 Oct 1911 Bad Oldesloe
Died  13 Aug 2000(88)Bremen, Germany


Kptlt. Klaus Bargsten

Ranks

3 Apr 1936 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1936 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1938 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Aug 1942 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

23 Jul 1940 Iron Cross 2nd Class
10 Aug 1940 U-boat War Badge 1939
25 Sep 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
30 Apr 1943 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-563 27 Mar 1941 15 Mar 1942   4 patrols (90 days) 
U-521 3 Jun 1942 2 Jun 1943   3 patrols (172 days) 

Klaus Bargsten joined the Kriegsmarine in 1935 after previously serving in the merchant navy. He joined the U-boat force in 1939, and after a short period on U-6, he attended baubelehrung for U-99 and then served as IWO (1st Watch Officer) under Kptlt. Otto Kretschmer.

He left U-99 in January 1941 and in March commissioned U-563. On his second patrol he sank the British destroyer HMS Cossack (1,960 tons). After the third patrol he left the boat and three months later commissioned U-521. This boat was sunk on 2 June 1943 by the US sub chaser PC 565 100 nautical miles east of Cape Hatteras (Niestlé, 1998). Kptlt. Bargsten was the sole survivor from the crew of 52, and afterwards spent more than three years in Allied captivity.

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 Klaus Heinrich Bargsten

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-563 10 Jul 1941  Kiel  10 Jul 1941  Helsingör   1 days
2. U-563 27 Jul 1941  Helsingör  28 Jul 1941  Bergen   2 days
3. U-563 31 Jul 1941  Bergen  10 Sep 1941  Brest  Patrol 1,42 days
4. U-563 4 Oct 1941  Brest  1 Nov 1941  Brest  Patrol 2,29 days
5. U-563 29 Nov 1941  Brest  3 Dec 1941  Lorient  Patrol 3,5 days
6. U-563 21 Jan 1942  Lorient  3 Feb 1942  Bergen  Patrol 4,14 days
7. U-563 7 Feb 1942  Bergen  11 Feb 1942  Hamburg   5 days
8. U-521 3 Oct 1942  Kiel  4 Oct 1942  Kristiansand   2 days
9. U-521 6 Oct 1942  Kristiansand  8 Dec 1942  Lorient  Patrol 5,64 days
10. U-521 7 Jan 1943  Lorient  26 Mar 1943  Lorient  Patrol 6,79 days
11. U-521 5 May 1943  Lorient  2 Jun 1943  Sunk  Patrol 7,29 days
7 patrols, 262 days at sea

Ships hit by Klaus Heinrich Bargsten

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
24 Oct 1941U-563 HMS Cossack (G 03)1,870brHG-75
 
2 Nov 1942U-521 Hartington5,496brSC-107
3 Nov 1942U-521 Hahira6,855amSC-107
 
8 Feb 1943U-521 HMS Bredon (T 223)750brGibr-2
18 Mar 1943U-521 Molly Pitcher7,200amUGS-6
 22,171

5 ships sunk (22,171 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.


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


Aces of the Reich

Williamson, Gordon

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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