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-boat	From	To
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		Convoy
24 Oct 1941	U-563	HMS Cossack (G 03)	1,870	br	HG-75

2 Nov 1942	U-521	Hartington	5,496	br	SC-107
3 Nov 1942	U-521	Hahira	6,855	am	SC-107

8 Feb 1943	U-521	HMS Bredon (T 223)	750	br	Gibr-2
18 Mar 1943	U-521	Molly Pitcher	7,200	am	UGS-6
			22,171
5 ships sunk (22,171 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel.