Paul Hartwig

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)

Successes
8 ships sunk, total tonnage 26,383 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 900 tons

Born	14 Sep 1915		Steins, Vogtland
Died	9 Mar 2014	(98)	Altenholz, Germany

Paul Hartwig

Ranks

5 Apr 1935		Offiziersanwärter
25 Sep 1935		Seekadett
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 Apr 1942		Kapitänleutnant

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-517	21 Mar 1942	21 Nov 1942	2 patrols (78 days)

Paul Hartwig joined the U-boat force in July 1940 and after five months of training he completed two patrols on the successful U-125.

In March 1942 he commissioned the type IXC boat U-517 and on the boat's first patrol in Canadian waters during the summer of 1942 he sank nine ships.

BdU Admiral Dönitz commented on the patrol: "Outstanding first patrol of commander with a new boat." Unfortunately U-517 was sunk just four days after leaving Lorient on her second patrol (Niestlé, 1998). Paul Hartwig spent the time from November 1942 to the end of the war in Allied captivity.

After the war Hartwig joined the newly formed Bundesmarine and during the 1970s rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.

He passed away on 9 March 2014 at the age of 98. His obituary contained these words: "He was blessed in that he could look back on his life as a success."

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Paul Hartwig

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-517	8 Aug 1942	Kiel	19 Oct 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	73 days
2.	U-517	17 Nov 1942	Lorient	21 Nov 1942	Sunk	Patrol 2,	5 days
2 patrols, 78 days at sea

Ships hit by Paul Hartwig

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
27 Aug 1942	U-517	Chatham	5,649	am	SG-6F
28 Aug 1942	U-517	Arlyn	3,304	am	SG-6
3 Sep 1942	U-517	Donald Stewart	1,781	ca	LN-7
7 Sep 1942	U-517	Mount Pindus	5,729	gr	QS-33
7 Sep 1942	U-517	Oakton	1,727	ca	QS-33
7 Sep 1942	U-517	Mount Taygetus	3,286	gr	QS-33
11 Sep 1942	U-517	HMCS Charlottetown (K 244)	900	ca	SQ-35
15 Sep 1942	U-517	Inger Elisabeth	2,166	nw	SQ-36
15 Sep 1942	U-517	Saturnus	2,741	nl	SQ-36
			27,283
9 ships sunk (27,283 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel.

About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.