Gunter Jahn

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)

Successes
4 ships sunk, total tonnage 27,326 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 246 tons
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 14,180 GRT

Born	27 Sep 1910		Hamburg
Died	12 Apr 1992	(81)	Krailling, Starnberg, Upper Bavaria

Gunter Jahn

Ranks

1 Apr 1931		Offiziersanwärter
14 Oct 1931		Seekadett
1 Jan 1933		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1935		Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1937		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939		Kapitänleutnant
1 Nov 1943		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

18 Oct 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
6 Oct 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class
6 Oct 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
30 Apr 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-596	13 Nov 1941	27 Jul 1943	6 patrols (137 days)

Gunter Jahn began his naval career in April 1931. Later he served for more than two years on the light cruiser Nürnberg, including nine patrols in the first year of the war. In March 1941 Jahn joined the U-boat force, his first patrol being on U-98 in September 1941.

In November of that year he commissioned U-596. On the boat's second patrol Jahn broke through the Straits of Gibraltar and then went on to become one of the most successful U-boat commanders in the Mediterranean. In July 1943 he left the boat to become commander of the 29th Flotilla. In September 1944 he became a French prisoner of war, and was released nearly two years later.

He is buried in Straubing, Bavaria, Germany.

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 Gunter Jahn

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-596	25 Jun 1942	Kiel	2 Jul 1942	Kiel		8 days
2.	U-596	25 Jul 1942	Kiel	28 Jul 1942	Bergen		4 days
3.	U-596	8 Aug 1942	Bergen	3 Oct 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 1,	57 days
4.	U-596	4 Nov 1942	St. Nazaire	15 Nov 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 2,	12 days
5.	U-596	27 Jan 1943	La Spezia	16 Feb 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 3,	21 days
6.	U-596	28 Feb 1943	La Spezia	12 Mar 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 4,	13 days
7.	U-596	23 Mar 1943	La Spezia	15 Apr 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 5,	24 days
8.	U-596	26 Apr 1943	La Spezia	30 Apr 1943	Pola		5 days
9.	U-596	17 Jun 1943	Pola	26 Jun 1943	Pola	Patrol 6,	10 days
6 patrols, 137 days at sea

Ships hit by Gunter Jahn

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
16 Aug 1942	U-596	Suecia	4,966	sw	SC-95
20 Sep 1942	U-596	Empire Hartebeeste	5,676	br	SC-100

7 Feb 1943	U-596	HMS LCI(L)-162	246	br
9 Mar 1943	U-596	Fort Norman (d.)	7,133	br	KMS-10
9 Mar 1943	U-596	Empire Standard (d.)	7,047	br	KMS-10
30 Mar 1943	U-596	Hallanger	9,551	nw	ET-16
30 Mar 1943	U-596	Fort a la Corne	7,133	br	ET-16
			41,752
5 ships sunk (27,572 tons) and 2 ships damaged (14,180 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

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.