| Born | 7 May 1919 | Hamburg | |
| Died | 23 Oct 1972 | (53) | Hamburg, Germany |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-778 | 7 Jul 1944 | 9 May 1945 | 1 patrol (23 days) |
Ralf Jürs joined the Kriegsmarine in 1937. He served on the battleship Gneisenau from Sept 1939 to March 1940. After Luftwaffe training from June to Sept 1940, he served as a naval aviator, serving with Seeaufklärergruppe 125 from Oct 1940 until June 1943, when he joined the U-boat force.
Oblt. Ralf Jürs went through U-boat training June-May 1944, followed by U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) in May 1944. On 7 July 1944 he commissioned the new type VIIC U-778 at Wilhelmshaven. In early 1945 the boat was deemed combat ready and sailed from Kiel, Germany on 24 Feb for Horten, Norway to prepare for active service.
War Patrol
On 4 March 1945 the newly promoted Kptlt. Jürs took U-778 on patrol from Horten, returning to Bergen 23 days later on 26 March, without any recorded incident. Jürs surrendered U-778 at Bergen, Norway on 8 May 1945, after which she was taken to Loch Ryan, Scotland for disposal in Operation Deadlight (Niestlé, 1998). U-773 sank while under tow to be scuttled and is now a dive site.
Following Germany's surrender Kptlt. Ralf Jürs was a POW until 5 March 1947.
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 Ralf Jürs
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | U-778 | 24 Feb 1945 | Kiel | 28 Feb 1945 | Horten | 5 days | ||
| 2. | U-778 | 4 Mar 1945 | Horten | 26 Mar 1945 | Bergen | Patrol 1, | 23 days | |
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.
Media links
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