Gerd Kelbling

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
9 ships sunk, total tonnage 38,290 GRT
4 warships sunk, total tonnage 2,954 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 4,853 GRT
2 warships damaged, total tonnage 1,677 tons
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 8,426 GRT
1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 1,625 tons

Born  12 Jun 1915 Salzbrunn, Silesia
Died  9 Jun 2005(89)Ammersee, Germany


Gerd Kelbling

Ranks

8 Apr 1934 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1935 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937 Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Sep 1941 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

31 May 1940 Iron Cross 2nd Class
29 Aug 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
30 Mar 1942 U-boat War Badge 1939
19 Aug 1943 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-593 23 Oct 1941 13 Dec 1943   16 patrols (338 days) 

Gerd Kelbling 2
Kapitänleutnant Gerd Kelbling

Gerd Kelbling began his naval career in April 1934. After serving on minesweepers for a few years he transferred to the U-bootwaffe in January 1941. Following standard training he went to U-557 for one patrol as a Konfirmant (commander-in-training) .

In October 1941 he commissioned U-593, and took her on patrol for the first time in March 1942. After three patrols in the Atlantic, U-593 broke through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean in October 1942.

After enjoying some success over 12 patrols there, she was sunk on 13 December 1943 after being hunted for 32 hours by two destroyers (Niestlé, 1998). The commander and the entire crew were taken prisoner. Kelbling was held in a Canadian POW camp and didn't return to Germany until September 1947.

Gerd Kelbling died on 9 June 2005 (Rust, 2009).

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).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Rust, E. (2009) E-mail correspondence. Author of Naval Officers under Hitler.

Patrol info for Gerd Kelbling

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-593 2 Mar 1942  Kiel  28 Mar 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,27 days
2. U-593 20 Apr 1942  St. Nazaire  18 Jun 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,60 days
3. U-593 22 Jul 1942  St. Nazaire  19 Aug 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 3,29 days
4. U-593 3 Oct 1942  St. Nazaire  15 Oct 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 4,13 days
5. U-593 2 Nov 1942  La Spezia  16 Nov 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 5,15 days
6. U-593 29 Nov 1942  La Spezia  31 Dec 1942  Pola  Patrol 6,33 days
7. U-593 6 Feb 1943  Pola  8 Mar 1943  Salamis  Patrol 7,31 days
8. U-593 13 Mar 1943  Salamis  21 Mar 1943  Salamis  Patrol 8,9 days
9. U-593 25 Mar 1943  Salamis  4 Apr 1943  Salamis  Patrol 9,11 days
10. U-593 8 Apr 1943  Salamis  23 Apr 1943  Salamis  Patrol 10,16 days
11. U-593 24 Apr 1943  Salamis  28 Apr 1943  Pola   5 days
12. U-593 13 Jun 1943  Pola  11 Jul 1943  Toulon  Patrol 11,29 days
13. U-593 27 Jul 1943  Toulon  8 Aug 1943  Toulon  Patrol 12,13 days
14. U-593 15 Sep 1943  Toulon  5 Oct 1943  Toulon  Patrol 13,21 days
15. U-593 26 Oct 1943  Toulon  7 Nov 1943  Toulon  Patrol 14,13 days
16. U-593 25 Nov 1943  Toulon  29 Nov 1943  Toulon  Patrol 15,5 days
17. U-593 1 Dec 1943  Toulon  13 Dec 1943  Sunk  Patrol 16,13 days
16 patrols, 338 days at sea

Ships hit by Gerd Kelbling

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
14 May 1942U-593 Stavros (d.)4,853gr
25 May 1942U-593 Persephone (t.)8,426pa
5 Aug 1942U-593 Spar3,616nlSC-94
12 Nov 1942U-593 Browning5,332brKMS-2
 
18 Mar 1943U-593 Dafila1,940br
18 Mar 1943U-593 Kaying2,626br
27 Mar 1943U-593 City of Guildford5,157brXT-7
11 Apr 1943U-593 Runo1,858br
22 Jun 1943U-593 USS LST-333 (t.)1,625amElastic
22 Jun 1943U-593 USS LST-387 (d.)1,625amElastic
5 Jul 1943U-593 Devis6,054brKMS-18B
5 Jul 1943U-593 HMS LCM-1123 [Trans.]52brKMS-18B
5 Jul 1943U-593 HMS LCM-1129 (d.) [Trans.]52brKMS-18B
21 Sep 1943U-593 William W. Gerhard7,176amNSS-3
25 Sep 1943U-593 USS Skill (AM 115)815am
3 Nov 1943U-593 Mont Viso4,531frKMS-30
12 Dec 1943U-593 HMS Tynedale (L 96)1,000brKMS-34
12 Dec 1943U-593 HMS Holcombe (L 56)1,087brKMS-34
 57,825

15 ships sunk (51,295 tons) and 3 ships damaged (6,530 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
(t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).
[Trans.] indicates the vessel was lost while being transported on another 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.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


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


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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