Hermann Kottmann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)


Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 12,309 GRT

Born  4 Dec 1915 Hannover
Died  30 Jun 1955(39)


Kriegsmarine crew book photo

Ranks

3 Apr 1936 Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936 Seekadett
1 May 1937 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1943 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-203 21 Sep 1942 25 Apr 1943   3 patrols (79 days) 

Hermann Kottmann joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, and was part of the Olympia Crew. He served as a gunnery officer on the pocket battleship Graf Spee for seven months, and was interned in Argentina after the Graf Spee was scuttled in 1940. He escaped to Chile and crossed the Pacific on a Japanese vessel. He then joined the U-boat arm in 1941 and served as a Watch Officer with the 8th (Training) Flotilla and 1st Flotilla before joining the crew of U-203, and briefly served as executive officer before taking command of that boat.

After U-203 was sunk he was taken prisoner, and eventually ended up at Papago Park POW camp in Arizona. On 12 February 1944 he escaped with four other former U-boat commanders: Guggenberger (U-513), Maus (U-185), Johannsen (U-569), Quaet-Faslem (U-595), and two Kriegsmarine petty officers. Together with Johannsen and Quaet-Faslem he crossed the Mexican border and continued for thirty miles (48 km) before being recaptured after two weeks at large. They were returned to Papago Park on 1 March.

Patrol info for Hermann Kottmann

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-203 15 Oct 1942  Brest  6 Nov 1942  Lorient  Patrol 1,23 days
2. U-203 6 Dec 1942  Lorient  7 Jan 1943  Brest  Patrol 2,33 days
3. U-203 3 Apr 1943  Brest  25 Apr 1943  Sunk  Patrol 3,23 days
3 patrols, 79 days at sea

Ships hit by Hermann Kottmann

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
29 Oct 1942U-203 Hopecastle5,178brSL-125
30 Oct 1942U-203 Corinaldo7,131brSL-125
 12,309

2 ships sunk (12,309 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.

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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