Friedrich Markworth

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
13 ships sunk, total tonnage 74,067 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 10,172 GRT
2 warships damaged, total tonnage 64 tons

Born	14 Feb 1915		Wolfenbüttel
Died	13 Jan 1994	(78)	Detmold-Dortmund, Germany

Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Markworth

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

24 Apr 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
13 Jul 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
10 Nov 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class
8 Jul 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-66	22 Jun 1942	1 Sep 1943	4 patrols (308 days)

Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Markworth began his naval career in April 1934. He served on the light cruiser Königsberg and the heavy cruiser Blücher before transferring to the U-boat force in July 1940. He had two patrols on U-103 as I WO (1st Watch Officer). In June 1942 he took over the very successful U-66, one of the five Operation Drumbeat boats, from Korvkpt. Richard Zapp.

On his first patrol on U-66 he sank nine ships with a total of 48,896 tons, mostly in Caribbean waters. He also laid mines at Port Castries on Santa Lucia on 20 July 1942, which sank three small Allied warships two weeks later.

During the third patrol Markworth was severely wounded when U-66 was attacked on 3 August 1943 by aircraft from the US escort carrier USS Card. On 6 August, U-66 met the fuel supply boat U-117, whose WO, Oblt. Frerks, took over command from Markworth and brought U-66 back to base. U-117 herself was sunk while U-66 was at her side (Niestlé, 1998).

Kptlt. Markworth left U-66 and in October 1943 became a training officer in the 23rd (Training) Flotilla. In March 1945 he transferred to the 25th (Training) Flotilla where he remained until the end of the war.

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 Friedrich Markworth

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-66	23 Jun 1942	Lorient	29 Sep 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	99 days
2.	U-66	9 Nov 1942	Lorient	11 Nov 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	3 days
3.	U-66	6 Jan 1943	Lorient	24 Mar 1943	Lorient	Patrol 3,	78 days
4.	U-66	27 Apr 1943	Lorient	1 Sep 1943	Lorient	Patrol 4,	128 days
4 patrols, 308 days at sea

Ships hit by Friedrich Markworth

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
9 Jul 1942	U-66	Triglav	6,363	yu
26 Jul 1942	U-66	Tamandaré	4,942	bz
28 Jul 1942	U-66	Weirbank	5,150	br
2 Aug 1942	U-66	HMS MTB-339 (d.) [Mine]	32	br
2 Aug 1942	U-66	HMS MTB-342 (d.) [Mine]	32	br
6 Aug 1942	U-66	Rozewie	766	po
29 Aug 1942	U-66	Topa Topa	5,356	am
30 Aug 1942	U-66	Sir Huon	6,049	pa
30 Aug 1942	U-66	West Lashaway	5,637	am
31 Aug 1942	U-66	Winamac	8,621	br	TRIN-3
9 Sep 1942	U-66	Peiping	6,390	sw

1 Feb 1943	U-66	Joseph Elise	113	fr
27 Feb 1943	U-66	St. Margaret	4,312	br	ON-165
10 Jun 1943	U-66	Esso Gettysburg	10,173	am
2 Jul 1943	U-66	Bloody Marsh	10,195	am
22 Jul 1943	U-66	Cherry Valley (d.)	10,172	am
			84,303
13 ships sunk (74,067 tons) and 3 ships damaged (10,236 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. [Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.

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.