August Maus

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
9 ships sunk, total tonnage 62,761 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 6,840 GRT

Born	7 Feb 1915		Wuppertal
Died	28 Sep 1996	(81)	Hamburg, Germany

August Maus

Ranks

8 Apr 1934		Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934		Seekadett
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 Nov 1941		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

6 Oct 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
5 Jun 1940		Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
26 Dec 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
5 May 1943		Iron Cross 1st Class
21 Sep 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-185	13 Jun 1942	24 Aug 1943	3 patrols (229 days)

Wilhelm Hugo August Maus joined the Reichsmarine in April 1934. He served on the light cruiser Nürnberg and the school ship Schleswig-Holstein before transferring to the U-boat force in April 1940. After standard training he served for two patrols as I WO (1st Watch Officer) on U-68 under the command of Korvkpt. Karl-Friedrich Merten. In December 1941 he left U-68 and in June 1942 commissioned the Type XIC/40 boat U-185.

He took U-185 on three successful patrols, mostly in the mid and South Atlantic, before she was sunk on 24 August 1943 by three aircraft from the US escort carrier USS Core (Niestlé, 1998). U-185 had 100 men aboard, having taken on crew from U-604 two weeks earlier after their boat was scuttled due to fatal damage from air attacks. Kptlt. Maus was among the 36 survivors rescued by the USS Barker.

Kptlt. Maus then spent nearly three years in American captivity. After being held at the POW camp in Crossville, Tennesee, he was transferred to the camp at Papago Park, Arizona on 27 January 1944. On February 12 he was one of five U-boat commanders to escape from this camp, but he and his companion Friedrich Guggenberger were recaptured in Tucson. Maus participated in the digging of the tunnel through which 25 POWs escaped on the night of 23-24 December 1944 but he was not among them, an injury compelling him to remain behind.

Folowing a transfer to Camp Shanks, New York in February 1946, Maus was then held in the British zone of Germany before finally being released. Later he became a successful businessman in Hamburg.

August Maus 2
August Maus returning from patrol

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.

Patrol info for August Maus

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-185	27 Oct 1942	Kiel	1 Jan 1943	Lorient	Patrol 1,	67 days
2.	U-185	8 Feb 1943	Lorient	3 May 1943	Bordeaux	Patrol 2,	85 days
3.	U-185	9 Jun 1943	Bordeaux	24 Aug 1943	Sunk	Patrol 3,	77 days
3 patrols, 229 days at sea

Ships hit by August Maus

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
7 Dec 1942	U-185	Peter Mærsk	5,476	br	ON-149

10 Mar 1943	U-185	Virginia Sinclair	6,151	am	KG-123
10 Mar 1943	U-185	James Sprunt	7,177	am	KG-123
6 Apr 1943	U-185	John Sevier	7,176	am	GTMO-83
7 Jul 1943	U-185	James Robertson	7,176	am	BT-18
7 Jul 1943	U-185	William Boyce Thompson	7,061	am	BT-18
7 Jul 1943	U-185	S.B. Hunt (d.)	6,840	am	BT-18
7 Jul 1943	U-185	Thomas Sinnickson	7,176	am	BT-18
1 Aug 1943	U-185	Bagé	8,235	bz	TJ-2
6 Aug 1943	U-185	Fort Halkett	7,133	br
			69,601
9 ships sunk (62,761 tons) and 1 ship damaged (6,840 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.