Karl-Friedrich Merten

Kapitän zur See (Crew 26)

Successes
27 ships sunk, total tonnage 170,151 GRT

Born	15 Aug 1905		Posen
Died	2 May 1993	(87)	Waldshut / Tiengen / Württemberg, Germany

Karl Friedrich Merten

Ranks

1 Apr 1926		Offiziersanwärter
26 Oct 1926		Seekadett
1 Apr 1928		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jun 1930		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1930		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1933		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1936		Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1941		Korvettenkapitän
1 Jan 1944		Fregattenkapitän
15 Apr 1945		Kapitän zur See

Decorations

2 Oct 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
2 Aug 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
31 Dec 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
13 Jun 1942		Knights Cross
16 Nov 1942		Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
30 Jan 1943		U-boat War Badge with Diamonds

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-68	11 Feb 1941	21 Jan 1943	5 patrols (368 days)

Korvkpt. Karl-Friedrich Merten

After a ten-year stint on warships and serving on the WWI battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on Westerplatte which started the invasion of Poland in September 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1 May 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. U-68 was in wolfpack Eisbär (Polar bear), which in the course of a few weeks during September/October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa.

In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th (Training) Flotilla U-boat Flotilla at Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten transferred to command the 24th (Training) Flotilla at Memel. This was the training flotilla for future U-boat commanders.

After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. He later worked in the shipbuilding industry.

Karl-Friedrich Merten during the funeral of Großadmiral Dönitz in 1981,
behind him Oblt. Otto Westphalen (U-968)

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Karl-Friedrich Merten

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-68	30 Jun 1941	Kiel	1 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	33 days
2.	U-68	11 Sep 1941	Lorient	25 Dec 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	106 days
3.	U-68	11 Feb 1942	Lorient	13 Apr 1942	Lorient	Patrol 3,	62 days
4.	U-68	14 May 1942	Lorient	10 Jul 1942	Lorient	Patrol 4,	58 days
5.	U-68	20 Aug 1942	Lorient	6 Dec 1942	Lorient	Patrol 5,	109 days
5 patrols, 368 days at sea

Ships hit by Karl-Friedrich Merten

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
22 Sep 1941	U-68	Silverbelle	5,302	br	SL-87
22 Oct 1941	U-68	Darkdale	8,145	br
28 Oct 1941	U-68	Hazelside	5,297	br
1 Nov 1941	U-68	Bradford City	4,953	br

3 Mar 1942	U-68	Helenus	7,366	br
8 Mar 1942	U-68	Baluchistan	6,992	br
16 Mar 1942	U-68	Baron Newlands	3,386	br
17 Mar 1942	U-68	Ile de Batz	5,755	br
17 Mar 1942	U-68	Scottish Prince	4,917	br
17 Mar 1942	U-68	Allende	5,081	br
30 Mar 1942	U-68	Muncaster Castle	5,853	br	ST-18
5 Jun 1942	U-68	L.J. Drake	6,693	am
6 Jun 1942	U-68	C.O. Stillman	13,006	pa
10 Jun 1942	U-68	Surrey	8,581	br
10 Jun 1942	U-68	Ardenvohr	5,025	br
10 Jun 1942	U-68	Port Montreal	5,882	br
15 Jun 1942	U-68	Frimaire	9,242	fr
23 Jun 1942	U-68	Arriaga	2,345	pa
12 Sep 1942	U-68	Trevilley	5,296	br	OS-38
15 Sep 1942	U-68	Breedijk	6,861	nl
8 Oct 1942	U-68	Koumoundouros	3,598	gr
8 Oct 1942	U-68	Gaasterkerk	8,679	nl
8 Oct 1942	U-68	Swiftsure	8,207	am
8 Oct 1942	U-68	Sarthe	5,271	br
9 Oct 1942	U-68	Examelia	4,981	am
9 Oct 1942	U-68	Belgian Fighter	5,403	be
6 Nov 1942	U-68	City of Cairo	8,034	br
			170,151
27 ships sunk (170,151 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.