The Men - U-boat Commanders

Karl-Heinz Moehle

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 30)


Successes
21 ships sunk, total tonnage 92,086 GRT

Born  31 Jul 1910 Norden,Ostfriesland
Died  17 Nov 1996(86)Ahrensburg / Hamburg, Germany


Oberfähnrich zur See Karl-Heinz Moehle

Ranks

1 Apr 1930 Offiziersanwärter
10 Oct 1930 Seekadett
1 Jan 1932 Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1934 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1934 Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1936 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1943 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

23 Sep 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
17 Oct 1939 U-boat War Badge 1939
24 Oct 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
26 Feb 1941 Knights Cross
1 May 1945 German Cross in Silver

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-20 1 Oct 1937 17 Jan 1940   5 patrols (72 days) 
U-123 30 May 1940 19 May 1941   4 patrols (126 days) 

Karl-Heinz Moehle began his naval career in April 1930. After some months on the battleship Schleswig Holstein, he transferred to the U-boat force in March 1936, and in October 1937 commissioned U-20. He made six patrols, mostly in the North Sea, and sank eight ships.

He left U-20 in January 1940 and four months later commissioned U-123, one of the most famous U-boats of the war.

Moehle's second patrol in the North Atlantic was outstanding. On the morning of 23 November, 1940 he attacked the convoy OB-244 and in five hours sank five ships with a total of 23,084 tons. Due to damage sustained in a submerged collision with a sunken ship, U-123 was then forced to return to base. After four patrols Moehle turned over command of U-123 to Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen.

From June 1941 to the end of war Moehle was the commander both of the 5th flotilla and of the U-boat base at Kiel. In June 1945 he was arrested, and in the autumn of 1946 tried for passing on the Laconia order to the U-boat commanders. He was condemned to five years imprisonment, being released in November 1949.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Karl-Heinz Moehle

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-20 24 Aug 1939  Kiel  31 Aug 1939  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 1,8 days
2. U-20 1 Sep 1939  Wilhelmshaven  20 Sep 1939  Kiel  Patrol 1,20 days
3. U-20 29 Sep 1939  Kiel  17 Oct 1939  Kiel  Patrol 2,19 days
4. U-20 6 Nov 1939  Kiel  7 Nov 1939  Wilhelmshaven   2 days
5. U-20 18 Nov 1939  Wilhelmshaven  24 Nov 1939  Kiel  Patrol 3,7 days
6. U-20 7 Dec 1939  Kiel  13 Dec 1939  Kiel  Patrol 4,7 days
7. U-20 6 Jan 1940  Kiel  16 Jan 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 5,11 days
8. U-123 21 Sep 1940  Kiel  23 Oct 1940  Lorient  Patrol 6,33 days
9. U-123 14 Nov 1940  Lorient  28 Nov 1940  Lorient  Patrol 7,15 days
10. U-123 14 Jan 1941  Lorient  28 Feb 1941  Lorient  Patrol 8,46 days
11. U-123 10 Apr 1941  Lorient  11 May 1941  Lorient  Patrol 9,32 days
9 patrols, 198 days at sea

Ships hit by Karl-Heinz Moehle

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
29 Nov 1939U-20 Ionian [Mine]3,114brFN-43
9 Dec 1939U-20 Magnus1,339da
10 Dec 1939U-20 Føina1,674nw
10 Dec 1939U-20 Willowpool [Mine]4,815brHG-9
 
13 Jan 1940U-20 Sylvia1,524sw
6 Oct 1940U-123 Benlawers5,943brOB-221
10 Oct 1940U-123 Graigwen3,697brSC-6
19 Oct 1940U-123 Boekelo2,118nlSC-7
19 Oct 1940U-123 Sedgepool5,556brSC-7
19 Oct 1940U-123 Shekatika5,458brSC-7
19 Oct 1940U-123 Clintonia3,106brSC-7
22 Nov 1940U-123 Cree4,791brSL-53
23 Nov 1940U-123 Oakcrest5,407brOB-244
23 Nov 1940U-123 King Idwal5,115brOB-244
23 Nov 1940U-123 Tymeric5,228brOB-244
23 Nov 1940U-123 Anten5,135swOB-244
 
24 Jan 1941U-123 Vespasian1,570nwOB-276
4 Feb 1941U-123 Empire Engineer5,358brSC-20
15 Feb 1941U-123 Holystone5,462brOB-284
24 Feb 1941U-123 Grootekerk8,685nl
17 Apr 1941U-123 Venezuela6,991sw
 92,086

21 ships sunk (92,086 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
[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.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II
Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.