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Born	23 Jun 1913		Kiel
Died	11 Sep 1942	(29)	Northern Atlantic

Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg

Ranks 1 Apr 1932   Offiziersanwärter 4 Nov 1932   Seekadett 1 Jan 1934   Fähnrich zur See 1 Sep 1935   Oberfähnrich zur See 1 Jan 1936   Leutnant zur See 1 Oct 1937   Oberleutnant zur See 1 Jan 1940   Kapitänleutnant Decorations 1 Jul 1941   Iron Cross 2nd Class 1 Jul 1941   Iron Cross 1st Class 1 Jul 1941   U-boat War Badge 1939 17 Nov 1941   Knights Cross 15 Jul 1942   Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

Oblt. Rolf Mützelburg joined the U-boat arm in October 1939, following two years service on minesweepers. After five months on a school boat, he received his first experience of active service on Schepke's U-100. He commissioned U-203 in February 1941. On patrols in the Atlantic, off the US east coast, and the Caribbean, he sank 19 ships and damaged three others (Rohwer, 1998).

Kapitänleutnant Mützelburg onboard U203 with his chief engineer (LI)

Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg died on 11 September 1942 in a freak accident. Taking the opportunity to go swimming in the Atlantic southwest of the Azores, he dived from the conning tower and struck the deck with his head and shoulder when the boat lurched suddenly in the swell *. The doctor of the milch cow U-462 arrived the next day, but too late, and Rolf Mützelburg was buried at sea on 12 September 1942 in position 36.14N, 31.21W.

On 15 September 1942 the daily Wehrmachtsbericht (Armed Forces Bulletin) announced :

Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg, Kommandant eines Unterseebootes, Träger des Eichenlaubes zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, ließ auf der Fahrt gegen den Feind sein Leben. In ihm verliert die Unterseebootwaffe einen hervorragender Kommandanten und erfolgreichen Kämpfer. Das Boot setzt unter dem Kommando des ältesten Wachoffiziers die Unternehmung fort.

(Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg, U-boat commander, recipient of the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, lost his life on war patrol. The U-boat arm has lost an outstanding commander and a successful fighter. The boat continues her patrol under the command of the senior watch officer.)

* Teddy Suhren in his biography states that Mützelburg struck the saddle tanks, not the deck.

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.
Suhren, T. (2006). Teddy Suhren, ace of aces.

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.

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