Claus Korth

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)


Successes
13 ships sunk, total tonnage 54,584 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 8,240 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 4,996 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 10,191 GRT

Born  7 Nov 1911 Berlin
Died  25 Jan 1988(76)Kiel, Germany


Kptlt. Claus Korth

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 Nov 1939 Kapitänleutnant
1 Jan 1944 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

6 Jun 1939 Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
5 Nov 1939 U-boat War Badge 1939
22 Nov 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
26 Jan 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
29 May 1941 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-57 29 Dec 1938 4 Jun 1940   9 patrols (137 days) 
U-93 30 Jul 1940 30 Sep 1941   5 patrols (155 days) 

Claus Korth began his naval career in April 1932. During his officer training he was one of the few survivors when the sailing school ship Niobe sank in a training accident. In March 1936 he joined in the U-boat force and received a solid pre-war training. In the autumn of 1937 he was I WO on U-37 for two months in Spanish waters during the civil war there.


Claus Korth during patrol

In December 1938 he commissioned the type IIC U-boat U-57. Her first successes were scored on her fourth patrol when she sank two ships. Outstanding was the sinking of the British tanker Gretafield of 10,191 tons in February 1940. Korth left the U-boat in June 1940 and commissioned U-93 in July of the same year.

On five patrols he sank eight ships with a total of 43,392 tons and in May 1941 received the Knights Cross. In October 1941 he left U-93 and became the 3rd Asto in the BdU org.

In June 1942 he became training officer in the 27th (Training) Flotilla. During the last year of war he was in the torpedo trial institution (TVA) Eckernförde. After the surrender Claus Korth spent six months in Allied captivity.


Claus Korth and the crew of U-93

In 1955 he joined the Bundesmarine (postwar German Navy) where he was for nearly four years the head of the torpedo trial station (Marine-Torpedo-Versuchsstation). He retired in 1970 with a rank of Kapitän zur See.

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 Claus Korth

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-57 23 Aug 1939  Kiel  26 Aug 1939  Memel   4 days
2. U-57 26 Aug 1939  Memel  2 Sep 1939  Memel  Patrol 1,8 days
3. U-57 3 Sep 1939  Memel  5 Sep 1939  Kiel  Patrol 1,3 days
4. U-57 5 Sep 1939  Kiel  18 Sep 1939  Kiel  Patrol 2,14 days
5. U-57 25 Oct 1939  Kiel  5 Nov 1939  Kiel  Patrol 3,12 days
6. U-57 12 Nov 1939  Kiel  23 Nov 1939  Kiel  Patrol 4,12 days
7. U-57 5 Dec 1939  Kiel  5 Dec 1939  Wilhelmshaven   1 days
8. U-57 7 Dec 1939  Wilhelmshaven  16 Dec 1939  Kiel  Patrol 5,10 days
9. U-57 16 Jan 1940  Kiel  25 Jan 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 6,10 days
10. U-57 8 Feb 1940  Wilhelmshaven  25 Feb 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 7,18 days
11. U-57 14 Mar 1940  Wilhelmshaven  29 Mar 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 8,16 days
12. U-57 4 Apr 1940  Wilhelmshaven  7 May 1940  Kiel  Patrol 9,34 days
13. U-93 5 Oct 1940  Kiel  7 Oct 1940  Kristiansand   3 days
14. U-93 9 Oct 1940  Kristiansand  25 Oct 1940  St. Nazaire  Patrol 10,17 days
15. U-93 7 Nov 1940  St. Nazaire  29 Nov 1940  Lorient  Patrol 11,23 days
16. U-93 11 Jan 1941  Lorient  14 Feb 1941  Lorient  Patrol 12,35 days
17. U-93 3 May 1941  Lorient  10 Jun 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 13,39 days
18. U-93 12 Jul 1941  St. Nazaire  21 Aug 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 14,41 days
14 patrols, 292 days at sea

Ships hit by Claus Korth

Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
17 Nov 1939U-57Claus Korth Kaunas1,566li
19 Nov 1939U-57Claus Korth Stanbrook1,383br
13 Dec 1939U-57Claus Korth Mina1,173es
 
20 Jan 1940U-57Claus Korth Miranda1,328nw
26 Jan 1940U-57Claus Korth HMS Durham Castle [Mine]8,240br
14 Feb 1940U-57Claus Korth Gretafield (t.)10,191brHX-18
21 Feb 1940U-57Claus Korth Loch Maddy (d.)4,996brHX-19
25 Mar 1940U-57Claus Korth Daghestan5,742br
15 Oct 1940U-93Claus Korth Hurunui9,331brOA-228
17 Oct 1940U-93Claus Korth Dokka1,168nwOB-228
17 Oct 1940U-93Claus Korth Uskbridge2,715brOB-228
 
29 Jan 1941U-93Claus Korth King Robert5,886brSC-19
29 Jan 1941U-93Claus Korth W.B. Walker10,468brSC-19
29 Jan 1941U-93Claus Korth Aikaterini4,929grSC-19
4 Feb 1941U-93Claus Korth Dione II2,660brSC-20
21 May 1941U-93Claus Korth Elusa6,235nlHX-126
 78,011

15 ships sunk (73,015 tons) and 1 ship damaged (4,996 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
(t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).
[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


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