Werner Hartmann

Werner Hartmann
File:Werner.hartmann.jpg
Born	(1902-12-11)11 December 1902
Died	26 April 1963(1963-04-26) (aged 60)
Place of birth	Silstedt, Harz
Place of death	Ussel, Waldeck
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine German Navy
Years of service	1921–1945, 1956–1962
Rank	Kapitän zur See
Unit	SSS Niobe Hannover Berlin cruiser Emden cruiser Karlsruhe 2nd U-boat Flotilla 6th U-boat Flotilla 12th U-boat Flotilla 27th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	torpedo boat Seeadler torpedo boat Jaguar U-26 May 1936 – 30 September 1938 U-37 25 September 1939 – 6 May 1940 U-198 3 November 1942 – 15 January 1944
Awards	Iron Cross First Class U-boat War Badge Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves

Captain Werner Hartmann (11 December 1902 – 26 April 1963) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He sank 26 ships, amounting to over 115,000 gross register tons (GRT) sunk, making him the 25th most successful U-boat commander of the war. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Career

Werner Hartmann began his naval career with the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic on 1 April 1921 as a member of "Crew 1921" (the incoming class of 1921). He went on to serve as commander of the torpedo boats Seeadler and Albatros, before transferring to the U-boat arm in 1935. As commander of U-26 he patrolled Spanish waters during the Civil War in 1937–38 with Günther Prien as his first watch officer. From January–May 1940 Hartmann was commander of both U-37 and 2nd U-boat Flotilla, but directing U-boats while at sea proved inefficient, and the Befehlshaber der U-Boote ("U-boat High Command") decided henceforth to direct the U-boats from land. After three patrols, and sinking 19 ships totalling 78,559 GRT, Hartmann received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. His senior officers on his four patrols on U-37 were future Knight's Cross winners, first watch officer Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Bauer (two patrols) and later Oberleutnant zur See Nicolai Clausen (two patrols), second watch officer Leutnant zur See Gustav Poel and chief engineer Oberleutnant (Ing.) Gerd Suhren.

Hartmann then moved to the BdU as a staff officer, and in November 1940 became commander of the 2nd ULD (U-boat Training Division). A year later he took command of the 27th U-boat Flotilla in Gotenhafen. In November 1942 he took command of the large Type IXD U-198 for a patrol to the Indian Ocean lasting 200 days, the third longest patrol ever undertaken, and sank 7 ships totalling 36,778 GRT. In 1944 Hartmann became Führer der U-Boote Mittelmeer ("Commander of U-boats in the Mediterranean") and in this post received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

After the war he joined the Bundesmarine on 1 July 1956, commanding the 1. Schiffsstammregiment (1st Naval training regiment) in Glückstadt, retiring on 1 April 1962. He died in 1963.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

As a U-boat commander of U-37 and U-198 Werner Hartmann is credited with the sinking of 26 ships for a total of 115,337 gross register tons (GRT).

Date	U-boat	Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate
8 September 1939	U-37	Vistula	Sweden	1,018	Sunk
12 October 1939	U-37	Artis	Greece	4,810	Sunk
15 October 1939	U-37	Vermont	France	5,186	Sunk
17 October 1939	U-37	Yorkshire	United Kingdom	10,183	Sunk
24 October 1939	U-37	Ledbury	United Kingdom	3,528	Sunk
24 October 1939	U-37	Menin Ridge	United Kingdom	2,474	Sunk
24 October 1939	U-37	Tafna	United Kingdom	4,413	Sunk
30 October 1939	U-37	Thrasyvoulos	Greece	3,693	Sunk
4 February 1940	U-37	Hop	Norway	1,365	Sunk
4 February 1940	U-37	Leo Dawson	United Kingdom	4,330	Sunk
10 February 1940	U-37	Silja	Norway	1,259	Sunk
11 February 1940	U-37	Togimo	United Kingdom	290	Sunk
15 February 1940	U-37	Aase	Denmark	1,206	Sunk
17 February 1940	U-37	Pyrrhus	United Kingdom	7,418	Sunk
18 February 1940	U-37	Elin	Greece	4,917	Sunk
18 February 1940	U-37	P.L.M. 15	France	3,754	Sunk
10 April 1940	U-37	Sveaborg	Sweden	9,076	Sunk
10 April 1940	U-37	Tosca	Norway	5,128	Sunk
12 April 1940	U-37	Stancliffe	United Kingdom	4,511	Sunk
17 May 1943	U-198	Northmoor	United Kingdom	4,392	Sunk
29 May 1943	U-198	Hopetarn	United Kingdom	5,231	Sunk
5 June 1943	U-198	Dumra	United Kingdom	2,304	Sunk
6 June 1943	U-198	William King	United States	7,176	Sunk
6 July 1943	U-198	Hydraios	Greece	4,476	Sunk
7 July 1943	U-198	Leana	United Kingdom	4,742	Sunk
1 August 1943	U-198	Mangkalihat	Netherlands	8,457	Sunk

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th and 3rd Class (2 October 1936)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 2nd Class (1 April 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (8 November 1939)
  • 1st Class (8 November 1939)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (7 December 1939)
  • with Diamonds (November 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 9 May 1940 as Korvettenkapitän and commander of U-37
  • 645th Oak Leaves on 5 November 1944 as Kapitän zur See and leader of the U-Boote in the Mediterranean Sea, before commander of U-198
• Mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht on 1 March 1940 and 19 April 1940

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Friday, 1 March 1940	Wie durch Sondermeldung bereits bekanntgegeben, hat ein von Fernfahrt zurückgekehrtes, unter dem Kommando von Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann stehendes Unterseeboot die Versenkung von 45 000 BRT gemeldet. Das Unterseeboot hat damit in zwei Unternehmungen die Gesamt-Versenkungsziffer von 80 000 BRT erreicht.	As already announced by special bulletin, a submarine returning from war patrol under the command of Lieutenant Commander Werner Hartmann, reported the sinking of 45 000 GRT. The submarine has reached in two undertakings, the total of 80 000 GRT sunk.
Friday, 19 April 1940	Zu der schon bekanntgegebenen Torpedierung eines Kreuzers der "GLASGOW"-Klasse nördlich der Shetland Inseln meldet der von Feindfahrt zurückgekehrte Unterseeboot-Kommandant, daß der von feindlichen Zerstörern stark gesicherte Kreuzer durch eine unmittelbar nach dem Torpedotreffer ausgelösten innere Detonation vernichtet wurde. Die von diesem Unterseeboot-Kommandanten, Korvettenkapitän Hartmann, versenkte Tonnage beläuft sich nach der letzten Fernfahrt auf insgesamt rund 107 000 BRT.	In addition to the already announced torpedoing of a cruiser of the "GLASGOW" class north of the Shetland Islands reports the from patrol returning submarine commander, that the by enemy destroyers heavily protected cruiser was destroyed by an internal detonation, triggered immediately after the torpedo hit. The total tonnage sunk after the last war patrol of this submarine commander, Captain Hartmann, amounts to some 107 000 GRT.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Busch, Rainer & Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945 - Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War II. Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Williamson, Gordon & Pavlovic, Darko (1995). U-Boat Crews 1914–45. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-85532-545-4.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939-1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.

External links

• Werner Hartmann in the German National Library catalogue
• uboat.net : Werner Hartmann