Klaus Ewerth (28 March 1907 – 20 December 1943) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

commander in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He reached the rank of ''

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

'' with the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' during

Career

Klaus Ewerth joined the ''

Reichsmarine The () was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the , existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the ''Kriegsmarine'' (War Navy), a branch of the '' ...

'' in 1925. He commissioned the first German U-boat since

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the small Type IIA on 29 June 1935. He left the U-1 on 30 September 1936 to prepare for his next command. Klaus Ewerth commissioned the new Type VIIA on 3 November 1936. He commanded the boat until 5 December 1936. He then commissioned the new on 16 December 1936. He would command the boat for almost 2 years, until 31 October 1938. From November 1938 to August 1939, Ewerth served as an instructor at the

Naval Academy Mürwik A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

. Ewerth then commanded the from 1 August 1939 to 3 January 1940. He went out on two patrols with the boat, spending 74 days at sea. He sank 4 ships during these patrols, 3 of them were lost to mines laid by ''U-26''. From January 1940 to February 1943 Ewerth served in several staff positions with the U-Boat Command before being assigned to U-boat familiarization in preparation for his command of a new U-boat from March to April 1943.

Death

On 17 April 1943, Ewerth commissioned the huge new Type IXD boat . After almost seven months in training and preparation Ewerth took the boat from

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

heading in to the South Atlantic as part of the

Monsun Gruppe ''Gruppe Monsun'' or Monsoon Group was a force of German U-boats (submarines) that operated in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during World War II. Although similar naming conventions were used for temporary groupings of submarines in the Atlanti ...

. 33 days later the boat was sunk with all hands, 66 men, on 20 December 1943 in the mid-Atlantic west of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, Portugal by depth charges and Fido homing torpedoes from five

Grumman Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

and

Grumman Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

aircraft (VC-19) of the American escort carrier USS ''Bogue''.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

Awards

* Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords *

U-boat War Badge The U-boat War Badge () was a German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II. History The ''U-boat War Badge'' was originally instituted during the First World War on February 1, 1918. It was awarded ...

* Iron Cross 2nd Class * War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ewerth, Klaus 1907 births 1943 deaths People from Węgorzewo Military personnel from East Prussia U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) Reichsmarine personnel Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class People lost at sea Deaths by American airstrikes during World War II