Carl Emmermann


Carl Emmermann was a German U-boat commander during World War II. In his time as commander, he succeeded in sinking 27 ships for a total tonnage of.

Career

Emmermann began his naval career in 1934. For some years he was training officer on the Naval Academy Mürwik, where future officers got their training.
In 1939 Emmermann joined the U-boat force and in November 1940 became the first Watch officer on under the command of Hans Eckermann. On her first patrol UA only damaged the British steamer.
In November 1941 Emmermann took over his own boat,. He completed five patrols with this boat, in the Caribbean Sea, with the wolf pack Eisbär in South African waters, and in the North and South Atlantic.
His greatest success was the sinking of the British liner-troopship. His fifth patrol with U-172 was dramatic, in that the boat brought back half the crew of which had been so heavily damaged during two air attacks that she had to be scuttled. After that patrol Emmermann became the commander of the 6th U-boat Flotilla in November 1943.
In August 1944 Emmermann became the chief of the Erprobungsgruppe Typ XXIII. There in late 1944 he wrote the battle instructions for the new Type XXIII U-boat.
In March 1945 he was commander of for one month, and in the last month of the war he commanded the 31st U-boat Flotilla in Hamburg. Along with some other U-boat men he took part in infantry duty around Hamburg as commander of Marine-Battalion Emmermann.
Emmermann survived the war and later returned to Germany, studied engineering and prospered in business.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

As commander of U-172, Emmermann is credited with the sinking of 26 merchant ships totaling.

DateShipNationalityTonnageFate
27 May 1942AthelknightUnited Kingdom8,490Sunk
3 June 1942City of AlmaUnited States5,446Sunk
5 June 1942DelfinaUnited States3,480Sunk
8 June 1942SicilienUnited States1,654Sunk
14 June 1942LeboreUnited States8,289Sunk
15 June 1942BennestvetNorway2,438Sunk
18 June 1942MotorexUnited Kingdom1,958Sunk
23 June 1942Resolute *Colombia35Sunk
9 July 1942United States8,379Sunk
7 October 1942Chicksaw CityUnited States6,196Sunk
7 October 1942FirethornPanama4,700Sunk
8 October 1942OrcadesUnited Kingdom23,456Sunk
31 October 1942Aldington CourtUnited Kingdom4,891Sunk
2 November 1942LlandiloUnited Kingdom4,996Sunk
23 November 1942United Kingdom6,630Sunk
28 November 1942AlaskanUnited States5,364Sunk
4 March 1943City of PretoriaUnited Kingdom6,049Sunk
13 March 1943ThorstrandNorway3,041Sunk
13 March 1943KeystoneUnited States5,565Sunk
16 March 1943Benjamin HarrisonUnited States7,191Sunk
29 March 1943MoandaBelgium4,621Sunk
28 June 1943Vernon CityUnited Kingdom4,748Sunk
12 July 1943African StarUnited States6,507Sunk
15 July 1943HarmonicUnited Kingdom4,558Sunk
24 July 1943Fort ChilcotinUnited Kingdom7,133Sunk

Awards

Citations