Erich Würdemann

Erich Würdemann (15 January 1914 – 14 July 1943) was a German submarine commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.

Erich Würdemann
Born	(1914-01-15)15 January 1914 Hamburg, German Empire
Died	14 July 1943(1943-07-14) (aged 29) U-506, North Atlantic off Vigo, Spain
Buried	42°30′N 16°30′W
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1933–43
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Unit	Paul Jacobi U-43 10th U-boat Flotilla
Commands	U-506
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

In April 1933, Würdemann joined the Reichsmarine, which became the Kriegsmarine two years later. During the first year of the war he served on the destroyer Paul Jacobi, before transferring to the U-boat force in November 1940. After the usual training he served for one patrol aboard U-43 under Wolfgang Lüth, before commissioning the Type IXC U-boat U-506 in September 1941. He sailed on 5 war patrols, sank 15 merchant ships for a total of 76,714 gross register tons (GRT) and damaged 3 ships of a combined 23,358 GRT.^[1]

Würdemann's most successful patrol (his second) took him into the Gulf of Mexico in May 1942, where he sank nine ships and damaged three.^[2] His next patrol took him to the waters off West Africa, where he sank another five ships and was involved in the Laconia incident.^[1] After U-156 sank the passenger liner RMS Laconia, which was carrying 450 British and Polish soldiers and about 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, the U-boat commenced rescue operations, and was joined by others in the area, including U-506; but the U-boats were later attacked by an American aircraft, which resulted in Admiral Dönitz issuing an order to the Navy not to pick up survivors.

Würdemann sailed to the waters off South Africa in early 1943 and sank two more ships.^[1] Finally, on 14 July 1943, six days into his fifth patrol, Würdemann was killed, along with all but six of his crew, when U-506 was sunk in the Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain by depth charges dropped from a Consolidated B-24 Liberator of the United States Army Air Forces' 1st Antisubmarine Squadron.^[3]

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (1 April 1937)^[4]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (16 April 1940)^[4]
  • 1st Class (18 June 1942)^[4]
• Destroyer War Badge (23 October 1940)^[4]
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (26 March 1942)^[4]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 March 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-506^[5]

References

Notes

1. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Kapitänleutnant Erich Würdemann". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
2. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-506 from 6 Apr 1942 to 15 Jun 1942". U-boat patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC U-boat U-506". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
4. Busch & Röll 2003, p. 320.
5. Scherzer 2007, p. 799.

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 [The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945] (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Tougias, Michael (2016). So Close to Home: The True Story of an American Family's Fight for Survival During WWII. New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1681771304.