Carl Emmermann

Carl Emmermann
Carl Emmermann
Born	(1915-03-06)6 March 1915 Hamburg
Died	25 March 1990(1990-03-25) (aged 75) Celle
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1934 - 1945
Rank	Korvettenkapitän
Unit	SSS Gorch Fock light cruiser Karlsruhe 6th U-boat Flotilla 10th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	U-172, November 5, 1941 – October 31, 1943 U-3037, March 3, 1945 – April 22, 1945
Battles/wars	Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)
Awards	Iron Cross First Class U-boat War Badge with Diamonds U-boat Front Clasp Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves
Other work	Engineer Businessman

Lieutenant Commander Carl Emmermann (6 March 1915 – 25 March 1990) 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 152,080 gross register tons (GRT).

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 U-A under the command of Hans Eckermann. On her first patrol U-A only damaged the British steamer SS Empire Attendant.

In November 1941 Emmermann took over his own boat, U-172. 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 SS Orcades. His fifth patrol with U-172 was dramatic, in that the boat brought back half the crew of U-604 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 U-3037 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.

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (5 April 1938)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (19 March 1941)
  • 1st Class (2 August 1941)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (2 August 1941)
  • with Diamonds (1 October 1943)
• War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (1 September 1944)
• U-boat Front Clasp (1 October 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knights Cross on 27 November 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-172
  • 256th Oak Leaves on 4 July 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-172

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.
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
• 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 (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

• "uboat.net". The Men – Carl Emmermann. Retrieved April 15, 2007. 

Military offices
Preceded by Korvettenkapitän Georg-Wilhelm Schulz	Commander of the 6th U-boat Flotilla November 1942 – August 1944	Succeeded by disbanded
Preceded by Kapitän zur See Bruno Mahn	Commander of the 31st U-boat Flotilla April – May 1945	Succeeded by disbanded