Harald Gelhaus

Harald Gelhaus
Harald Gelhaus
Born	24 July 1915; Göttingen
Died	2 December 1997 (aged 82); Bochum
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1935–45
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands	U-143; U-107
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic;
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Harald Gelhaus (24 July 1915 in Göttingen – 2 December 1997 in Bochum) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. As commander of U-143 and U-107 Gelhaus is credited with the sinking of 19 ships (including SS Clan Alpine) for a total of 100,373 gross register tons (GRT) and further damaging one ship of 10,068 GRT.

Awards

Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (5 April 1939)^[1]
Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class (31 October 1940)^[2]
- 1st Class (24 February 1941)^[2]
U-boat War Badge (1939) (31 December 1940)^[2]
U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (1 October 1944)^[2]
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 March 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-107^[3]^[4]
War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (1 September 1944)^[2]

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.

Helgason, Guðmundur. "Harald Gelhaus". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 13 May 2014.