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List of most successful U-boat commanders

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List of successful U-boat commanders contains lists of the most successful German U-boat commanders in the two World Wars based on total tonnage.

The tonnage figures (and sometimes the number of ships sunk) is still being debated among historians. This is often due to convoy battles at night when an attacking wolf pack fired torpedoes into the convoy and two commanders claimed the same ship. Although post-war research has eliminated most of those doubtful victims, there are still some in question.

World War I

This list contains the most successful German U-boats commanders during the First World War based on total tonnage. Only sunk commercial vessels are included, not military (warships) nor damaged ships.

Top-scoring U-boat commanders of World War I
# Commander Patrols Ships sunk Tonnage ( x 100)
1 Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière 15 194 453.716 tons
2 Walther Forstmann 47 146 384.300 tons
3 Max Valentiner * 150 299.300 tons
4 Otto Steinbrinck * * 231.614 tons
5 Hans Rose * 79 213.900 tons
6 Walther Schwieger 34 49 183.883 tons
7 Reinhold Saltzwedel * 111 170.526 tons
8 Johannes Lohs * * 165.000 tons
9 Waldemar Kophamel * 54 148.852 tons

World War II

This list contains the most successful German U-boats commanders during the Second World War based on total tonnage. Only sunk commercial vessels are included, not military (warships) nor damaged ships.

Top-scoring U-boat commanders of World War II
# Commander Patrols Ships sunk Tonnage ( x 100)
1 Otto Kretschmer 16 46 273.043 tons
2 Wolfgang Lüth 15 46 225.204 tons
3 Erich Topp 12 35 197.460 tons
4 Heinrich Liebe 9 34 187.267 tons
5 Viktor Schütze 7 35 180.073 tons
6 Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock 10 25 179.125 tons
7 Karl-Friedrich Merten 5 27 170.151 tons
8 Herbert Schultze 8 26 169.709 tons
9 Günther Prien 10 30 162.769 tons
10 Georg Lassen 4 26 156.082 tons
11 Joachim Schepke 14 37 155.882 tons
12 Werner Henke 7 24 155.714 tons
13 Carl Emmermann 5 26 152.080 tons
14 Heinrich Bleichrodt 8 24 151.260 tons
15 Robert Gysae 8 25 146.815 tons
16 Ernst Kals 5 20 145.656 tons
17 Johann Mohr 6 27 129.292 tons
18 Klaus Scholtz 8 25 128.190 tons
19 Adolf Cornelius Piening 8 25 126.664 tons
20 Helmut Witte 4 23 119.554 tons
21 Günter Hessler 3 21 118.822 tons
22 Ernst Bauer 5 25 118.560 tons
23 Engelbert Endrass 10 22 118.528 tons
24 Reinhard Hardegen 5 22 115.656 tons
25 Werner Hartmann 4 26 115.337 tons
26 Hans Jenisch 6 17 110.139 tons
27 Richard Zapp 5 16 106.200 tons
28 Victor Oehrn 4 23 103.821 tons
29 Jürgen Oesten 13 19 101.744 tons
30 Wilhelm Rollmann 8 22 101.519 tons
31 Erwin Rostin 2 17 101.321 tons
32 Hans-Ludwig Witt 3 19 100.773 tons
33 Günther Krech 10 19 100.771 tons
34 Harald Gelhaus 11 19 100.373 tons
35 Werner Hartenstein 5 20 97.504 tons
36 Fritz-Julius Lemp 10 20 96.639 tons
37 Adalbert Schnee 12 23 96.547 tons
38 Reinhard Suhren 6 18 95.544 tons
39 Karl-Heinz Moehle 10 21 93.197 tons
40 Georg-Wilhelm Schulz 8 19 89.886 tons
41 Georg Schewe 10 16 85.779 tons
42 Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske 4 16 85.299 tons
43 Ulrich Heyse 5 12 83.639 tons
44 Ulrich Folkers 5 17 82.873 tons
45 Herbert Kuppisch 14 16 82.108 tons
46 Jürgen Wattenberg 3 14 82.027 tons
47 Rolf Mützelburg 8 19 81.987 tons
48 Werner Winter 5 15 79.302 tons
49 Fritz Frauenheim 9 19 78.853 tons
50 Jürgen von Rosenstiel 4 14 78.843 tons

See also

  • Aces of the Deep - More detailed article about the ten most successful U-boat commanders during World War II called Aces of the Deep.
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