List of most successful U-boat commanders
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.

List of most successful U-boat commanders

Section Title: World War II
Table Section Text: 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.

#	Commander	Patrols	Ships sunk	Tonnage	Notes	Picture

1	Otto Kretschmer	16	47	273,043 tons	Otto Kretschmer (1912–1998) was the most successful of the World War II Aces of the Deep. As commander of U-35, U-23 and U-99 he sank 47 merchant ships totalling 272,043 tons in a remarkably short period of time, being captured in March 1941 and spending the rest of the war in the Bowmanville POW camp, Canada.	Otto Kretschmer

2	Wolfgang Lüth	15	46	225,204 tons	Wolfgang Lüth (1913–1945) was given command of U-9 in December 1939, going on to command U-13, U-138, U-43 and U-181, and sinking 46 merchant ships for a total 225,204 tons in 15 patrols, including one of 205 days, the second longest of the war.

3	Erich Topp	12	35	197,460 tons	Erich Topp (1914–2005) commanded U-57 and U-552 in 1940–41, and sank 35 merchant ships for a total of 197,460 tons. He commanded the tactical training unit 27th U-boat Flotilla from late 1942, and served briefly as commander of the Type XXI Elektroboote U-3010 and U-2513 just before the end of the war.	Erich Topp

4	Heinrich Liebe	9	34	187,267 tons	Heinrich Liebe (1908–1997) commanded U-38 between 1938–41, sinking 34 ships for a total of 187,267 GRT. In 1941 Liebe was assigned to the staff of Oberkommando der Marine, and from August 1944 was on the staff of the BdU.

5	Viktor Schütze	7	35	180,073 tons	Viktor Schütze (1906–1950) commanded U-25 and U-103, sinking 35 merchant ships totalling 180,073 tons, before being appointed commander of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla in August 1941.

6	Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock	10	25	179,125 tons	Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911–1986) commanded the U-8, U-5 and U-96, sinking 25 merchant ships for a total of 179,125 tons. In May 1942 Willenbrock took command of the 9th U-boat Flotilla, transferring to the 11th U-boat Flotilla in December 1944.	Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

7	Karl-Friedrich Merten	5	27	170,151 tons	Karl-Friedrich Merten (1905–1993), in command of U-68, sailed in five patrols in 1941–42 sinking 27 ships for a total of 170,151 tons.

8	Herbert Schultze	8	26	169,709 tons	Herbert Schultze (1909–1987) commissioned U-48 in 1939, and in eight patrols sank 26 merchant ships for a total of 169,709 tons.	Herbert Schultze

9	Günther Prien	10	30	162,769 tons	Günther Prien (1908–1941) was given command of U-47 in December 1938, and sank over 30 Allied merchant ships for a total of 162,769 GRT.	Günther Prien

10	Georg Lassen	4	26	156,082 tons	Georg Lassen (1915–2012) took command of U-160 and sailed on four combat patrols in 1942–43, sinking 26 ships for a total of 156,082 GRT, a remarkable average of 39,020 GRT per patrol.

11	Joachim Schepke	14	37	155,882 tons	Joachim Schepke (1912–1941) took command of U-3 in 1938, sailed on five combat patrols, and sank two ships. From January to April 1940 he commanded U-19, sinking another nine ships.

12	Werner Henke	7	24	155,714 tons	Werner Henke (1909–1944) took command of U-515 in February 1942, sinking 24 ships totalling 155,714 GRT, before U-515 was sunk by United States Navy aircraft and destroyers north of Madeira.	Werner Henke

13	Carl Emmermann	5	26	152,080 tons	Carl Emmermann (1915–1990) took command of U-172 in November 1941, completing five patrols, and sinking 26 ships for a total of 152,080 GRT.

14	Heinrich Bleichrodt	8	24	151,260 tons	Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909–1977) was given command of U-48 in 1940, sailing on two patrols, and sinking 15 ships totalling 79,295 GRT, including the SS City of Benares - an unmarked evacuation transport.

15	Robert Gysae	8	25	146,815 tons	Robert Gysae (1911–1989) commanded U-98 and U-177, sinking 25 ships for a total on 146,815 GRT in eight patrols. In January 1944 he became commander of training unit 25th U-boat Flotilla.

16	Ernst Kals	5	20	145,656 tons	Ernst Kals (1905–1979) took command of U-130 in June 1941, and sank 20 ships on five patrols, for a total of 145,656 tons of Allied shipping.

17	Johann Mohr	6	27	129,292 tons	Johann Mohr (1916–1943) assumed command of U-124 in September 1941, and sank 27 ships on six patrols, for a total of 129,292 GRT of Allied shipping.

18	Klaus Scholtz	8	25	128,190 tons	Klaus Scholtz (1908–1987) commanded U-108 from October 1940, sinking 25 ships on 8 patrols, for a total of 128,190 tons of Allied shipping.

19	Adolf Cornelius Piening	8	25	126,664 tons	Adolf Piening (1910–1984) took command of U-155 in June 1941, and sank 25 ships for a total of 126,664 GRT in 8 patrols.

20	Helmut Witte	4	23	119,554 tons	Helmut Witte (1915–2005) commissioned U-159 in October 1941 and in four patrols sank 23 ships totalling 119,554 GRT. From June 1943 he served in several staff positions.

21	Günther Hessler	3	21	118,822 tons	Günther Hessler (1909–1968) commissioned U-107 in 1940, and on his first patrol sank four ships for a total of 18,514 tons.

22	Ernst Bauer	5	25	118,560 tons	Ernst Bauer (1914–1988) was given command of U-126 in March 1941, and conducted five combat patrols, sinking 25 merchant ships for a total of 118,560 GRT.

23	Engelbert Endrass	10	22	118,528 tons	Engelbert Endrass (1911–1941) was 1WO of U-47 when Günther Prien took her into Scapa Flow and sank HMS Royal Oak. In May 1940 Endrass took command of U-46, and in eight war patrols sank 21 ships, before taking over U-567 in October 1941.

24	Reinhard Hardegen	5	22	115,656 tons	Reinhard Hardegen (1913–2018) took command of U-147 in 1940 for a single patrol, then U-123 for another four patrols in 1941, sinking 22 merchant ships for a total of 115,656 GRT.

25	Werner Hartmann	4	26	115,337 tons	Werner Hartmann (1902–1963) was commander of both U-37 and the 2nd U-boat Flotilla from January–May 1940, but this proved inefficient, and BdU decided to direct the U-boats from land.	Werner Hartmann

26	Hans Jenisch	6	17	110,139 tons	Hans Jenisch (1913–1982) took command of U-32 in early 1940. During six patrols he sank 17 ships, including the 42,348 ton RMS Empress of Britain, the largest ship sunk by a U-boat, for a career total of 110,139 GRT.

27	Robert-Richard Zapp	5	16	106,200 tons	Robert-Richard Zapp (1904–1964) served on one patrol in U-46 under Engelbert Endrass, before taking command of U-66 in January 1941. In five patrols, including two as part of "Operation Drumbeat", he sank 16 ships for a total of 106,200 GRT.

28	Victor Oehrn	4	23	103,821 tons	Victor Oehrn (1907–1997) became commander of U-14 in January 1936, patrolling during the Civil War in July–September 1936. In August 1939 he joined the staff of BdU.

29	Jürgen Oesten	13	19	101,744 tons	Jürgen Oesten (1913–2010) commanded U-61 on nine patrols, and sank five ships, before commanding U-106 on three patrols, and sinking another ten ships.

30	Wilhelm Rollmann	8	22	101,519 tons	Wilhelm Rollmann (1907–1943) took command of U-34 in October 1938. After seven successful patrols Rollmann became an instructor in 2.

31	Erwin Rostin	2	17	101,321 tons	Erwin Rostin (1907–1942) sailed on his first war patrol as commander of U-158 in February 1942, and sank four ships for a total of 29,234 tons off the US east coast.

32	Hans-Ludwig Witt	3	19	100,773 tons	Hans-Ludwig Witt (1909–1980) took command of U-161 in 1941 as part of a training flotilla, before transferring to command of U-129 in 1942.

33	Günther Krech	10	19	100,771 tons	Günther Krech (1914–2000) commissioned U-558 in February 1941, and in ten patrols, mostly in the Atlantic and in Caribbean waters, sank 19 merchant ships for a total of 100,771 tons.

34	Harald Gelhaus	11	19	100,373 tons	Harald Gelhaus (1915–1997) commanded U-143 and U-107, sailing in ten patrols between March 1941 and June 1943, and sinking 19 ships for a total of 100,373 tons.

35	Werner Hartenstein	5	20	97,504 tons	Werner Hartenstein (1908–1943) commissioned U-156 in September 1941. In five patrols he sank 20 ships for a total of 97,504 tons.

36	Fritz-Julius Lemp	10	20	96,639 tons	Fritz-Julius Lemp (1913–1941) commanded U-30 and U-110 on 10 patrols, sinking 20 ships totalling 96,639 tons. His first attack, on 3 September 1939, only two days after the British declaration of war, was the most controversial.	Fritz-Julius Lemp

37	Adalbert Schnee	12	23	96,547 tons	Adalbert Schnee (1913–1982) commanded U-6, U-60, U-201 in 11 patrols, sinking 21 merchant ships totalling 90,189 tons, and damaged three others.

38	Reinhard Suhren	6	18	200,000 (as I. WO) 95,544 tons (as commander)	Reinhard Suhren (1916-1984) spent a year as I. WO on U-48 under Herbert Schultze, Hans-Rudolf Rösing and Heinrich Bleichrodt, here he was responsible for firing the torpedoes during surfaced attacks, sinking 200,000 tons of shipping.

39	Karl-Heinz Moehle	10	21	93,197 tons	Karl-Heinz Moehle (1910-1996) commissioned U-20 in October 1937, and in six wartime patrols, sank eight ships. In May 1940 he commissioned U-123 and in four patrols, sank another 16, for a total of 21 ships sunk totalling 93,197 GRT.

40	Georg-Wilhelm Schulz	8	19	89,886 tons	Georg-Wilhelm Schulz (1906–1986) commanded U-10 from January 1939, sailing on two short combat patrols in late 1939. On his first patrol commanding U-64 in April 1940, his submarine was sunk off Norway.

41	Georg Schewe	10	16	85,779 tons	Georg Schewe (1909–1990) commanded U-60 from July 1939, but in six patrols sank only one ship. He did better in U-105, which he commissioned in August 1940, and in four patrols sank a further 15 ships, 12 of them in a single patrol, for a total of 85,779 GRT.

42	Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske	4	16	85,299 tons	Fritz Poske (1904–1984) commissioned U-504 in July 1941, and despite not having spent any time as a 1WO ("Second-in-command") or Kommandantenschüler ("Commander-in-training"), in four patrols sank 16 ships, totalling 85,299 GRT.

43	Ulrich Heyse	5	12	83,639 tons	Ulrich Heyse (1906–1970) sailed on a single patrol on U-37 as Kommandantenschüler ("Commander-in-training") before he commissioned U-128 in December 1941, and in five patrols sank 12 ships totalling 83,639 GRT.

44	Ulrich Folkers	5	17	82,873 tons	Ulrich Folkers (1915–1943) first served as 1WO on U-37 under Nicolai Clausen. In November 1941 he took command of U-125, and in five patrols sank 17 ships totalling 82,873 GRT.

45	Herbert Kuppisch	14	16	82,108 tons	Herbert Kuppisch (1909–1943) first commanded U-58, sailing on eight patrols between September 1939 and June 1940, and sinking four ships, including the British boom defence vessel HMS Astronomer.	Herbert Kuppisch

46	Jürgen Wattenberg	3	14	82,027 tons	Jürgen Wattenberg (1900–1995) served aboard the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate, but escaped from internment in Uruguay and returned to Germany in May 1940.

47	Rolf Mützelburg	8	19	81,987 tons	Rolf Mützelburg (1913–1942) served aboard U-100 under Joachim Schepke before commissioning U-203 in February 1941. In eight patrols he sank 19 ships, totalling 81,961 GRT, and damaged three more.

48	Werner Winter	5	15	79,302 tons	Werner Winter (1912–1972) served on U-22 for several months, finally taking command in October 1937, and in late 1939 made two brief and unsuccessful combat patrols.

49	Fritz Frauenheim	9	19	78,853 tons	Fritz Frauenheim (1912–1969) served for more than a year as 1WO of U-25 before taking command of U-21 in October 1939, sailing on five patrols and sinking five ships, and in November badly damaging the cruiser HMS Belfast after laying mines in the Firth of Forth.

50	Jürgen von Rosenstiel	4	14	78,843 tons	Jürgen von Rosenstiel (1912–1942), commander of U-502, sank 14 ships for a total of 78,843 GRT in only four patrols. On the last of these, on 5 July 1942, U-502 was sunk by a British Wellington bomber in the Bay of Biscay.

Sentence(s)

Otto Kretschmer (1912 – 1998) was the most successful German U-boat commander in the Second World War.

final_sentence: Otto Kretschmer (1912 – 1998) was the most successful German U-boat commander in the Second World War.