Oberfähnrich zur See
What was the military rank of August Maus from Jul 1935 to 1937?
August Maus August Maus ( 7 February 1915 – 28 September 1996 ) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany . Prior to taking command of , he served as an officer on under the command of Captain Karl-Friedrich Merten . Maus was taken prisoner following the sinking of and in 1944 participated in an escape attempt from the prisoner-of-war camp Papago Park in the United States . Biography . August Maus joined the German Navy ( Reichsmarine , after 1 June 1935 Kriegsmarine ) on 8 April 1934 at the age of 19 as officer aspirant and was sent to Stralsund to do his basic training . Then he was assigned to the training ship . On 26 September 1934 , he was appointed Seekadett , and one day later , he was assigned to the light cruiser . On 27 June 1935 he started his training at Marineschule Mürwik and completed his infantry training on 29 July 1936 . In August 1936 he was transferred to the light cruiser , on which he sailed to take part in the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War without encountering any belligerent forces . On 1 January 1937 he was appointed Oberfähnrich zur See . After returning to Germany in February 1937 , Maus took several technical courses . On 1 April 1937 he was promoted to Leutnant zur See and returned to the cruiser Nürnberg , where he served as adjutant from 3 March 1939 to 14 June 1939 and was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See on 1 April 1939 . He was transferred to the battleship on 15 June 1939 and was present on the attacking battleship at the Battle of Westerplatte at the beginning of World War II . On 29 April 1940 he was transferred the U-Boot-Waffe , and on 22 December 1940 he was assigned to , serving under the command of Karl-Friedrich Merten and participating in two missions of the U-boat . On 1 November 1941 he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and assigned to the 24th U-boat Flotilla . After completing a training for U-boat commanders beginning on 20 April 1942 he was assigned to on 5 May 1942 and became her commander on 12 June 1942 . As the commander of U-185 , Maus led three missions in the Atlantic Ocean , where he managed to sink 9 ships with , killing altogether 172 men , damaging one ship with 6,840 GRT and shooting down two Allied aircraft . On 11 August 1943 the German submarine was attacked and heavily damaged by a US Navy Lockheed Ventura aircraft flown by Thomas D . Davies . U-604 was prepared for scuttling and its commander , Horst Höltring , called for help . U-185 under the command of August Maus and under the command of Carl Emmermann were the only two surviving German submarines in the area . On 11 August 1943 they met with U-604 to rescue her crew . U-172 took 22 of them , whereas 25 went with Mauss U-185 , including commander Höltring . During the rescue and scuttling action , a US Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber attacked , killing one member of U-172s crew . Emmermanns U-172 submerged , whereas Maus of U-185 ordered to open fire on the aircraft , which was shot down , killing ten men . However , on 24 August 1943 , U-185 was detected and attacked by a Grumman F4F Wildcat and a Grumman TBF Avenger from the escort carrier . One officer was shot dead by the Wildcat , and U-185 was heavily damaged by the depth charges from the Avenger , so sea water streamed into the submarine and chlorine gas developed , killing many of the crew . Höltring killed two badly wounded men who had asked for it , and then himself . August Maus gave the order to abandon ship and scuttle . 36 men from U-185 and U-604 were rescued by the destroyer , but four of them died from their wounds shortly after . Altogether , 32 survivors – 23 from U-185 and 9 from U-604 – were taken prisoner and transferred to USS Core , among them August Maus . Later , Maus and his men were interrogated . On 21 September 1943 , Maus was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross for his successful raids , but it is unknown whether the Oberkommando der Marine ( High Command of the German Navy ) knew about the loss of U-185 at the time . Maus was interned in Crossville , Tennessee , and was transferred to Camp Papago Park in Arizona on 27 January 1944 . Shortly after , on 12 February 1944 , he managed to escape together with four other former U-boat commanders , but he was recaptured in Tucson together with the former commander of U-513 , Friedrich Guggenberger . Maus helped his companions to dig a tunnel in the so-called Great Papago Escape . In the evening of 23 December 1944 , 25 prisoners escaped through the tunnel , but August Maus could not take part because he was injured . Within the next two weeks , they were all recaptured , including Friedrich Guggenberger and Hans-Werner Kraus . In 1946 , Maus was released from captivity . After the war , he lived as a businessman in Hamburg . Ships attacked . As commander of August Maus is credited with the sinking of nine ships for a total of and damaging one ship of . Awards . - Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class ( 1 April 1938 ) - Spanish Cross ( 5 June 1940 ) - Iron Cross ( 1939 ) - 2nd Class ( 6 October 1939 ) - 1st Class ( 5 May 1943 ) - High Seas Fleet Badge ( 9 November 1942 ) - U-boat War Badge ( 1939 ) ( 26 December 1942 ) - Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 September 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of External links . - August Maus , Kapitänleutnant ( Crew 34 ) , Uboat.net - U-185 , Uboat.net - U-185 , Uboatarchive.net : Navy Department Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Washington , O.N.I . 250 – G/Serial 23 , Report on the Interrogation of Survivors From U-604 and U-185 Sunk on 11 August 1943 and 24 August 1943