Wolfgang Lüth " Kapitän zur See " ( Captain ) Wolfgang August Eugen Lüth ( 15 October 1913 – 14 May 1945 ) , was the second most successful German U - boat ace of World War II . His career record of 46 merchant ships plus the sunk during 15 war patrols , with a total displacement of , was second only to that of " Korvettenkapitän " ( Lieutenant Commander ) Otto Kretschmer , whose 47 sinkings totaled . Lüth joined the Reichsmarine in 1933 . After a period of training on surface vessels , he transferred to the U - boat service in 1936 . In December 1939 he received command of , which he took on six war - patrols . In June 1940 he took command of for two patrols . In October 1940 he transferred again , this time to the ocean - going submarine for five war - patrols . After two patrols on , the second being his longest of the war , he was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords , and Diamonds ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub , Schwertern und Brillanten " ) . He was the first of two U - boat commanders to be so honored during World War II , the other recipient being Albrecht Brandi . Lüth ' s last service position was commander of the naval academy at Mürwik ( Flensburg ) . He was accidentally shot and killed by a German sentry on the night of 13 / 14 May 1945 . Lüth was given the last state funeral in the Third Reich , the only U - boat commander to be so commemorated . Early life and career . Lüth was a Baltic German born in Riga in the Russian Empire . He went to the " Naturwissenschaftliches Gymnasium " there and after he had received his " Abitur " ( school leaving certificate ) , he studied Law for three semesters at the Herder - Institut . With his parents approval he joined the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933 as an " Offiziersanwärter " ( Officer Candidate ) . After he underwent basic military training in the 2nd department ( II . " Abteilung " ) of the standing ship division ( " Schiffsstammdivision " ) of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund ( 1 April 1933 – 29 June 1933 ) , he was transferred to the training ship " Gorch Fock " ( 30 June 1933 – 23 September 1933 ) attaining the rank of " Seekadett " ( Naval Cadet ) on 23 September 1933 . He initially served with the surface fleet , going on a nine - month training tour around the world in the light cruiser " Karlsruhe " from 24 September 1933 to 27 June 1934 . He advanced in rank to " Fähnrich zur See " ( Midshipman ) on 1 July 1934 and served for a year aboard the light cruiser " Königsberg " ( 22 March 1936 – 31 January 1937 ) , attaining the rank of " Oberfähnrich zur See " ( Senior midshipman ) on 1 April 1936 and " Leutnant zur See " ( Ensign ) on 1 October 1936 . In February 1937 he transferred to the U - boat arm and was promoted to " Oberleutnant zur See " ( Lieutenant [ junior grade ] ) on 1 June 1938 . In July he was appointed 2nd Watch Officer of ( 3 July 1938 – 23 October 1938 ) . He sailed on a patrol in Spanish waters during the civil war in that country on the U - boat tender " Erwin Wassner " ( 13 April 1939 – 18 May 1939 ) . In October he was appointed the 1st Watch Officer of under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " ( Lieutenant ) Heinrich Liebe , who during the course of World War II would earn the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub " ) . Lüth was on patrol with " U - 38 " from 19 August 1939 until 18 September , ( the war started on 1 September ) . Boats under his command . " U - 9 " . On 30 December 1939 Lüth took command of , a Type IIB U - boat . He went on six patrols with this boat , achieving steady success . His first victim , following the premature ignition of a smoke float , was the Swedish merchantman " Flandria " , which he sank in January 1940 . This surface attack was carried out while " U - 9 " ' s bridge was filled with onlooking crew members . Other sinkings included the surfaced on 9 May 1940 and seven merchant ships with a total of . Two of Lüth ' s officers on " U - 9 " would be awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . His " Leitender Ingenieur " ( chief engineer ) " Oberleutnant zur See " Karl - Heinz Wiebe was decorated in 1944 when he was chief engineer of . " Oberleutnant zur See " Heinrich Schonder , 1st Watch Officer on " U - 9 " between January and April 1940 , received the award in 1942 by which time he had become commander of . " U - 138 " . On 27 June 1940 Lüth took command of , a Type IID , with which he sank four ships on his first patrol , totalling . In October , after having returned from his second patrol , on which he fired a torpedo at ( but missed ) the Norwegian merchant steamer ( ) , sank the British merchant steamer ( ) and damaged the British motor tanker " British Glory " ( ) . Lüth was mentioned for the first time in the " Wehrmachtbericht " , ( the daily report by the High Command of the German Armed Forces regarding the military situation on all fronts ) , on 23 September 1940 and received the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes " ) for his achievements on 24 October 1940 . " U - 43 " . On 21 October 1940 Lüth took command of , a long range Type IX U - boat . He carried out five patrols with this boat , totaling 204 days at sea , sinking 12 ships adding up to . On 1 January 1941 he was promoted to " Kapitänleutnant " . Lüth , because of his experience — like many other top commanders — was tasked with training future U - boat commanders . These trainees often came along on single war - patrols , which would be their last exercise before they received their own command . " Kapitänleutnant " Erich Würdemann was one such trainee and sailed onboard " U - 43 " from April to July 1941 . Würdemann would be awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross as commander of in 1943 before he was killed in action on 14 July 1943 . The sinking of " U - 43 " . U - 43 was due to depart Lorient on a war patrol to an area off Freetown , west Africa , but early on 4 February 1941 , she sank while tied to the " Ysere " , ( an old sailing ship which was used as a floating pier ) . Valves and vents had been tampered - with the previous day , but no one had noticed the slow , but steady ingress of water into the bilges . To make matters worse and contrary to a BdU directive , ( BdU was the Command Headquarters of the U - boat arm ) , a hatch had been left open , allowing water to pour into the after torpedo room . Two petty officers were found to be most at fault ; but Lüth , as captain was ultimately responsible . However , no record of punishment seems to have survived and Lüth ' s career does not appear to have been affected . " U - 181 " . On 9 May 1942 Lüth was given command of a long - range Type IXD - 2 U - boat , . He left on his first patrol in September 1942 , departing from Kiel for the Indian Ocean and waters off South Africa . In October he reached the sea lanes outside Cape Town and spent a month patrolling the area , sinking 12 ships for before returning to Bordeaux in France , in January 1943 . On 13 November 1942 he received the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub " ) . In March 1943 Lüth set out for a second patrol off South Africa and in the Indian Ocean , in particular the waters around Mauritius . This patrol lasted 205 days ( 23 March 1943 – 14 October 1943 ) making it the second longest of the war . ( The longest combat patrol of World War II was 225 days in length , this was achieved by Eitel - Friedrich Kentrat as commander of the . ) Lüth sank 10 ships totaling on this patrol , which turned out to be his last . While at sea he was promoted to " Korvettenkapitän " on 1 April 1943 , and on 15 April received news that he had been awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern " ) . " U - 181 " rendezvoused with the supply ship " Charlotte Schliemann " east of Mauritius to refuel on 21 June . Also present were under the command of Robert Gysae , Wilhelm Dommes ) , ( Eitel - Friedrich Kentrat ) , ( Robert Bartels ) and ( Werner Hartmann ) . The commanders exchanged experiences and discussed the problem of torpedo failures . On 9 August of the same year and while still on patrol , Lüth was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub , Schwertern und Brillanten " ) . On 15 July 1943 , Lüth sunk the British collier " Empire Lake " and noted in his logbook . " Five men have been left floating on a piece of wreckage . Due to the high sea and 180 - mile distance from land they will probably not be saved . " Lüth nominated two crew members of " U - 181 " for the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross after this patrol . The chief engineer " Kapitänleutnant " Carl - August Landfermann and 2nd Watch Officer Johannes Limbach both received the Knight ' s Cross for their achievements . Ashore . After five years of operational U - boat service , including 15 war - patrols and over 600 days at sea , Lüth took command of " 22nd U - boat Flotilla " stationed at Gotenhafen in January 1944 . This was a training unit for U - boat commanders . In July 1944 he took command of the 1st Department of the " Marineschule Mürwik " ( Mürwik Naval Academy ) in Flensburg . He was promoted to " Fregattenkapitän " ( Commander ) on 1 August 1944 and became the commander of the entire " Marineschule " in September . He was promoted to " Kapitän zur See " ( Commander ) on 1 September 1944 . Death . British Forces had occupied Flensburg on 5 May 1945 ; initially nothing changed in the daily routine at the Mürwik Naval Academy . On the night of 13 / 14 May 1945 Lüth was shot in the head by 18 year - old " Matrose " ( seaman ) Mathias Gottlob , a German guard , when the officer failed to respond to the sentry ' s challenge . The password of the day was " Tannenberg " . Whether he deliberately failed to answer the sentry ' s challenges or the guard simply did not hear his response , is unknown . The officer in charge immediately informed " Großadmiral " ( Grand Admiral ) Karl Dönitz , whose adjudant , " Fregattenkapitän " Walter Lüdde - Neurath , who had accepted the call , initially thought that it was a bad joke . Lüdde - Neurath then informed Lüth ' s brother , Joachim Lüth , as the two siblings were staying together . It was he who informed Lüth ' s wife and their four children that Lüth had died . Dönitz contacted the British city commander of Flensburg , Colonel Roberts , asking him for permission to conduct a formal state funeral , which Roberts approved . That funeral , ( the last such ) of the Third Reich , was held for Lüth on 16 May 1945 with Adolf Hitler ' s successor as Head of State , " Reichspräsident " and " Großadmiral " Karl Dönitz , delivering the eulogy . Six U - boat commanders , all of them recipients of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross , formed the honor guard . Dönitz ordered a board of inquiry and court martial to clarify the circumstances of the shooting . Four officers under the command of a Navy Judge conducted the court martial . Mathias Gottlob stated that , in accordance with his orders , he had asked for the password three times without response from the person , whom he could not visually identify in the darkness . Without aiming he had fired his rifle from the hip . The chain of events was confirmed by " Maschinenmaat " Karl Franz , who was leading the watch at the time . The court ruled that Gottlob was not guilty and he was cleared of any fault . Summary of career . Ships attacked . During his career Lüth sank 46 commercial ships for , one warship of , and damaged two ships for . His last patrol saw at sea for 206 days , patrolling the waters between Cape Town and Madagascar , making it the second - longest patrol of the war .