serviceyears branch commands death_date place_of_death birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank article_title name
1939 -- 1945 nazi germany u-415 2 , u-953 2 6 april 2013 vero beach , florida , united states freiburg im breisgau nazi germany 1940 iron cross 2nd class 181243 iron cross 1st class minesweeper war badge 200941 u-boat war badge 1939-1943 battle of the atlantic -lrb- 1939-1945 -rrb- 13 may 1920 '' oberleutnant zur see '' herbert werner
 herbert werner
herbert werner

herbert a. werner -lrb- 13 may 1920 -- 6 april 2013 -rrb- was a `` kriegsmarine '' officer who , by his own reckoning , was one of only about `` two dozen captains still alive '' at the end of world war ii .
he served in five u-boats , as an ensign , executive officer and captain in the atlantic ocean , the english channel , the north sea , the baltic , the norwegian sea and the mediterranean .
he survived the sinking of `` u-612 '' in the baltic and the loss of `` u-415 '' in brest harbour .
at the end of the war , he was detained in turn by british , american and french troops before making his way back to germany in late autumn 1945 .
he moved to the united states in 1957 and became an american citizen .
werner subsequently wrote a best-selling memoir of life in the u-boat service , en-titled `` iron coffins '' .
