Horst Uphoff

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)


Successes
6 ships sunk, total tonnage 29,905 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,176 GRT

Born  3 Oct 1916 Bad Oeynhausen
Died  7 Aug 1943(26)Central North Atlantic


Ranks

5 Apr 1935Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1936Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1938Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1934Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jul 1942Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

 Iron Cross 2nd Class
 Iron Cross 1st Class
5 Jan 1944German Cross in Gold (posthumous)

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-84 29 Apr 1941 7 Aug 1943  (+)  8 patrols (461 days) 

Horst Uphoff joined the Kriegsmarine in 1935. He was a Divisional Officer and Watch Officer on the U-boat depot ship Donau from Oct 1938 to Oct 1939. He joined the U-boat force and began his training in Oct 1939, finishing the courses in March 1940 when he assigned as the First Watch officer (1WO) to the U-46 (Kplt. Herbert Sohler).

On 22 May 1940 U-46 got a new Commander, Oblt. Engelbert Endrass of Scapa Flow fame. Horst Uphoff, as the First Watch Officer (1WO), served with Endrass on 4 war patrols, 85 days at sea. During these patrols U-46 sank or destroyed 17 ships for over 90,000 tons and damaged 2 more for almost 15,000 tons.

Oblt. Uphoff left U-46 in Jan 1941 when he began his U-boat Commander training with the 24th Flotilla until March 1941 when he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) for a new type VIIB boat at Lübeck.

On 29 April 1941 Oblt. Horst Uphoff commissioned the new U-84. He spent the summer in the Baltic getting the boat and crew ready for combat and finally sailed on his first patrol from Bergen, Norway on 9 Aug 1941.

Uphoff would take the U-84 out on 8 war patrols during the next year and a half, spending 461 days at sea. During this time he sank 6 ships sunk (29,905 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,176 tons). His command and extended period spent at sea have to be considered very skilful.

Kptlt. Horst Uphoff died on 7 Aug, 1943 when his boat was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 27.55N, 68.03W, by a Mk 24 homing torpedo from an American Liberator aircraft (VB-105/B-4 USN). 46 dead (all hands lost) (Niestlé, 2002).

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Niestlé, A. (23 Apr 2002). The Loss of U-84.

Patrol info for Horst Uphoff


 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-84 7 Jul 1941  Kiel  15 Jul 1941  Bergen   9 days
2. U-84 9 Aug 1941  Bergen  22 Sep 1941  Lorient  Patrol 1,45 days
3. U-84 16 Oct 1941  Lorient  18 Nov 1941  Brest  Patrol 2,34 days
4. U-84 21 Dec 1941  Brest  7 Feb 1942  Brest  Patrol 3,49 days
5. U-84 16 Mar 1942  Brest  16 May 1942  Brest  Patrol 4,62 days
6. U-84 10 Jun 1942  Brest  13 Aug 1942  Brest  Patrol 5,65 days
7. U-84 29 Sep 1942  Brest  7 Dec 1942  Brest  Patrol 6,70 days
8. U-84 17 Feb 1943  Brest  4 May 1943  Brest  Patrol 7,77 days
9. U-84 10 Jun 1943  Brest  7 Aug 1943  Sunk  Patrol 8,59 days
8 patrols, 461 days at sea

Ships hit by Horst Uphoff

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
8 Apr 1942U-84 Nemanja5,226yu
21 Apr 1942U-84 Chenango3,014pa
23 Jun 1942U-84 Torvanger6,568nwHX-194
13 Jul 1942U-84 Andrew Jackson5,990am
19 Jul 1942U-84 Baja California1,648ho
21 Jul 1942U-84 William Cullen Bryant (d.)7,176amTAW-4J
2 Nov 1942U-84 Empire Sunrise7,459brSC-107
 37,081

6 ships sunk (29,905 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,176 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.


About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders