The Men - The Commander listing

Otto Westphalen

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew 38)

Successes
2 ships sunk for a total of 14.386 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 1.350 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 8.129 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 7.200 GRT
1 warship a total loss for a total of 1.350 tons

Born

12 Mar, 1920

Hamburg

Otto Westphalen

Ranks

1 Jul, 1939	Seekadett
1 Dec, 1939	Fähnrich zur See
1 Aug, 1940	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1941	Leutnant zur See
1 Apr, 1943	Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

8 Oct, 1941	U-boat War Badge 1939
3 Apr, 1944	Iron Cross 1st Class
18 Feb, 1945	German Cross in Gold
23 Mar, 1945	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-121	16 May, 1942	-	8 Feb, 1943	No war patrols
U-968	18 Mar, 1943	-	8 May, 1945	7 patrols (104 days)

Personal information

Otto Westphalen began his naval career in October 1938. A year later he took part in the Poland campaign on the school ship Schlesien. Later he served six months on the torpedo boat Kondor before joining the U-boat force in October 1940.

In 1941 he made five patrols as watch officer on U-566, mostly in the Arctic Sea. In May 1941 he took command of the school boat U-121.

In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, which was then detached to the 13th (Arctic Sea) flotilla, where Westphalen became one of the most successful commanders.

He sank two British warships: the sloops HMS Lark and Lapwing. He surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-968	7 Mar, 1944	Kiel	2 Apr, 1944	Narvik		27 days
2.	U-968	4 Apr, 1944	Narvik	6 Apr, 1944	Trondheim	Patrol	3 days
3.	U-968	11 Jul, 1944	Trondheim	14 Jul, 1944	Narvik		4 days
4.	U-968	17 Jul, 1944	Narvik	21 Jul, 1944	Bogenbucht		5 days
5.	U-968	20 Aug, 1944	Bogenbucht	22 Aug, 1944	Hammerfest		3 days
6.	U-968	29 Aug, 1944	Hammerfest	10 Sep, 1944	Bogenbucht	Patrol	13 days
7.	U-968	24 Sep, 1944	Bogenbucht	3 Oct, 1944	Narvik	Patrol	10 days
8.	U-968	14 Oct, 1944	Narvik	11 Nov, 1944	Ramsund	Patrol	29 days
9.	U-968	13 Nov, 1944	Ramsund	16 Nov, 1944	Rörvik		4 days
10.	U-968	23 Jan, 1945	Rörvik	25 Jan, 1945	Narvik		3 days
11.	U-968	1 Feb, 1945	Narvik	1 Feb, 1945	Harstad		1 days
12.	U-968	7 Feb, 1945	Harstad	20 Feb, 1945	Kilbotn	Patrol	14 days
13.	U-968	12 Mar, 1945	Kilbotn	30 Mar, 1945	Kilbotn	Patrol	19 days
14.	U-968	21 Apr, 1945	Kilbotn	6 May, 1945	Harstad, Norway	Patrol	16 days
15.	U-968	7 May, 1945	Harstad	7 May, 1945	Skjomenfjord, Norway		1 days

Ships hit by Otto Westphalen

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
14 Feb, 1945	U-968	Horace Gray	7.200		am	BK-3	total loss
14 Feb, 1945	U-968	Norfjell	8.129		nw	BK-3	damaged
17 Feb, 1945	U-968	HMS Lark (U 11)	1.350		br	RA-64	total loss
17 Feb, 1945	U-968	Thomas Scott	7.176		am	RA-64
20 Mar, 1945	U-968	HMS Lapwing (U 62)	1.350		br	JW-65
20 Mar, 1945	U-968	Thomas Donaldson	7.210		am	JW-65
			32.415
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.