| Born | 17 Oct 1912 | Gut Mohrberg, Eckernförde | |
| Died | 1 Mar 2007 | (94) |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-458 | 12 Dec 1941 | 22 Aug 1943 | 7 patrols (170 days) |
Oberleutnant Diggins was Langsdorff's Flag Lieutenant on the Graf Spee (Grove, 2001).
After the Graf Spee was scuttled in December 1939, Diggins escaped from Montevideo to Buenos Aires by stowing away in the river ferry, and from there made his way back to Germany. In 1957 he joined the Bundesmarine.
This information quoted from Rust's Naval Officers Under (1991) Hitler amplifies on the escape attempt:
"internees from the pocket battleship Graf Spee -- Kurt Diggins, Rolf Schauenburg, Detlef Spiering and Karl-Heinrich Vagt -- upon crossing the River Plate from Uruguay to Argentina, faced comparatively minor difficulties in making their way home from that neutral and traditionally anglophobic South American country. The greatest challenge seems to have been to get from Uruguay to Argentina. It took Diggins no fewer than 18 attempts before he succeeded in reaching Buenos Aires from Montevideo as a stowaway on a river steamer. He then left for home disguised as a Romanian."
Sources
Grove, E. (2001). Price of Disobedience.
Rust, E. (1991). Naval Officers Under Hitler.
Patrol info for Kurt Diggins
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-458 | 21 Jun 1942 | Kiel | 27 Aug 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 68 days | |
| 2. | U-458 | 1 Oct 1942 | St. Nazaire | 15 Oct 1942 | La Spezia | Patrol 2, | 15 days | |
| 3. | U-458 | 26 Oct 1942 | La Spezia | 15 Nov 1942 | La Spezia | Patrol 3, | 21 days | |
| 4. | U-458 | 6 Feb 1943 | La Spezia | 11 Mar 1943 | Toulon | Patrol 4, | 34 days | |
| 5. | U-458 | 19 May 1943 | Toulon | 19 May 1943 | Toulon | 1 days | ||
| 6. | U-458 | 25 May 1943 | Toulon | 31 May 1943 | Toulon | Patrol 5, | 7 days | |
| 7. | U-458 | 21 Jun 1943 | Toulon | 6 Jul 1943 | Toulon | Patrol 6, | 16 days | |
| 8. | U-458 | 14 Aug 1943 | Toulon | 22 Aug 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 7, | 9 days | |
| 7 patrols, 170 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Kurt Diggins
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun 1942 | U-458 |  | Mosfruit | 2,714 |  | nw | |
| 5 Aug 1942 | U-458 | | Arletta | 4,870 |  | br | ON-115 |
| 7,584 | |||||||
2 ships sunk (7,584 tons). Legend | |||||||
About ranks and decorations
Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.