Gerhard Feiler
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)
| Successes 3 ships sunk for a total of 14,983 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 840 tons 1 ship damaged for a total of 9,382 GRT |
| Born | 6 Sep 1909 | Breslau | |
| Died | Jan 1990 |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-653 | 25 May 1941 | 30 Sep 1943 | 7 patrols (412 days) |
Personal information
Gerhard Feiler joined the Kriegsmarine in 1933. He served on the destroyer Z 20 Karl Galster from Oct 1938 to June 1940. He then joined the U-boat training programme in July and finished the training during Jan 1941.
From Jan 1941 to April 1941 he trained as U-boat commander with the 24th and 7th U-boat flotillas. He was then assigned as Baubelehrung (construction) commander before taking command of his type VIIC boat U-653 on 25 May 1941.
He served on the boat for more than 2 years before being sent to shore duty. First he served with the 1st flotilla from Oct 1943 - Jan 1944 but then he spent 3 months as a training officer with the 20th training flotilla. Feiler was the training commander of the 19th flotilla to the end of the war.
Patrol info for Gerhard Feiler
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-653 | 13 Dec 1941 | Kiel | 13 Jan 1942 | Brest | Patrol 1, | 32 days | |
| 2. | U-653 | 31 Jan 1942 | Brest | 30 Mar 1942 | Brest | Patrol 2, | 59 days | |
| 3. | U-653 | 25 Apr 1942 | Brest | 6 Jul 1942 | Brest | Patrol 3, | 73 days | |
| 4. | U-653 | 5 Aug 1942 | Brest | 31 Aug 1942 | Brest | Patrol 4, | 27 days | |
| 5. | U-653 | 27 Oct 1942 | Brest | 29 Dec 1942 | Brest | Patrol 5, | 64 days | |
| 6. | U-653 | 28 Jan 1943 | Brest | 31 Mar 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol 6, | 63 days | |
| 7. | U-653 | 10 Jun 1943 | La Pallice | 11 Sep 1943 | Brest | Patrol 7, | 94 days | |
| 7 patrols, 412 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Gerhard Feiler
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Feb 1942 | U-653 |  | Leif | 1,582 |  | nw | |
| 17 May 1942 | U-653 | | Peisander | 6,225 |  | br | |
| 7 Jun 1942 | U-653 | | USS Gannet (AVP 8) | 840 |  | am | |
| 24 Feb 1943 | U-653 | | Madoera (d.) | 9,382 |  | nl | ON-166 |
| 12 Mar 1943 | U-653 | Thomas Hooker | 7,176 | | am | ON-168 | |
| 25,205 | |||||||
4 ships sunk (15,823 tons) and 1 ship damaged (9,382 tons). Legend | |||||||
About ranks and decorations
Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.