Peter Gerlach

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew XII/39)

Successes
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,935 tons

Born	25 Feb 1922		Memel
Died	30 Mar 1944	(22)	Mediterranean

Ranks

1 Dec 1939		Offiziersanwärter
1 Nov 1940		Fähnrich zur See
1 Nov 1941		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1942		Leutnant zur See
1 Dec 1943		Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

		Iron Cross 2nd Class
		Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-37	20 Nov 1943	8 Jan 1944	No war patrols
U-223	12 Jan 1944	30 Mar 1944 (+)	2 patrols (40 days)

When Oblt. Peter Gerlach took U-223 on patrol from Toulon on 19 Jan 1944, he became one of the youngest U-boat commanders to see active service during WWII (he was 21) (Busch & Röll, 1999). U-233 returned to base 25 days later.
Peter Gerlach died on his second patrol in U-223, when she was sunk on 30 Mar 1944 north of Palermo by depth charges from HMS Laforey, HMS Tumult, HMS Hambledon and HMS Blencathra. There were 23 dead and 27 survivors. (Niestlé, 1998).

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.

Patrol info for Peter Gerlach

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-223	19 Jan 1944	Toulon	12 Feb 1944	Toulon	Patrol 1,	25 days
2.	U-223	16 Mar 1944	Toulon	30 Mar 1944	Sunk	Patrol 2,	15 days
2 patrols, 40 days at sea

Ships hit by Peter Gerlach

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons	Convoy
30 Mar 1944	U-223	HMS Laforey (G 99)	1,935	br
	1,935
1 ship sunk (1,935 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel.

Date

U-boat

Name of ship

Tons

Nat.

Convoy

30 Mar 1944

U-223

HMS Laforey (G 99)

1,935

1 ship sunk (1,935 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.

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.