Gunter Jahn
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)
| Successes 4 ships sunk, total tonnage 27,326 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 246 tons 2 ships damaged, total tonnage 14,180 GRT |
| Born | 27 Sep 1910 | Hamburg | |
| Died | 12 Apr 1992 | (81) |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-596 | 13 Nov 1941 | 27 Jul 1943 | 6 patrols (137 days) |
Gunter Jahn began his naval career in April 1931. Later he served for more than two years on the light cruiser Nürnberg, including nine patrols in the first year of the war. In March 1941 Jahn joined the U-boat force, his first patrol being on U-98 in September 1941.
In November of that year he commissioned U-596. On the boat's second patrol Jahn broke through the Straits of Gibraltar and then went on to become one of the most successful U-boat commanders in the Mediterranean. In July 1943 he left the boat and became the commander of the 29th flotilla. In September 1944 he fell into French captivity, where he spent nearly two years.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Patrol info for Gunter Jahn
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-596 | 25 Jun 1942 | Kiel | 2 Jul 1942 | Kiel | 8 days | ||
| 2. | U-596 | 25 Jul 1942 | Kiel | 28 Jul 1942 | Bergen | 4 days | ||
| 3. | U-596 | 8 Aug 1942 | Bergen | 3 Oct 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 57 days | |
| 4. | U-596 | 4 Nov 1942 | St. Nazaire | 15 Nov 1942 | La Spezia | Patrol 2, | 12 days | |
| 5. | U-596 | 27 Jan 1943 | La Spezia | 16 Feb 1943 | La Spezia | Patrol 3, | 21 days | |
| 6. | U-596 | 28 Feb 1943 | La Spezia | 12 Mar 1943 | La Spezia | Patrol 4, | 13 days | |
| 7. | U-596 | 23 Mar 1943 | La Spezia | 15 Apr 1943 | La Spezia | Patrol 5, | 24 days | |
| 8. | U-596 | 26 Apr 1943 | La Spezia | 30 Apr 1943 | Pola | 5 days | ||
| 9. | U-596 | 17 Jun 1943 | Pola | 26 Jun 1943 | Pola | Patrol 6, | 10 days | |
| 6 patrols, 137 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Gunter Jahn
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Aug 1942 | U-596 |  | Suecia | 4,966 |  | sw | SC-95 |
| 20 Sep 1942 | U-596 | Empire Hartebeeste | 5,676 |  | br | SC-100 | |
| 7 Feb 1943 | U-596 | HMS LCI(L)-162 | 246 | | br | ||
| 9 Mar 1943 | U-596 | Fort Norman (d.) | 7,133 | | br | KMS-10 | |
| 9 Mar 1943 | U-596 | Empire Standard (d.) | 7,047 | | br | KMS-10 | |
| 30 Mar 1943 | U-596 | | Hallanger | 9,551 |  | nw | ET-16 |
| 30 Mar 1943 | U-596 | Fort a la Corne | 7,133 | | br | ET-16 | |
| 41,752 | |||||||
5 ships sunk (27,572 tons) and 2 ships damaged (14,180 tons). Legend | |||||||
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
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