| Born | 7 May 1919 | Hamburg | |
| Died | 23 Oct 1972 | (53) | Hamburg |
|
Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-778 | 7 Jul 1944 | 8 May 1945 | 1 patrol (23 days) |
Ralf Jürs joined the Kriegsmarine in 1937. He served on the Battleship Gneisenau from Sept 1939 to March 1940. Jürs went through Luftwaffe raining from June to Sept 1940. He was then a naval aviator, serving with Seeaufklärergruppe 125 from Oct 1940 to June 1943 when he joined the U-boat force.
From June 1943 to May 1944 Oblt. Ralf Jürs went through U-boat training and then he began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) in May 1944. On 7 July 1944 he commissioned the new type VIIC boat U-778 at Wilhelmshaven. In early 1945 the boat was deemed combat ready and sailed on 24 Feb from Kiel, Germany to Horten, Norway to prepare for operations.
First War Patrol
On 4 March 1945 the newly prompted Kptlt. Ralf Jürs took his U-778 out on a war patrol from Horten. He returned to Bergen 23 days later on 26 March. Jürs surrendered U-778 at Bergen, Norway on 8 May, 1945. The boat was transferred to Loch Ryan, Scotland for Operation Deadlight (Niestlé, 1998).
Kptlt. Ralf Jürs became a POW after the surrender and was released on 5 March 1947.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Patrol info for Ralf Jürs
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-778 | 24 Feb 1945 | Kiel | 28 Feb 1945 | Horten | 5 days | ||
| 2. | U-778 | 4 Mar 1945 | Horten | 26 Mar 1945 | Bergen | Patrol 1, | 23 days | |
Ships hit by Ralf Jürs
No entries found.
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.
Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.