| Born | 28 Jun 1915 | Dresden | |
| Died | 7 Aug 1943 | (28) | Caribbean Sea |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-615 | 26 Mar 1942 | 7 Aug 1943 (+) | 4 patrols (221 days) |
Ralph Kapitzky fought an unique defense against several Allied aircraft in the Caribbean. Although his boat was lost his bravery allowed many U-boats to escape the trap that the Caribbean had become at that time. Kapitzky died on the bridge still directing the defense of the boat.
Patrol info for Ralph Kapitzky
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-615 | 5 Sep 1942 | Kiel | 30 Oct 1942 | La Pallice | Patrol 1, | 56 days | |
| 2. | U-615 | 25 Nov 1942 | La Pallice | 9 Jan 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol 2, | 46 days | |
| 3. | U-615 | 18 Feb 1943 | La Pallice | 20 Apr 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol 3, | 62 days | |
| 4. | U-615 | 12 Jun 1943 | La Pallice | 7 Aug 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 4, | 57 days | |
| 4 patrols, 221 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Ralph Kapitzky
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Oct 1942 | U-615 | El Lago | 4,221 |  | pa | ONS-136 | |
| 23 Oct 1942 | U-615 |  | Empire Star | 12,656 |  | br | |
| 11 Apr 1943 | U-615 | Edward B. Dudley | 7,177 |  | am | HX-232 | |
| 28 Jul 1943 | U-615 | | Rosalia | 3,177 |  | nl | |
| 27,231 | |||||||
4 ships sunk (27,231 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.