The Men - The Commander listing

Wilhelm Dommes

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 31)


Successes
8 ships sunk for a total of 40,103 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 313 GRT
2 warships sunk for a total of 3,548 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 3,560 GRT
1 warship damaged for a total of 450 tons

Born  16 Apr 1907 Buchberg, West Prussia
Died  23 Jan 1990(82)Hannover


Kptlt. Wilhelm Dommes

Ranks

23 Jan 1933Offiziersanwärter
1 Apr 1933Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1935Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1937Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb 1939Kapitänleutnant
1 Feb 1943Korvettenkapitän
30 Jan 1945Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

29 Nov 1939Iron Cross 2nd Class
10 Feb 1942Iron Cross 1st Class
10 Feb 1942U-boat War Badge 1939
2 Dec 1942Knights Cross
5 Mar 1945U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-431 5 Apr 1941 6 Jan 1943   10 patrols (257 days) 
U-178 22 Feb 1943 25 Nov 1943   1 patrol (153 days) 

Personal information

Wilhelm Dommes began his naval career in January 1933 after serving in the merchant navy. The first years he spent mainly on the light cruiser Nürnberg and on the battle-cruiser Scharnhorst. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force where he successfully fought with his U-431 in the Mediterranean.

He departed from base at Bordeaux, France with U-178 for the Far East on 28 March, 1943 and finally arrived in Penang five months later. After that long patrol he became the base commander of Penang and in January 1945 the base commander of Singapore and Chief of all Monsun boats.

Patrol info for Wilhelm Dommes


 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-431 19 Jun 1941  Kiel  20 Jun 1941  Horten   2 days
2. U-431 25 Jun 1941  Horten  28 Jun 1941  Trondheim   4 days
3. U-431 10 Jul 1941  Trondheim  11 Aug 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,33 days
4. U-431 13 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  12 Oct 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,30 days
5. U-431 16 Nov 1941  St. Nazaire  20 Dec 1941  La Spezia  Patrol 3,35 days
6. U-431 18 Jan 1942  La Spezia  22 Jan 1942  Messina   5 days
7. U-431 25 Jan 1942  Messina  10 Feb 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 4,17 days
8. U-431 18 Mar 1942  La Spezia  15 Apr 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 5,29 days
9. U-431 14 May 1942  La Spezia  30 May 1942  Salamis  Patrol 6,17 days
10. U-431 4 Jun 1942  Salamis  20 Jun 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 7,17 days
11. U-431 2 Sep 1942  La Spezia  27 Sep 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 8,26 days
12. U-431 29 Sep 1942  La Spezia  4 Nov 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 9,37 days
13. U-431 7 Nov 1942  La Spezia  22 Nov 1942  Pola  Patrol 10,16 days
14. U-178 7 Mar 1943  Bordeaux  9 Mar 1943  Bordeaux   3 days
15. U-178 28 Mar 1943  Bordeaux  27 Aug 1943  Penang  Patrol 11,153 days
16. U-178 9 Oct 1943  Penang  11 Oct 1943  Singapur   3 days
17. U-178 23 Oct 1943  Singapur  25 Oct 1943  Penang   3 days
18. U-178 6 Nov 1943  Penang  8 Nov 1943  Singapur   3 days
19. U-178 23 Nov 1943  Singapur  24 Nov 1943  Penang   2 days
11 patrols, 410 days at sea

Ships hit by Wilhelm Dommes


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
2 Oct, 1941 U-431 Hatasu3,198  br  ON-19 
13 Dec, 1941 U-431 Myriel3,560  br  damaged
 
29 Jan, 1942 U-431 HMS Sotra313  br  TA-21 
20 May, 1942 U-431 Eocene4,216  br  AT-46 
15 Jun, 1942 U-431 HMS LCT-119450  br  damaged
10 Nov, 1942 U-431 HMS Martin (G 44)1,920  br  Torch 
13 Nov, 1942 U-431 HNMS Isaac Sweers (G 83)1,628  nl  
 
1 Jun, 1943 U-178 Salabangka6,586  nl  CD-20 
4 Jul, 1943 U-178 Breiviken2,669  nw  DN-50 
4 Jul, 1943 U-178 Michael Livanos4,774  gr  
11 Jul, 1943 U-178 Mary Livanos4,771  gr  
14 Jul, 1943 U-178 Robert Bacon7,197  am  
17 Jul, 1943 U-178 City of Canton6,692  br  
 47,974

* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.

Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.

Listing of all U-boat commanders