The Men - The Commander listing

Harald Gelhaus

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 35)

Successes
19 ships sunk for a total of 100.373 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 10.068 GRT

Born	24 Jul, 1915	Göttingen
Died	2 Dec, 1997

Kptlt. Harald Gelhaus

Ranks

1 Jul, 1936	Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan, 1938	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1938	Leutnant zur See
1 Oct, 1939	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr, 1942	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

31 Oct, 1940	Iron Cross 2nd Class
31 Dec, 1940	U-boat War Badge 1939
24 Feb, 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
26 Mar, 1943	Knights Cross
1 Oct, 1944	U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-143	31 Mar, 1941	-	30 Apr, 1941	No war patrols
U-107	1 Dec, 1941	-	6 Jun, 1943	7 patrols (348 days)

Personal information

Harald Gelhaus began his naval career in April 1935. He served on the light cruiser Karlsruhe and on the battleship Gneisenau. In October 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force. His first three patrols were as I WO on U-103 under Korvkpt. Schütze.

He left the boat in March 1941 and took command of the Type IIB boat U-143. After four patrols he became the commander of U-107, the already famous boat of Korvkpt. Hessler. On the next six patrols he sank 19 ships for a total of little more than 100,00 tons. In June 1943 he became a staff member of the OKM, the High Command of the German Navy.

Beginning in February 1944, he was a training officer in the 22nd and 27th flotillas. The final months of the war he spent in staff positions, the last one being in Naval High Command North. After the war he spent three months in Allied captivity.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-143	19 Apr, 1941	Kiel	13 May, 1941	Bergen	Patrol	25 days
2.	U-143	13 May, 1941	Bergen	18 May, 1941	Kiel		6 days
3.	U-143	9 Jun, 1941	Kiel	29 Jun, 1941	Bergen	Patrol	21 days
4.	U-143	6 Jul, 1941	Bergen	14 Jul, 1941	Bergen	Patrol	9 days
5.	U-143	17 Jul, 1941	Bergen	21 Jul, 1941	Kiel		5 days
6.	U-143	17 Aug, 1941	Kiel	12 Sep, 1941	Kiel	Patrol	27 days
7.	U-107	10 Dec, 1941	Lorient	26 Dec, 1941	Lorient	Patrol	17 days
8.	U-107	7 Jan, 1942	Lorient	7 Mar, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	60 days
9.	U-107	21 Apr, 1942	Lorient	11 Jul, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	82 days
10.	U-107	25 Jul, 1942	Lorient	29 Jul, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	5 days
11.	U-107	15 Aug, 1942	Lorient	18 Nov, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	96 days
12.	U-107	30 Jan, 1943	Lorient	25 Mar, 1943	Lorient	Patrol	55 days
13.	U-107	24 Apr, 1943	Lorient	26 May, 1943	Lorient	Patrol	33 days

Ships hit by Harald Gelhaus

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
23 Aug, 1941	U-143	Inger	1.409		nw

31 Jan, 1942	U-107	San Arcadio	7.419		br
6 Feb, 1942	U-107	Major Wheeler	3.431		am
21 Feb, 1942	U-107	Egda	10.068		nw	ON-65	damaged
29 May, 1942	U-107	Western Head	2.599		br
1 Jun, 1942	U-107	Bushranger	4.536		pa
7 Jun, 1942	U-107	Castilla	3.910		ho
8 Jun, 1942	U-107	Suwied	3.249		am
10 Jun, 1942	U-107	Merrimack	2.606		am
19 Jun, 1942	U-107	Cheerio	35		am
26 Jun, 1942	U-107	Jagersfontein	10.083		nl
3 Sep, 1942	U-107	Hollinside	4.172		br
3 Sep, 1942	U-107	Penrose	4.393		br
7 Oct, 1942	U-107	Andalucia Star	14.943		br

22 Feb, 1943	U-107	Roxburgh Castle	7.801		br
13 Mar, 1943	U-107	Clan Alpine	5.442		br	OS-44
13 Mar, 1943	U-107	Marcella	4.592		br	OS-44
13 Mar, 1943	U-107	Oporto	2.352		br	OS-44
13 Mar, 1943	U-107	Sembilangan	4.990		nl	OS-44
1 May, 1943	U-107	Port Victor	12.411		br
			110.441
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.