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(82)


Kptlt. Harald Gelhaus

Ranks

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

Decorations

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

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-143 31 Mar 1941 30 Apr 1941   1 patrol (25 days, * did not finish patrol) 
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 for Harald Gelhaus


 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-143 19 Apr 1941  Kiel  13 May 1941  Bergen  Patrol 1,25 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 2,21 days
4. U-143 6 Jul 1941  Bergen  14 Jul 1941  Bergen  Patrol 3,9 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 4,27 days
7. U-107 10 Dec 1941  Lorient  26 Dec 1941  Lorient  Patrol 5,17 days
8. U-107 7 Jan 1942  Lorient  7 Mar 1942  Lorient  Patrol 6,60 days
9. U-107 21 Apr 1942  Lorient  11 Jul 1942  Lorient  Patrol 7,82 days
10. U-107 25 Jul 1942  Lorient  29 Jul 1942  Lorient  Patrol 8,5 days
11. U-107 15 Aug 1942  Lorient  18 Nov 1942  Lorient  Patrol 9,96 days
12. U-107 30 Jan 1943  Lorient  25 Mar 1943  Lorient  Patrol 10,55 days
13. U-107 24 Apr 1943  Lorient  26 May 1943  Lorient  Patrol 11,33 days
11 patrols, 430 days at sea

Ships hit by Harald Gelhaus


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
23 Aug, 1941 U-143 Inger1,409  nw  
 
31 Jan, 1942 U-107 San Arcadio7,419  br  
6 Feb, 1942 U-107 Major Wheeler3,431  am  
21 Feb, 1942 U-107 Egda10,068  nw  ON-65 damaged
29 May, 1942 U-107 Western Head2,599  br  
1 Jun, 1942 U-107 Bushranger4,536  pa  
7 Jun, 1942 U-107 Castilla3,910  ho  
8 Jun, 1942 U-107 Suwied3,249  am  
10 Jun, 1942 U-107 Merrimack2,606  am  
19 Jun, 1942 U-107 Cheerio35  am  
26 Jun, 1942 U-107 Jagersfontein10,083  nl  
3 Sep, 1942 U-107 Hollinside4,172  br  
3 Sep, 1942 U-107 Penrose4,393  br  
7 Oct, 1942 U-107 Andalucia Star14,943  br  
 
22 Feb, 1943 U-107 Roxburgh Castle7,801  br  
13 Mar, 1943 U-107 Clan Alpine5,442  br  OS-44 
13 Mar, 1943 U-107 Marcella4,592  br  OS-44 
13 Mar, 1943 U-107 Oporto2,352  br  OS-44 
13 Mar, 1943 U-107 Sembilangan4,990  nl  OS-44 
1 May, 1943 U-107 Port Victor12,411  br  
 110,441

* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.


Decorations and ranks information is in many cases not complete. If you can help on any of those missing that would be great.

Listing of all U-boat commanders