Gunter Jahn
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)
| Successes 4 ships sunk for a total of 27,326 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 246 tons 2 ships damaged for a total of 14,180 GRT |
| Born | 27 Sep 1910 | Hamburg | |
| Died | 12 Apr 1992 | (81) |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-596 | 13 Nov 1941 | 27 Jul 1943 | 6 patrols (137 days) |
Personal information
Gunter Jahn began his naval career in April 1931. Later he served for more than two years on the light cruiser Nürnberg, including nine patrols in the first year of the war. In March 1941 Jahn joined the U-boat force, his first patrol being on U-98 in September 1941.
In November of that year he commissioned U-596. On the boat's second patrol Jahn broke through the Straits of Gibraltar and then went on to become one of the most successful U-boat commanders in the Mediterranean. In July 1943 he left the boat and became the commander of the 29th flotilla. In September 1944 he fell into French captivity, where he spent nearly two years.
Patrol info for Gunter Jahn
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-596 | 25 Jun 1942 | Kiel | 2 Jul 1942 | Kiel | 8 days | ||
| 2. | U-596 | 25 Jul 1942 | Kiel | 28 Jul 1942 | Bergen | 4 days | ||
| 3. | U-596 | 8 Aug 1942 | Bergen | 3 Oct 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 57 days | |
| 4. | U-596 | 4 Nov 1942 | St. Nazaire | 15 Nov 1942 | La Spezia | Patrol 2, | 12 days | |
| 5. | U-596 | 27 Jan 1943 | La Spezia | 16 Feb 1943 | La Spezia | Patrol 3, | 21 days | |
| 6. | U-596 | 28 Feb 1943 | La Spezia | 12 Mar 1943 | La Spezia | Patrol 4, | 13 days | |
| 7. | U-596 | 23 Mar 1943 | La Spezia | 15 Apr 1943 | La Spezia | Patrol 5, | 24 days | |
| 8. | U-596 | 26 Apr 1943 | La Spezia | 30 Apr 1943 | Pola | 5 days | ||
| 9. | U-596 | 17 Jun 1943 | Pola | 26 Jun 1943 | Pola | Patrol 6, | 10 days | |
| 6 patrols, 137 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Gunter Jahn
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 16 Aug, 1942 | U-596 | Suecia | 4,966 |  | sw | SC-95 | |
| 20 Sep, 1942 | U-596 | Empire Hartebeeste | 5,676 |  | br | SC-100 | |
| 7 Feb, 1943 | U-596 | HMS LCI(L)-162 | 246 | | br | ||
| 9 Mar, 1943 | U-596 | Empire Standard | 7,047 | | br | KMS-10 | damaged |
| 9 Mar, 1943 | U-596 | Fort Norman | 7,133 | | br | KMS-10 | damaged |
| 30 Mar, 1943 | U-596 | Fort a la Corne | 7,133 | | br | ET-16 | |
| 30 Mar, 1943 | U-596 | Hallanger | 9,551 |  | nw | ET-16 | |
| 41,752 | |||||||
* 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.