Claus Korth
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)
| Successes 13 ships sunk for a total of 54,584 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 8,240 GRT 1 ship damaged for a total of 4,996 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 10,191 GRT |
| Born | 7 Nov 1911 | Berlin | |
| Died | 25 Jan 1988 | (76) | Kiel |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-57 | 29 Dec 1938 | 4 Jun 1940 | 9 patrols (129 days) |
| U-93 | 30 Jul 1940 | 30 Sep 1941 | 5 patrols (155 days) |
Personal information
Claus Korth began his naval career in April 1932. During his officer training he was one of the few survivors when the sailing school ship Niobe sank in a training accident. In March 1936 he joined in the U-boat force and received a solid pre-war training. In the autumn of 1937 he was I WO on U-37 for two months in Spanish waters during the civil war there.
 Claus Korth during patrol |
In December 1938 he commissioned the Type IIC U-boat U-57. Her first successes were scored on her fourth patrol when she sank two ships. Outstanding was the sinking of the British tanker Gretafield of 10,191 tons in February 1940. Korth left the U-boat in June 1940 and commissioned U-93 in July of the same year.
On five patrols he sank eight ships for a total of 43,392 tons and in May 1941 received the Knights Cross. In October 1941 he left U-93 and became the 3rd Asto in the BdU org.
In June 1942 he became training officer in the 27th Flotilla. During the last year of war he was in the torpedo trial institution (TVA) Eckernförde. After the surrender Claus Korth spent six months in Allied captivity.
In 1955 he joined the Bundesmarine (postwar German Navy) where he was for nearly four years the head of the torpedo trial station (Marine-Torpedo-Versuchsstation). He retired in 1970 with a rank of Kapitän zur See.
Patrol info for Claus Korth
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-57 | 23 Aug 1939 | Kiel | 26 Aug 1939 | Memel | 4 days | ||
| 2. | U-57 | 26 Aug 1939 | Memel | 2 Sep 1939 | Memel | 8 days | ||
| 3. | U-57 | 3 Sep 1939 | Memel | 5 Sep 1939 | Kiel | Patrol 1, | 3 days | |
| 4. | U-57 | 5 Sep 1939 | Kiel | 18 Sep 1939 | Kiel | Patrol 2, | 14 days | |
| 5. | U-57 | 25 Oct 1939 | Kiel | 5 Nov 1939 | Kiel | Patrol 3, | 12 days | |
| 6. | U-57 | 12 Nov 1939 | Kiel | 23 Nov 1939 | Kiel | Patrol 4, | 12 days | |
| 7. | U-57 | 5 Dec 1939 | Kiel | 5 Dec 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | 1 days | ||
| 8. | U-57 | 7 Dec 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | 16 Dec 1939 | Kiel | Patrol 5, | 10 days | |
| 9. | U-57 | 16 Jan 1940 | Kiel | 25 Jan 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 6, | 10 days | |
| 10. | U-57 | 8 Feb 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | 25 Feb 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 7, | 18 days | |
| 11. | U-57 | 14 Mar 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | 29 Mar 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 8, | 16 days | |
| 12. | U-57 | 4 Apr 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | 7 May 1940 | Kiel | Patrol 9, | 34 days | |
| 13. | U-93 | 5 Oct 1940 | Kiel | 7 Oct 1940 | Kristiansand | 3 days | ||
| 14. | U-93 | 9 Oct 1940 | Kristiansand | 25 Oct 1940 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 10, | 17 days | |
| 15. | U-93 | 7 Nov 1940 | St. Nazaire | 29 Nov 1940 | Lorient | Patrol 11, | 23 days | |
| 16. | U-93 | 11 Jan 1941 | Lorient | 14 Feb 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 12, | 35 days | |
| 17. | U-93 | 3 May 1941 | Lorient | 10 Jun 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 13, | 39 days | |
| 18. | U-93 | 12 Jul 1941 | St. Nazaire | 21 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 14, | 41 days | |
| 14 patrols, 284 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Claus Korth
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 17 Nov, 1939 | U-57 | Kaunas | 1,566 |  | li | ||
| 19 Nov, 1939 | U-57 | Stanbrook | 1,383 |  | br | ||
| 13 Dec, 1939 | U-57 | Mina | 1,173 |  | es | ||
| 20 Jan, 1940 | U-57 | Miranda | 1,328 |  | nw | ||
| 26 Jan, 1940 | U-57 | HMS Durham Castle [Mine] | 8,240 | | br | ||
| 14 Feb, 1940 | U-57 | Gretafield | 10,191 | | br | HX-18 | total loss |
| 21 Feb, 1940 | U-57 | Loch Maddy | 4,996 | | br | HX-19 | damaged |
| 25 Mar, 1940 | U-57 | Daghestan | 5,742 | | br | ||
| 15 Oct, 1940 | U-93 | Hurunui | 9,331 | | br | OA-228 | |
| 17 Oct, 1940 | U-93 | Dokka | 1,168 | | nw | OB-228 | |
| 17 Oct, 1940 | U-93 | Uskbridge | 2,715 | | br | OB-228 | |
| 29 Jan, 1941 | U-93 | Aikaterini | 4,929 |  | gr | SC-19 | |
| 29 Jan, 1941 | U-93 | King Robert | 5,886 | | br | SC-19 | |
| 29 Jan, 1941 | U-93 | W.B. Walker | 10,468 | | br | SC-19 | |
| 4 Feb, 1941 | U-93 | Dione II | 2,660 | | br | SC-20 | |
| 21 May, 1941 | U-93 | Elusa | 6,235 |  | nl | HX-126 | |
| 78,011 | |||||||
* 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.