Jost Metzler
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)
| Successes 10 ships sunk, total tonnage 50,873 GRT 1 ship damaged, total tonnage 4,887 GRT 1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 5,445 GRT |
| Born | 26 Feb 1909 | Altshausen, Württemberg | |
| Died | 29 Sep 1975 | (66) | Bavendorf-Ravensburg |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-69 | 2 Nov 1940 | 28 Aug 1941 | 4 patrols (117 days) |
| U-847 | 1 Feb 1943 | 30 Jun 1943 | No war patrols |
Kapitänleutnant Jost Metzler |
Before Jost Metzler started his Navy career he spent eight years in the merchant marine, for some years on sailing ships. In October 1933 he joined the Kriegsmarine as HSO (Handelschiffoffizier (merchant ship officer)). He first served on the torpedo boat T-196 and on several minesweepers. In April 1940, after 13 patrols on the mine sweeper Grille, he transferred to the U-boat arm. After seven months of training he commissioned U-69 in November 1940. On his first patrol, sailing from Kiel to St. Nazaire, he sank three ships for a total of 18,576 tons.
Metzler's third patrol on U-69 was very successful. He laid 16 mines in the harbor of Lagos, where they later sank a British steamer. All in all on this patrol in African waters he sank five ships for a
total of 25,544 tons. Unfortunately he was taken ill with a renal colic some days after leaving
St. Nazaire for a fourth patrol, forcing the boat to return to port. After two months in the hospital
he became the leading training officer in the 25th
and 27th Flotillas, holding this post until February 1943.
He took over U-847 for four months in 1943, and then in autumn 1943 was for two months the 5th Flotilla's commander in deputize. From October 1943 to the end of war, Metzler served as commander of the 19th Flotilla, first in Pillau, later in Kiel.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.
Patrol info for Jost Metzler
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-69 | 10 Feb 1941 | Kiel | 1 Mar 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 1, | 20 days | |
| 2. | U-69 | 18 Mar 1941 | Lorient | 11 Apr 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 25 days | |
| 3. | U-69 | 5 May 1941 | Lorient | 8 Jul 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 3, | 65 days | |
| 4. | U-69 | 21 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | 27 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 4, | 7 days | |
| 4 patrols, 117 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Jost Metzler
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Feb 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | Siamese Prince | 8,456 |  | br | ||
| 19 Feb 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | Empire Blanda | 5,693 | | br | HX-107 | |
| 23 Feb 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler |  | Marslew | 4,542 | | br | OB-288 |
| 30 Mar 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | Coultarn | 3,759 | | br | OB-302 | |
| 3 Apr 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | | Thirlby (d.) | 4,887 | | br | SC-26 |
| 21 May 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | | Robin Moor | 4,999 |  | am | |
| 21 May 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | | Tewkesbury | 4,601 | | br | |
| 31 May 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | | Sangara (t.) | 5,445 | | br | |
| 4 Jun 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | Robert Hughes [Mine] | 2,879 | | br | ||
| 27 Jun 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | | Empire Ability | 7,603 | | br | SL-78 |
| 27 Jun 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | River Lugar | 5,423 | | br | SL-78 | |
| 3 Jul 1941 | U-69 | Jost Metzler | Robert L. Holt | 2,918 | | br | OB-337 | |
| 61,205 | ||||||||
11 ships sunk (56,318 tons) and 1 ship damaged (4,887 tons). Legend | ||||||||
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Books dealing with this subject include
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About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.