The Men - The Commander listing

Rolf Mützelburg

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 32)

Successes
19 ships sunk for a total of 81.987 GRT
3 ships damaged for a total of 17.052 GRT

Born	23 Jun, 1913	Kiel
Died	11 Sep, 1942	Northern Atlantic

Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg

Ranks

1 Jan, 1934	Fähnrich zur See
1 Sep, 1935	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan, 1936	Leutnant zur See
1 Oct, 1937	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jan, 1940	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

1 Jul, 1941	Iron Cross 2nd Class
1 Jul, 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
1 Jul, 1941	U-boat War Badge 1939
17 Nov, 1941	Knights Cross
15 Jul, 1942	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-10	10 Jun, 1940	-	29 Nov, 1940	No war patrols
U-203	18 Feb, 1941	-	11 Sep, 1942 (+)	7 patrols (226 days)

Personal information

After two years on minesweepers, Oblt. z. S. Rolf Mützelburg joined the U-boat arm in October 1939. He spent five months on a school boat, but received his first combat experience on Schepke's U-100. He commissioned U-203 in February 1941. On his patrols in the Atlantic and off the US east coast, as well as in the Caribbean Sea, he sank more than 20 ships.

Kapitänleutnant Mützelburg on board with his chief engineer (LI)

Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg died on 11 September, 1942 in a freak accident. Taking the opportunity to go swimming in the Atlantic southwest of the Azores, he dived from the conning tower and struck the deck with his head and shoulder when the boat lurched suddenly in the swell. The doctor from the Milk Cow U-462 arrived the next day, but too late, and Rolf Mützelburg was buried at sea on 12 September, 1942 in position 36.14N, 31.21W.

On 15 September, 1942 the daily Wehrmachtsbericht announced :

Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg, Kommandant eines Unterseebootes, Träger des Eichenlaubes zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, ließ auf der Fahrt gegen den Feind sein Leben. In ihm verliert die Unterseebootwaffe einen hervorragender Kommandanten und erfolgreichen Kämpfer. Das Boot setzt unter dem Kommando des ältesten Wachoffiziers die Unternehmung fort.

(Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg, U-boat commander, recipient of the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, lost his life on patrol. The U-boat arm has lost an outstanding commander and a successful fighter. The boat continues her patrol under the command of the senior watch officer.)

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-203	5 Jun, 1941	Kiel	29 Jun, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol	25 days
2.	U-203	10 Jul, 1941	St. Nazaire	31 Jul, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol	22 days
3.	U-203	20 Sep, 1941	St. Nazaire	30 Sep, 1941	Brest	Patrol	11 days
4.	U-203	18 Oct, 1941	Brest	12 Nov, 1941	Brest	Patrol	26 days
5.	U-203	25 Dec, 1941	Brest	29 Jan, 1942	Brest	Patrol	36 days
6.	U-203	12 Mar, 1942	Brest	30 Apr, 1942	Brest	Patrol	50 days
7.	U-203	3 Jun, 1942	Brest	4 Jun, 1942	Lorient		2 days
8.	U-203	4 Jun, 1942	Lorient	29 Jul, 1942	Brest	Patrol	56 days
9.	U-203	27 Aug, 1942	Brest	18 Sep, 1942	Brest	Patrol	23 days

Ships hit by Rolf Mützelburg

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
24 Jun, 1941	U-203	Kinross	4.956		br	OB-336
24 Jun, 1941	U-203	Soløy	4.402		nw	HX-133
27 Jul, 1941	U-203	Hawkinge	2.475		br	OG-69
28 Jul, 1941	U-203	Lapland	1.330		br	OG-69
28 Jul, 1941	U-203	Norita	1.516		sw	OG-69
26 Sep, 1941	U-203	Avoceta	3.442		br	HG-73
26 Sep, 1941	U-203	Cortes	1.374		br	HG-73
26 Sep, 1941	U-203	Varangberg	2.842		nw	HG-73
3 Nov, 1941	U-203	Empire Gemsbuck	5.626		br	SC-52
3 Nov, 1941	U-203	Everoja	4.830		br	SC-52

15 Jan, 1942	U-203	Catalina	632		pt
17 Jan, 1942	U-203	Octavian	1.345		nw
21 Jan, 1942	U-203	North Gaspe	888		ca		damaged
10 Apr, 1942	U-203	San Delfino	8.072		br
11 Apr, 1942	U-203	Harry F. Sinclair, Jr.	6.151		am		damaged
12 Apr, 1942	U-203	Stanvac Melbourne	10.013		pa		damaged
14 Apr, 1942	U-203	Empire Thrush	6.160		br
26 Jun, 1942	U-203	Pedrinhas	3.666		bz
26 Jun, 1942	U-203	Putney Hill	5.216		br
28 Jun, 1942	U-203	Sam Houston	7.176		am
9 Jul, 1942	U-203	Cape Verde	6.914		br
11 Jul, 1942	U-203	Stanvac Palembang	10.013		pa
			99.039
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.