Karl Thurmann
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 28)
| Successes 13 ships sunk for a total of 64,612 GRT 2 ships damaged for a total of 15,273 GRT |
| Born | 4 Sep 1909 | Mühlheim, Ruhr | |
| Died | 20 Jan 1943 | (33) | North Atlantic |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-553 | 23 Dec 1940 | 20 Jan 1943 (+) | 10 patrols (344 days) |
Personal information
 Korvkpt. Karl Thurmann after patrol on 17 September, 1942 in St. Nazaire |
Karl Thurmann began his naval career in April 1928. He served for some years on the light cruisers Emden and Köln, and served for one and a half years in a coastal artillery unit. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force.
After the usual training and one patrol as commander-in-training on U-29, he commissioned the VIIC U-boat U-553 on 23 December, 1940.
On the following nine patrols he operated successfully, mostly in the North Atlantic, but also on the US east coast and in the Caribbean. Karl Thurmann took U-553 on patrol from La Pallice, France on 16 January, 1943 and on 20 January sent his last radio message: "Serohr unklar" (Periscope not clear). The boat was never heard from again and was lost with all hands.
Patrol info for Karl Thurmann
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-553 | 13 Apr 1941 | Kiel | 17 Apr 1941 | Bergen | 5 days | ||
| 2. | U-553 | 19 Apr 1941 | Bergen | 2 May 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 14 days | |
| 3. | U-553 | 7 Jun 1941 | St. Nazaire | 19 Jul 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 2, | 43 days | |
| 4. | U-553 | 7 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | 16 Sep 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 3, | 41 days | |
| 5. | U-553 | 7 Oct 1941 | St. Nazaire | 22 Oct 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 4, | 16 days | |
| 6. | U-553 | 1 Jan 1942 | St. Nazaire | 3 Feb 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 5, | 34 days | |
| 7. | U-553 | 24 Feb 1942 | St. Nazaire | 1 Apr 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 6, | 37 days | |
| 8. | U-553 | 19 Apr 1942 | St. Nazaire | 24 Jun 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 7, | 67 days | |
| 9. | U-553 | 19 Jul 1942 | St. Nazaire | 17 Sep 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 8, | 61 days | |
| 10. | U-553 | 23 Nov 1942 | St. Nazaire | 18 Dec 1942 | La Pallice | Patrol 9, | 26 days | |
| 11. | U-553 | 16 Jan 1943 | La Pallice | 20 Jan 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 10, | 5 days | |
| 10 patrols, 344 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Karl Thurmann
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 12 Jun, 1941 | U-553 | Ranella | 5,590 |  | nw | OG-64 | |
| 12 Jun, 1941 | U-553 | Susan Mærsk | 2,355 |  | br | OG-64 | |
| 15 Oct, 1941 | U-553 | Ila | 1,583 | | nw | SC-48 | |
| 15 Oct, 1941 | U-553 | Silvercedar | 4,354 | | br | SC-48 | |
| 17 Oct, 1941 | U-553 | Bold Venture | 3,222 |  | pa | SC-48 | |
| 15 Jan, 1942 | U-553 | Diala | 8,106 | | br | ON-52 | damaged |
| 22 Jan, 1942 | U-553 | Innerøy | 8,260 | | nw | ||
| 12 May, 1942 | U-553 | Leto | 4,712 |  | nl | ||
| 12 May, 1942 | U-553 | Nicoya | 5,364 | | br | ||
| 2 Jun, 1942 | U-553 | Mattawin | 6,919 | | br | ||
| 3 Aug, 1942 | U-553 | Belgian Soldier | 7,167 |  | be | ON-115 | damaged |
| 18 Aug, 1942 | U-553 | Blankaholm | 2,845 |  | sw | TAW-13 | |
| 18 Aug, 1942 | U-553 | Empire Bede | 6,959 | | br | TAW-13 | |
| 18 Aug, 1942 | U-553 | John Hancock | 7,176 |  | am | TAW-13 | |
| 9 Dec, 1942 | U-553 | Charles L.D. | 5,273 | | br | HX-217 | |
| 79,885 | |||||||
* 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.