The Men - The Commander listing

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	North Atlantic

Korvkpt. Karl Thurmann

Ranks

11 Oct, 1928	Seekadett
1 Jan, 1930	Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1932	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct, 1932	Leutnant zur See
1 Sep, 1934	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun, 1937	Kapitänleutnant
1 Aug, 1942	Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

21 Jul, 1941	Iron Cross 2nd Class
23 Oct, 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
23 Oct, 1941	U-boat War Badge 1939
24 Aug, 1942	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

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

	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	14 days
3.	U-553	7 Jun, 1941	St. Nazaire	19 Jul, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol	43 days
4.	U-553	7 Aug, 1941	St. Nazaire	16 Sep, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol	41 days
5.	U-553	7 Oct, 1941	St. Nazaire	22 Oct, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol	16 days
6.	U-553	1 Jan, 1942	St. Nazaire	3 Feb, 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol	34 days
7.	U-553	24 Feb, 1942	St. Nazaire	1 Apr, 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol	37 days
8.	U-553	19 Apr, 1942	St. Nazaire	24 Jun, 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol	67 days
9.	U-553	19 Jul, 1942	St. Nazaire	17 Sep, 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol	61 days
10.	U-553	23 Nov, 1942	St. Nazaire	18 Dec, 1942	La Pallice	Patrol	26 days
11.	U-553	16 Jan, 1943	La Pallice	20 Jan, 1943	Sunk	Patrol	5 days

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.