The Men - The Commander listing

Jürgen Wattenberg

Kapitän zur See (Crew 21)

Successes
14 ships sunk for a total of 82,027 GRT

Born	28 Dec 1900		Lübeck
Died	27 Nov 1995	(94)

Jürgen Wattenberg

Ranks

1 Apr 1923	Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1925	Leutnant zur See
1 Jul 1927	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1938	Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1943	Kapitän zur See

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-162	9 Sep 1941	3 Sep 1942	3 patrols (162 days)

Personal information

At the beginning of the war Jürgen Wattenberg was among the crew of the famous pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, which was scuttled off Montevideo, Uruguay in December 1939. He escaped from internment and reached Germany in May 1940.

In October 1940 he joined the U-boat force. His boat was sunk in September 1942 by three British destroyers near the Bahamas.

He then spent more than three years in Allied captivity. He arrived at Fort Hunt in September, 1942. On 16 October, 1942 he was transferred to the POW camp at Crossville. On 27 January, 1944 he was transferred to the camp at Papago Park. He was one of the 25 POWs who escaped from this camp during the night of 23-24 December, 1944, and remained at large the longest, until 28 January.

In February, 1946 Wattenberg was transferred to Camp Shanks, and from there to a compound in the British zone of Germany near Münster, before finally being released. Later he became manager of the Lübeck branch of Bavaria & St. Pauli Brewery.

Patrol info for Jürgen Wattenberg

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-162	7 Feb 1942	Kiel	18 Mar 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	40 days
2.	U-162	7 Apr 1942	Lorient	8 Jun 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	63 days
3.	U-162	7 Jul 1942	Lorient	3 Sep 1942	Sunk	Patrol 3,	59 days
3 patrols, 162 days at sea

Ships hit by Jürgen Wattenberg

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
24 Feb, 1942	U-162	White Crest	4,365		br	ONS-67
30 Apr, 1942	U-162	Athelempress	8,941		br	OS-25
1 May, 1942	U-162	Parnahyba	6,692		bz
4 May, 1942	U-162	Eastern Sword	3,785		am
4 May, 1942	U-162	Florence M. Douglas	119		br
7 May, 1942	U-162	Frank Seamans	4,271		nw
9 May, 1942	U-162	Mont Louis	1,905		ca
13 May, 1942	U-162	Esso Houston	7,699		am
14 May, 1942	U-162	British Colony	6,917		br
18 May, 1942	U-162	Beth	6,852		nw
19 Aug, 1942	U-162	West Celina	5,722		am	TAW(S)
24 Aug, 1942	U-162	Moena	9,286		nl
26 Aug, 1942	U-162	Thelma	8,297		nw
30 Aug, 1942	U-162	Star of Oregon	7,176		am
			82,027
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.