The Men - The Commander listing

Hans-Ludwig Witt

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 29)

Successes
19 ships sunk for a total of 100.773 GRT

Born	25 Dec, 1909	Bautzen, Saxony
Died	13 Feb, 1980	Hamburg

Korvettenkapitän Hans Witt wearing his Knights Cross.

Ranks

10 Oct, 1929	Seekadett
1 Jan, 1931	Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1933	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct, 1933	Leutnant zur See
1 Jun, 1935	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jul, 1938	Kapitänleutnant
1 Feb, 1943	Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

23 Aug, 1942	Iron Cross 2nd Class
23 Aug, 1942	Iron Cross 1st Class
23 Aug, 1942	U-boat War Badge 1939
17 Dec, 1942	Knights Cross
7 Oct, 1944	U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-161	8 Jul, 1941	-	30 Nov, 1941	No war patrols
U-161	1 Dec, 1941	-	31 Dec, 1941	No war patrols
U-129	14 May, 1942	-	8 Jul, 1943	3 patrols (275 days)
U-3524	26 Jan, 1945	-	5 May, 1945	No war patrols

Personal information

Hans Witt spent his first years in the navy on school ships, including the Gorch Fock and the Schlageter. In October 1940 he entered U-boat training. With U-129 he completed three very successful patrols in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean. Later he spent a year as a member of the BdU staff.

In the last months of the war he was one of the highly decorated U-boat commanders (like Schnee, Cremer, Emmermann and Topp) who took command of the new Elektro U-boats (Types XXI and XXIII) in an attempt to turn the tide in the battle of the Atlantic.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-129	20 May, 1942	Lorient	21 Aug, 1942	Lorient	Patrol	94 days
2.	U-129	28 Sep, 1942	Lorient	6 Jan, 1943	Lorient	Patrol	101 days
3.	U-129	11 Mar, 1943	Lorient	29 May, 1943	Lorient	Patrol	80 days

Ships hit by Hans-Ludwig Witt

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
10 Jun, 1942	U-129	L.A. Christensen	4.362		nw
12 Jun, 1942	U-129	Hardwicke Grange	9.005		br
17 Jun, 1942	U-129	Millinocket	3.274		am
27 Jun, 1942	U-129	Las Choapas	2.005		me
27 Jun, 1942	U-129	Tuxpam	7.008		me
1 Jul, 1942	U-129	Cadmus	1.855		nw
2 Jul, 1942	U-129	Gundersen	1.841		nw
4 Jul, 1942	U-129	Tuapse	6.320		sj
12 Jul, 1942	U-129	Tachirá	2.325		am
19 Jul, 1942	U-129	Port Antonio	1.266		nw
23 Jul, 1942	U-129	Onondaga	2.309		am
16 Oct, 1942	U-129	Trafalgar	5.542		nw
23 Oct, 1942	U-129	Reuben Tipton	6.829		am
30 Oct, 1942	U-129	West Kebar	5.620		am
5 Nov, 1942	U-129	Astrell	7.595		nw	TAG-18
5 Nov, 1942	U-129	Meton	7.027		am	TAG-18

2 Apr, 1943	U-129	Melbourne Star	12.806		br
24 Apr, 1943	U-129	Santa Catalina	6.507		am
4 May, 1943	U-129	Panam	7.277		pa	NK-538
			100.773
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.