What's New
Before you get in touch with me then please read this. This page explains who we are and how these pages are built. That page also leads to another page on how you can contact us more efficiently.
2009
21 June
19:03 - Allied Naval Commanders section open!
Finally we've opened the new Allied Naval Commanders section. This section, currently with 4716 officers and growing fast, is linked to relevant warships and vice versa. This makes it easy to see all commands this officer had and also other commanders of that vessel. This section is still being worked on very heavily and each day sees lots of changes and updates.
21:29 - Sailor going through basic training
Many of you have been asking for my son's name and we Christened him in mid March with the name Jökull Helgi Guðmundsson (first name means Glacier, second means Holy man and then my name). Here he is last weekend, 5 months old, during his swimming course, proving to be a promising sailor indeed :)
.- Modified personal info for Commander Kurt-Heinz Nicolay
13:33 - Allied Warship Commanders database
We're working on a new database and pages for Allied Warship Commanders during WWII. The work is already well under way with the Commonwealth navies (over 3000 officers listed right now and their roughly 5100 commands). We hope to open this soon and expand this into US navy and Russian navy as well. This data is, right now, harvested from the Allied Warships section.
- Modified personal info for Commander Hans Eckermann
- Modified personal info for Commander Werner Teschand
- Modified personal info for Commander Eberhard Dahlhaus
- Modified personal info for Commander Sigmund Budzyn
02:35 - Events on this day greatly improved
I've added two large new sections to the popular page Events on this day; U-boat departures and arrivals and U-boats at sea on this day. Both sections are fairly self-explanatory and show a vast new view on this date in question. Please remember that you can of course view any date of the year on this page.
23:02 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of the following 19 German U-boat commanders of WWII; Wolfgang Barten, Gustav Borchardt, Rudolf Dübler, Walther Ehrhardt, Horst Günther, Hans Hellmann, Oskar Herwartz, Richard Nachtigall, Otto Niethmann, Kurt-Heinz Nicolay Günther Pfeffer, Konstantin von Puttkamer, Joachim Seeger, Otto Stoeffler, Werner Teschand, Raimund Tiesler, Max Ulber, Herbert Waldschmidt, and Friedrich Weitz.
21:47 - U 40 from WWI has been located
The German U-boat U 40 from WWI, sunk in 1915 off Scotland, has been located. More info and links.
00:33 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of the following 27 U-boat commanders of WWII; Wilhelm Ambrosius, Georg von Bitter, Sigmund Budzyn, Klaus Hornbostel, Helmut Kandzior, Hans Kolbus, Jürgen Krüger, Richard Lange, Hans-Gert Mahrholz, Helmut Manseck, Helmut Metz, Willy Meyer, Herbert Mumm, Kurt Petersen, Theodor Petersen, Ulrich Pietsch, Walter Pietschmann, Franz Säck, Werner von Schmidt, Fritz Schneewind, Clemens Schöler, Hermann Schulz, Hans-Joachim Schwantke, Hans-Adolf Schweichel, Wilhelm Spahr, Erhard Wendelberger and Werner Zapf.
23:30 - Most successful U-boat patrols
Completely rewrote an old page on the most successful U-boat patrols. It's now read from our patrols and successes databases and reflects our latest research. I also added an interesting table, and perhaps the most accurate measure of success, showing the patrols with most tons sunk per day.
21:50 - Youngest and oldest commanders on patrol
Just added a very interesting page showing 10 youngest and oldest German U-boat commanders during WWII. The young listing is especially interesting as these guys were incredibly young.
- Modified personal info for Commander Rudolf Baltz
23:59 - U-boat commanders that have passed away since the war
I've added a new page showing all the U-boat commanders from WWII that we have records of having passed away since the war ended. We still have several hundred men who are missing this information, of which many are of course still alive :)- Modified personal info for Commander Rudolf Baltz
23:10 - German U-boat U-864 to be raised in 2010
The U-864, sunk in Feb 1945 carrying about 70 tons of mercury, is to be raised from the seabed west of Bergen in 2010. Read more.
21:50 - U-boat commander passed away
The former U-boat commander Hans-Heinrich Hass (U-2324) passed away at the age of 86 at Altenholz, Germany on Jan 21 2009. He also commanded the post-war U-Hecht (S 171) in 1957, formerly known as U-2367.- Modified personal info for Commander Hans-Heinrich Haß
23:03 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of the following 4 U-boat commanders of WWII; Friedrich Braeucker, Horst Hamm, Hein Koch and Wolfgang Leu.
15:28 - Commanders lost during patrol
I managed to solve a complicated math and database problem in regards to the patrols that suffered the loss of U-boat commander. According to our records there were 5 U-boat commanders lost during a non-fatal patrol of their boat; Hans Benker (U-625, on 2 Jan 1944), Wolfgang Leu (U-921, on 24 May 1944), Rolf Mützelburg (U-203, on 11 Sept 1942), Wolfgang Riekeberg (U-637, on 26 April 1945) and Peter Zschech (U-505, on 24 Oct 1943). Other commander entries were not affected by this change.
- Modified movie title War At Sea - Surface Raiders And Underwater Killers, The.
- Added new movie title The War At Sea - Surface Raiders And Underwater Killers.
- Modified movie title U-234: Hitler's Last U-Boat.
- Modified movie title Agent Red.
- Modified movie title Buried on Sunday.
17:15 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of the following 4 U-boat commanders of WWII; Klaus Hartmann, Gerhard Lange, Alfred Radermacher and Gerhard Remus.- Modified personal info for Commander Horst Elfe
- Modified personal info for Commander Hans-Rutger Tillessen
- Modified personal info for Commander Rolf Mützelburg
21:51 - Recent updates on Allied ships
Added two new pages to the Allies section of the site; 50 latest Allied merchant ships updated and 100 latest Allied warships updated. These pages help track our work on these two large sections. Improved the Allied warships sidebar/menu as well.- Added errata for book North Atlantic Run.
- Modified personal info for Commander Graf Carl-Gabriel von Gudenus
- Modified movie title U-Boat War.
- Added new movie title Spies That Came from the Sea, The.
15:32 - Books and movies updates
Been working very hard on several separate problems and improvements on the Books and Movies sections. Both sections had some technical problems that have been solved. Pages such as the bestselling books and recently added books have been rewritten. Added over 30 new DVD Movies and our first Blu-ray items. Overall the movie section was improved more as it was a bit behind the times.- Added user submitted title Torpedoed.
- Added user submitted title U-Boat Combat Missions.
- Added user submitted title U-Boat Combat Missions.
- Modified movie title War File: North Atlantic Battles, The.
- Modified movie title Battle Ground: The Battle of Atlantic.
- Modified movie title Destination Tokyo (1943).
- Modified movie title U-571 (2000).
- Modified movie title War at Sea, The.
- Added new movie title The War at Sea.
- Added new movie title The War File: North Atlantic Battles.
- Added new movie title Battle Ground: The Battle of Atlantic.
- Modified movie title Battle of the Atlantic.
- Modified movie title Enemy Below (1957), The.
- Added new movie title Destination Tokyo (1943).
- Modified movie title Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Special Edition) (1981).
- Modified movie title Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Added new movie title Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Special Edition) (1981).
- Modified movie title Run Silent, Run Deep.
- Added new movie title U-571 (2000).
- Modified movie title Below.
- Modified movie title Below (2002).
- Modified movie title Cruel Sea, The (1953).
- Modified movie title 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Special Edition) (1954).
- Modified movie title Down Periscope (1996).
- Modified movie title Crimson Tide [Blu-ray].
- Added new movie title Below (2002).
- Added new movie title The Hunt for Red October (1990).
- Modified movie title Hunt for Red October (1990), The.
- Modified movie title In Enemy Hands.
- Added new movie title Down Periscope (1996).
- Added new movie title Cruel Sea, The (1953).
- Added new movie title 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Special Edition) (1954).
- Added new movie title Crimson Tide [Blu-ray].
- Modified movie title McKenzie Break, The.
- Modified movie title U-Boat War.
- Modified movie title U Boat War.
- Modified movie title Scorched Earth Series 1: U Boat War.
- Modified movie title Battlefield Series 6: War Against The U-Boats.
- Modified movie title Dead Men's Secrets - Secrets of the Sea Wolves.
- Modified movie title Warships: Kriegsmarine German Navy 1914-1945.
- Modified movie title Fighting Lady, The.
- Added new movie title Dead Men's Secrets - Secrets of the Sea Wolves.
- Added new movie title Warships: Kriegsmarine German Navy 1914-1945.
- Added new movie title Battlefield Series 6: War Against The U-Boats.
- Added new movie title Scorched Earth Series 1: U Boat War.
- Modified movie title Murphy's War (1971).
- Modified movie title Midway (Collector's Edition) (1976).
- Modified movie title Midway (Collector's Edition).
- Modified movie title Murphy's War.
- Modified movie title Up Periscope (1959).
- Modified movie title Morituri (1965).
- Added new movie title Morituri (1965).
- Modified movie title Up Periscope.
- Added new movie title Up Periscope.
- Modified movie title World War II in Color.
- Modified movie title The Fighting Lady.
- Modified movie title Fighting Seabees, The.
- Modified movie title Crash Dive.
- Added new movie title Crash Dive.
- Added new movie title World War II in Color.
- Added new movie title The Fighting Seabees.
- Added new movie title The Fighting Lady.
- Modified movie title In Harm's Way.
- Modified movie title Tora! Tora! Tora! (Two-Disc Collector's Edition).
- Modified movie title Victory at Sea - The Legendary World War II Documentary (History Channel).
- Modified movie title Battle 360 - Season 1 (History Channel).
- Modified movie title Memphis Belle.
- Modified movie title Sink the Bismarck!.
- Added new movie title Sink the Bismarck!.
- Modified movie title Enemy Below, The.
- Added new movie title The Enemy Below.
- Added new movie title Battle 360 - Season 1 (History Channel).
- Added new movie title Victory at Sea - The Legendary World War II Documentary (History Channel).
- Added new movie title In Harm's Way.
- Modified movie title Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition), The.
- Added new movie title The Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition).
- Modified movie title Operation Petticoat.
- Added new movie title Tora! Tora! Tora! (Two-Disc Collector's Edition).
- Added new movie title Midway (Collector's Edition).
- Modified movie title Submarine I-57 Will Not Surrender.
- Added new movie title Memphis Belle.
16:17 - Updated "Events on this day" again, plus better printing
I've updated the popular Events on this day page. Improved the display of Allied ships hit (convoys click-able now), added "Attacks on U-boats" and various other improvements. I also completely re-wrote the look and feel of the pages when you print them out. They are not 100% perfect yet but a lot better and very usable (not a given on the web).
14:41 - Added 2 new Galleries
Added the 15 photo post-war gallery of the Elbe II bunker in Hamburg that includes great shots of the trapped type XXI boats. Then added a great diving gallery, 11 photos, of the U-1277 off Portugal.
23:03 - U-boat commander photos added (WWI)
Added photos of the following 6 U-boat commanders of WWI; Heino von Heimburg (Pour le Merite), Herbert Pustkuchen, Wilhelm Rhein, Karl Georg Schuster, Gustav Siess (Pour le Merite) and Rudolf Singule.
18:10 - Surrender order of the German U-boat fleet
Added an article with the English translation of appendix A of the German surrender documents. That appendix describes how the German U-boats were to surrender to the Allied from May 7 1945.
15:45 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of the following 3 U-boat commanders of WWII; Hans-Heinz Linder, Hartwig Looks and Paul Siegmann.
2008
30 Deccember
21:54 - Allied ships hit and convoy information
I've linked together the details on each Allied ship attacked in WWII (see Kosmos II for example) and the convoy database already created. Now you can view the convoy attacked from the ship pages. I also added a "All Convoys hit" link to the Allied Merchants section to quickly find the convoy stuff.
- Modified personal info for Commander Emil Klusmeier
14:40 - Technical section updated
Updated the U-boat deck gun and flak (anti-aircraft) technical pages with nice illustrations taken from the large type VIIC vector file see in the site header. Improved the text and layout on the Electroboat pages as well.
17:12 - Sailor has arrived
ATTN Gudmundur
At 0738hrs GMT a sailor with periscope arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland. Mother and sailor doing very well.
22:55 - Books and movie store
I've been experimenting with a new book and movie store using the Amazon.com search engine. Check it out, might show you something I would not think of :)
20:35 - WWI U-boat successes linked from boat pages
I've added a way to see each boat's successes during World War One from its page. This greatly simplifies the use of our data for each boat. Example of this is the page for UB 36 that hit 9 ships during the war. From that page you can see a link called "See the 9 ships hit by UB 36" that shows the list.
- Modified personal info for Commander Albrecht Achilles
00:15 - Events on this day page fixed
Somehow the very popular page Events on this day had reverted into a very old version of itself. I had to rewrite large chunks of it and now it's back like it should have been. You can now again select the date you wish to view and from there view the merchants, men and boats you are interested in.
- Modified personal info for Commander Baron Adolf-Wilhelm von Hammerstein-Equord
18:37 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of 3 U-boat commanders; Gert Dültgen (U-391), Baron Adolf-Wilhelm von Hammerstein-Equord (U-149) and Walther Kell (U-204).
22:34 - Financial crisis in Iceland, short noteSince I have gotten several e-mails about my situation I decided to post a very short note here. Yes, things are extremely tough here in Iceland right now (and might get much worse in the coming months). This year we had about 90% devaluation of our currency BEFORE the international banking crisis hit and our banking system collapsed (they were overextended and ticking bombs anyway it turns out). This is the bad version of what is doing on in some other countries right now.
Surreal that only about 20-30 individuals could take a nation with vast resources and very educated population down in few years.
Britain leads the way in kicking Iceland while it's down right now (anti-terrorist laws used against our interests in the UK killed our last bank) and we're essentially in an embargo as currency does not flow in or out of the country. Small and large companies are collapsing as a a result (cannot pay for foreign goods or sell Icelandic goods). I and my family are still doing OK and we'll probably stay that way unless things get much worse from here. So, no worries there.
Some extreme stories floating in Europe and elsewhere are not true - we still have food, heating and shelter, and as soon as currency starts flowing in some form things should slowly get better. We hope. We need a few thousand French people to stage a proper protest or rebellion to oust the incompetent government and responsible officials.
On the upside Iceland is now the ideal country to do your Christmas shopping - you get lots of our currency for little of your own. The former 3rd most expensive country to shop in is now rather cheap for tourists.
- Modified personal info for Commander Horst Elfe
23:49 - Gallery: U-126 on patrol and training
Just added a wonderful 33-photo gallery of U-126 to our Gallery section. These photos were provided by Ariene Krause. 11 of these photos show battle damages to the boat.
15:19 - Added biography text to WWI U-boat commander Martin Niemöller
Added a biography information to one of the more famous and controversial U-boat commanders of WWI Martin Niemöller. He is much more famous for his work and life after the war though. After his WWI career he became, as a Protestant pastor, a Nazi supporter before turning against them and ended up barely surviving 8 years in concentration camps. He wrote the famous poem "First they came ..." about Nazi persecutions.- Modified personal info for Commander Hermann Lauth
- Modified personal info for Commander Lothar Martin
- Modified personal info for Commander Udo Heilmann
- Modified personal info for Commander Günter Kuhnke
- Modified personal info for Commander Dietrich Stellmacher
- Modified personal info for Commander Ralph Kapitzky
15:07 - New gallery: U-boat bunker at La Pallice
Added a new 12 page photo section of the U-boat bunker at La Pallice / La Rochelle, France. These photos were taken by Pascal Blijkers in 2007. Updated the page on the La Pallice / La Rochelle Uboat base as well.
14:32 - New gallery: U-boat bunker at La PalliceAdded a new 12 page photo section of the U-boat bunker at La Pallice / La Rochelle, France. These photos were taken by Pascal Blijkers in 2007.
00:57 - Heavily revised Emblems section
Rewrote the Emblems section with new material and functions. Now you can see all boats with emblems, search all our emblems, link emblems from U-boat pages and more. I also updated the Emblems of the Week item and made it more graphical. This was a missing section from our Conning Tower work. New I'll work on the Attacks on U-boats which is the final project not finished.
- Modified personal info for Commander Ulf Lawaetz
- Modified personal info for Commander Harald Grosse
- Modified personal info for Commander Günter Wieboldt
- Modified personal info for Commander Ewald Rademacher
- Modified personal info for Commander Heinz Geissler
- Modified personal info for Commander Horst Dieterichs
- Modified personal info for Commander Siegfried Rollmann
00:56 - Review of Gallipoli: Attack from the sea
After extended hiatus I've started reviewing books again and the first in this series is the excellent Gallipoli: Attack from the Sea by Victor Ruddeno. This book was just published in June by Yale University Press and deals with the Allied naval aspects of the Gallipoli campaign.
14:27 - I've been AWOL a bit
I've been working on my thesis for the last 6 weeks or so. Yesterday I handed in my first draft - final printed version due on 16 Aug. This means I now have a quick breather for the final dash in mid August. What am I writing about? Executive coaching in Iceland, its use and value. Very unrelated to the U-boats I am afraid :)
14:23 - Ships attacked by month
Just added a new page to the Allied Ships hit by U-boats section called Allied ship losses by month. This is page from our Conning Tower closure project, see this page for details.
- Modified personal info for Commander Hans-Joachim Gutteck
23:15 - U-boat commander photos added (WWI)
Added photos of 12 U-boat commanders of World War One; Werner Fürbringer, Ernst Hashagen, Hans Howaldt, Paul Hundius, Johannes Lohs, Karl Neumann, Max Viebeg, Willy Petz, Reinhold Saltzwedel, Erwin Wassner, Raimund Weisbach, and Ralph Wenninger.
13:51 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of 3 U-boat commanders; Hans-Heinrich Giessler, Heinrich Niemeyer and the WWI U-boat commander Georg Ritter von Trapp (of Sound of Music fame).
23:47 - U-boat commander photos added
Added photos of 7 U-boat commanders; Karl Boddenberg, Claus-Peter Carlsen, Fritz Hein, Hans-Joachim Horrer, Ernst-Bernward Lohse Rolf Rüggeberg and Hans Stock.
- Modified personal info for Commander Paul-Hugo Kettner
18:24 - WWI sections opened from Conning Tower
I've opened the remaining World War One major sections from the Conning Tower to the main site. These are The Commanders (470 officers) and Allied ships hit by U-boats (over 6600 ships). At the same time I created a new page called Most successful U-boat Commanders of WWI. As usual during this work I improved the newly opened pages in several places. WWI U-boat pages now link to U-boat officers for example. This almost completed our work of fully opening the Conning Tower (more information).
22:21 - Commander photos added
Added photos of 6 U-boat commanders; Paul-Hugo Kettner, Hans-Erwin Reith, Hellmut Rathke, Dietrich Rauch, Hans-Achim von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski and Max Wintermeyer.
20:38 - Two new interactive maps added
I've ported the last two Conning Tower maps over to the main site. They can be found on the main maps section. The maps in question are Ships attacked by U-boats (3184 positions and Ships attacked by U-boats during WWI (2372 positions).
02:09 - Back at the helm
I've been busy with my 4 final exams at school but now they are over and the summer should be more productive than the last few weeks. Will now continue our work on moving the Conning Tower material to the main site (more info). I've not been completely idle as I've added loads of ranks and decorations to the U-boat Commander section which grows by the day.
- Modified personal info for Commander Ralf Jürs
22:39 - U-boat Commander updates
Added photos of 34 World War Two U-boat commanders.
- Modified personal info for Commander Paul Brasack
- Modified personal info for Commander Günther Prien
- Modified personal info for Commander Albrecht Brandi
- Modified personal info for Commander Ernst Cordes
14:06 - Successes and Patrols opened from Conning Tower
I've just opened 2 major sections on the main site; U-boat patrols and U-boat successes. The U-boat Patrols database especially is a very large and detailed section. These sections are integrated into all relevant pages as needed. You can see the Successes of U-99 and then the patrols of U-552 as an example. The Patrols section then gives you a very detailed view of each patrol with ships hit, maps, positions and more. You can access these sections directly from the U-boat pages, like from U-158.
I also opened the smaller Revised U-boat fates page that lists updates in U-boat fates since the war (over 140 entries).
You can see the progress of this work on this page - we're nearly done!
22:15 - Gallery: U-534 being broken up
I've just added a small but nice gallery with photos of U-534 just after being cut in 4 parts taken by Mr. John Barr.
- Modified personal info for Commander Gerhard Nolte
- Modified personal info for Commander Peter Matthes
- Modified personal info for Commander Helmut Köster
- Modified personal info for Commander Alois König
- Modified personal info for Commander Hans-Jürgen Haupt
- Modified personal info for Commander Willi Hertin
- Modified personal info for Commander Martin Grasse
- Modified personal info for Commander Erwin Dohrn
- Modified personal info for Commander Karl-Heinz Herbschleb
- Modified personal info for Commander Werner Pietzsch
- Modified personal info for Commander Joachim Berger
- Modified personal info for Commander Horst-Thilo Queck
- Modified personal info for Commander Heinrich Schuch
- Modified personal info for Commander Hans Roeder-Pesch
- Modified personal info for Commander Friedrich-August Greus
- Modified personal info for Commander Wolf-Harro Stiebler
- Modified personal info for Commander Lothar Martin
- Modified personal info for Commander Max Kruschka
- Modified personal info for Commander Robert Lübsen
- Modified personal info for Commander Karl-Adolf Schlitt
- Modified personal info for Commander Rupprecht Stock
- Modified personal info for Commander Johann-Otto Krieg
- Modified personal info for Commander Wolfgang Aldegarmann
23:24 - Commander Crews opened from Conning Tower
Just finished coding the new Kriegsmarine Crews pages. These give you a complete listing of all U-boat Commanders from each crew (like the famous Olympia Crew of 1936). I also, of course, linked these crews to every Commander page as well, see Wilhelm Franken of Crew 35 for example.
- Modified personal info for Commander Ernst Lottner
- Modified personal info for Commander Georg Lange
- Modified personal info for Commander Heinrich Gehrken