Friedrich Markworth

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
13 ships sunk, total tonnage 74,067 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 10,172 GRT
2 warships damaged, total tonnage 64 tons

Born  14 Feb 1915 Wolfenbüttel
Died  13 Jan 1994(78)Detmold-Dortmund, Germany


Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Markworth

Ranks

8 Apr 1934 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1935 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937 Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Sep 1941 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

24 Apr 1940 Iron Cross 2nd Class
13 Jul 1941 U-boat War Badge 1939
10 Nov 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
8 Jul 1943 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-66 22 Jun 1942 1 Sep 1943   4 patrols (308 days) 

Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Markworth began his naval career in April 1934. He served on the light cruiser Königsberg and the heavy cruiser Blücher before transferring to the U-boat force in July 1940. He had two patrols on U-103 as I WO (1st Watch Officer). In June 1942 he took over the very successful U-66, one of the five Operation Drumbeat boats, from Korvkpt. Richard Zapp.

On his first patrol on U-66 he sank nine ships with a total of 48,896 tons, mostly in Caribbean waters. He also laid mines at Port Castries on Santa Lucia on 20 July 1942, which sank three small Allied warships two weeks later.

During the third patrol Markworth was severely wounded when U-66 was attacked on 3 August 1943 by aircraft from the US escort carrier USS Card. On 6 August, U-66 met the fuel supply boat U-117, whose WO, Oblt. Frerks, took over command from Markworth and brought U-66 back to base. U-117 herself was sunk while U-66 was at her side (Niestlé, 1998).

Kptlt. Markworth left U-66 and in October 1943 became a training officer in the 23rd (Training) Flotilla. In March 1945 he transferred to the 25th (Training) Flotilla where he remained until the end of the war.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Friedrich Markworth

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-66 23 Jun 1942  Lorient  29 Sep 1942  Lorient  Patrol 1,99 days
2. U-66 9 Nov 1942  Lorient  11 Nov 1942  Lorient  Patrol 2,3 days
3. U-66 6 Jan 1943  Lorient  24 Mar 1943  Lorient  Patrol 3,78 days
4. U-66 27 Apr 1943  Lorient  1 Sep 1943  Lorient  Patrol 4,128 days
4 patrols, 308 days at sea

Ships hit by Friedrich Markworth

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
9 Jul 1942U-66 Triglav6,363yu
26 Jul 1942U-66 Tamandaré4,942bz
28 Jul 1942U-66 Weirbank5,150br
2 Aug 1942U-66 HMS MTB-339 (d.) [Mine]32br
2 Aug 1942U-66 HMS MTB-342 (d.) [Mine]32br
6 Aug 1942U-66 Rozewie766po
29 Aug 1942U-66 Topa Topa5,356am
30 Aug 1942U-66 Sir Huon6,049pa
30 Aug 1942U-66 West Lashaway5,637am
31 Aug 1942U-66 Winamac8,621brTRIN-3
9 Sep 1942U-66 Peiping6,390sw
 
1 Feb 1943U-66 Joseph Elise113fr
27 Feb 1943U-66 St. Margaret4,312brON-165
10 Jun 1943U-66 Esso Gettysburg10,173am
2 Jul 1943U-66 Bloody Marsh10,195am
22 Jul 1943U-66 Cherry Valley (d.)10,172am
 84,303

13 ships sunk (74,067 tons) and 3 ships damaged (10,236 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.


About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.


In Peril On The Sea

Bell, R.W. and Lockerbie, D.Bruce

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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