Karl Fleige

Kapitänleutnant

Successes
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 400 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,745 GRT
1 warship damaged, total tonnage 56 tons

Born	5 Sep 1905		Hildesheim
Died	16 Dec 1975	(70)	Erzhausen, near Bad Gandersheim, Germany

Oberleutnant zur See Karl Fleige

Ranks

1 Apr 1942		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1942		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1945		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

		U-boat War Badge 1939
		Iron Cross 2nd Class
		Iron Cross 1st Class
8 Oct 1943		German Cross in Gold
18 Jul 1944		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-18	6 May 1943	1 May 1944	6 patrols (179 days)
U-18	8 Jun 1944	25 Aug 1944	1 patrol (24 days)

Oblt. z. S. Karl Fleige on board

Karl Fleige joined the Reichsmarine in October 1924 as a seaman. He spent the next few years on torpedo boats and cruisers and the sailing school ship (Segelschulschiff) Gorch Fock.

In October 1937 he transferred to the U-boat force, and after some months of training joined U-20 under the command of Oblt. Karl-Heinz Moehle in May 1938. When Kptlt. Moehle commissioned the type IXB U-123 in June 1940 he asked for his former Obersteuermann to join him, and thus Karl Fleige served for over a year on the successful U-123.

Karl Fleige left U-123 in August 1941 to join the 5th (Training) Flotilla in Kiel as Flotillensteuermann, once again under the command of Karl-Heinz Moehle.

In April 1942 he commenced commander training, and in December 1942 took command of the type IIB U-boat 'duck' U-18. During August 1944 U-18 made a total of seven successful patrols in the Black Sea.

From December 1944 he was an instructor with 24th (Training) Flotilla and the 1st ULD (U-Boot-Lehrdivision). Following Germany's surrender he spent three months as a POW.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).

Patrol info for Karl Fleige

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-18	26 May 1943	Konstanza	9 Jun 1943	Konstanza	Patrol 1,	15 days
2.	U-18	16 Jun 1943	Konstanza	29 Jun 1943	Sevastopol	Patrol 2,	14 days
3.	U-18	3 Jul 1943	Sevastopol	22 Jul 1943	Konstanza	Patrol 2,	20 days
4.	U-18	21 Aug 1943	Konstanza	24 Sep 1943	Konstanza	Patrol 3,	35 days
5.	U-18	27 Oct 1943	Konstanza	24 Nov 1943	Konstanza	Patrol 4,	29 days
6.	U-18	29 Jan 1944	Konstanza	29 Feb 1944	Konstanza	Patrol 5,	32 days
7.	U-18	25 Mar 1944	Konstanza	27 Apr 1944	Konstanza	Patrol 6,	34 days
8.	U-18	24 Jul 1944	Konstanza	16 Aug 1944	Konstanza	Patrol 7,	24 days
7 patrols, 203 days at sea

Ships hit by Karl Fleige

Date	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons
29 Aug 1943	U-18	Karl Fleige	TSC-11 Dzhalita	400	sj
30 Aug 1943	U-18	Karl Fleige	SKA-0132 (d.)	56	sj
18 Nov 1943	U-18	Karl Fleige	Josif Stalin (d.)	7,745	sj
				8,201
1 ship sunk (400 tons) and 2 ships damaged (7,801 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.