Years of service 1929–45 Commands held U-161
U-129
U-3524 | Rank Korvettenkapitan Name Hans Witt | |
Born 25 December 1909
Bautzen ( 1909-12-25 ) Died 13 February 1980(1980-02-13) (aged 70)
Hamburg-Poppenbuttel Allegiance Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany Service/branch Reichsmarine
Kriegsmarine | ||
Hans-Ludwig Witt (25 December 1909 in Bautzen – 13 February 1980 in Hamburg-Poppenbuttel) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. With nineteen ships sunk for a total of 100,773 gross register tons (GRT), he was the thirty-second highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II.
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Career
Witt joined the Reichsmarine in 1929, and in October 1940 entered U-boat training, taking command of U-161 as part of training flotilla 4th U-boat Flotilla in July 1941. He then took command of U-129 as a member of 2nd U-boat Flotilla in May 1942. Witt sailed on three successful combat patrols in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean between May 1942 and July 1943, sinking 19 ships for a total of 100,773 GRT, including Mexican tankers Tuxpam and Las Choapas.
Witt spent a year on the BdU staff, before returning to active duty in January 1945 commanding U-3524, one of the new Type XXI Elektroboote that were commissioned under U-boat commanders such as Adalbert Schnee, Peter-Erich Cremer, Carl Emmermann and Erich Topp to try and turn the tide in the Atlantic. However, Witt sailed on no combat patrols and sank no ships in his new U-boat. He died in 1980.