Years of service 1928–43 Name Karl Thurmann | Rank Korvettenkapitan Commands held German submarine U-553 | |
Born 4 September 1909
Mulheim, Ruhr ( 1909-09-04 ) Allegiance Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany Service/branch Reichsmarine
Kriegsmarine Battles/wars World War II
Battle of the Atlantic Awards Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class
U-boat War Badge
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Died January 20, 1943, Atlantic Ocean Battles and wars Battle of the Atlantic, World War II Unit 7th U-boat Flotilla, 3rd U-boat Flotilla | ||
Karl Thurmann (4 September 1909 – 20 January 1943) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
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Life and career
Thurmann was born in Mulheim, Ruhr. He joined the Reichsmarine in April 1928, serving aboard the light cruisers Emden and Koln.
After training, and sailing on a patrol as Kommandantenschuler (Commander-in-Training") aboard U-29 under Otto Schuhart, Thurmann commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-553 on 23 December 1940. Thurmann took U-553 out on nine patrols in 1941 and 1942, and sank 12 merchant ships totalling one warship, and damaged two more.
On 16 January 1943, Thurmann left La Pallice, France, on his tenth patrol. On 20 January, he sent the radio message: Seerohr unklar ("Periscope not clear"). U-553 was never heard from again and her fate remains a mystery.
Ships attacked
As a U-boat commander of U-553 Karl Thurmann is credited with the sinking of 12 ships for a total of 61,390 gross register tons (GRT), further damaging two ships of 15,273 GRT and sinking one warship, the HMS Gladiolus, of 925 metric tons (910 long tons; 1,020 short tons).