Allegiance Nazi Germany Rank Oberleutnant zur See Service/branch Kriegsmarine | Years of service 1938–45 Name Otto Westphalen | |
 | ||
Born 12 March 1920
Hamburg ( 1920-03-12 ) Battles/wars World War II
Battle of the Atlantic Died January 9, 2008, Hamburg, Germany Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Battles and wars Battle of the Atlantic, World War II Unit 21st U-boat Flotilla, 13th U-boat Flotilla Commands held German submarine U-121, German submarine U-968 | ||
Otto Westphalen (12 March 1920 in Hamburg – 9 January 2008) 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.
Contents
Career
Westphalen joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1938, and took part in the invasion of Poland aboard the battleship Schlesien a year later. He then served on the torpedo boat Kondor for six months before joining the U-boat force in October 1940.
He sailed on four patrols as watch officer of U-566 in 1941, and in May 1942 took command of the school boat U-121. In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, and was attached to 13th U-boat Flotilla, based at Trondheim, Norway, for operations against convoys in the Arctic Sea.
Westphalen sailed on seven combat patrols between March 1944 and May 1945, though all his victories were made in February and March 1945; he sank three merchant ships, damaged another, and sank the British sloops HMS Lark and HMS Lapwing. On 29 April 1945 he attacked but missed HMS Goodall which was sunk an hour later by U-286.
In January 1944 Westphalen served on the military court which sentenced Oskar Kusch, the commander of U-154, to death on charges of "defeatism".
Westphalen surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik.