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Home » U-Boat Articles » Most Successful U-Boat Attacks
Most Successful U-Boat Attacks
As with any other armed service, the men of the U-boat force was a mixed bunch with some achieving outstanding success while others met with dismal failure. The top five U-boat aces, for example, were responsible for more than 1 million tons of Allied devastation and almost 200 ships. The majority however, were in between where average performance was multiplied by great numbers and contributed to the total tonnage sunk during the war. Presented here is the summary of the most successful attacks during the Battle of the Atlantic.
Top Commanders by Tonnage
| Commander | Boat(s) | No. of Sorties |
No. of Ships Sunk |
Total Tonnage |
| Otto Kretschmer | U-23 (Type IIB) U-99 (Type VIIB) |
16 | 44 | 257,000 |
| Wolfgang Luth | U-9 (Type IIB) U-138 (Type IID) U-43 (Type IXA) U-181 (Type IXD) |
15 | 47 | 226,000 |
| Erich Topp | U-57 (Type IIC) U-552 (Type VIIC) U-3010 (Type XXI) U-2513 (Type XXI) |
12 | 35 | 197,000 |
| Heinrich Liebe | U-38 (Type IX) | 9 | 34 | 187,000 |
| Viktor Schutze | U-25 (Type IA) U-103 (Type IXB) |
7 | 35 | 180,000 |
| Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock | U-5 (Type IIA) U-96 (Type VIIC) U-256 (Type VIIC) |
10 | 25 | 179,000 |
| Karl Friedrich Merten | U-68 (type IXC) | 5 | 27 | 170,000 |
| Herbert Schultze | U-2 (Type IIA) U-48 (Type VIIB) |
8 | 26 | 170,000 |
Most Successful U-Boats
| U-Boat | Commander(s) | No. of Sorties | No. of Ships Sunk | Total Tonnage |
| U-48 (Type VIIB) | Herbert Schultze Hans Rudolf Rosing Heinrich Bleichrodt Diether Todenhagen Siegfried Atzinger |
12 | 52 | 308,000 |
| U-99 (Type VIIB) | Otto Kretschmer | 8 | 38 | 245,000 |
| U-103 (Type IXB) | Viktor Schutze Werner Winter Gustav-Adolf Janssen Heinz Murl Hans-Norbert Schunck |
11 | 45 | 237,000 |
| U-124 (Type IXB) | Georg-Wilhelm Schulz Johann Mohr |
11 | 48 | 225,000 |
| U-107 (Type IXB) | Gunther Hessler Harald Gelhaus Volker Simmermacher Karl-Heinz Fritz |
14 | 39 | 218,000 |
Most Successful Attacks Against Warships
| Commander | U-Boat | Date of Attack | Warship | Nation | Tonnage |
| Otto Schuhart | U-29 (Type VII) | 17 Sept, 1939 | Courageous (aircraft carrier) |
British | 22,500 |
| Gunther Prien | U-47 (Type VIIB) | 14 Oct, 1939 | Royal Oak (battleship) |
British | 31,250 |
| Friedrich Guggenberger | U-81 (Type VIIC) | 13 Nov, 1941 | Ark Royal (aircraft carrier) |
British | 27,000 |
| Hans Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen |
U-331 (Type VIIC) | 25 Nov, 1941 | Barham (battleship) |
British | 31,300 |
| Helmut Rosenbaum | U-73 (Type VIIB) | 11 Aug, 1942 | Eagle (aircraft carrier) |
British | 22,200 |
| Joachim Mohr | U-124 (Type IXB) | 24 Nov, 1941 | Dunedin (light cruiser) |
British | 4,850 |
| Ottokar Paulsen | U-557 (Type VIIC) | 15 Dec, 1941 | Galatea (light cruiser) |
British | 5,300 |
| Gerhard Bigalk | U-751 (Type VIIC) | 21 Dec, 1941 | Audacity (escort carrier) |
British | 11,000 |
| Johann Jebsen | U-565 (Type VIIC) | 10 Mar, 1942 | Naiad (light cruiser) |
British | 5,600 |
| Max-Martin Teichert | U-456 (Type VIIC) | 30 Apr, 1942 | Edinburgh (light cruiser) |
British | 10,600 |
| Franz Georg Reschke | U-205 (Type VIIC) | 16 Jun, 1942 | Hermione (light cruiser) |
British | 5,600 |
| Adolf Cornelius Piening | U-155 (Type IXC) | 15 Nov, 1942 | Avenger (escort carrier) |
British | 13,785 |
| Horst-Arno Fenski | U-410 (Type VIIC) | 18 Feb, 1944 | Penelope (light cruiser) |
British | 5,300 |
| Detlev Krankenhagen | U-549 (Type IXC/40) | 29 May, 1944 | Block Island (escort carrier) |
US | 9,400 |
| Hans-Jurgen Sthamer | U-354 (Type VIIC) | 22 Aug, 1944 | Nabob (escort carrier) |
British | 11,400 |
| Jurgen Kuhlmann | U-1172 (Type VIIC) | 15 Jan, 1945 | Thane (escort carrier) |
British | 11,400 |
Most Successful War Patrols
| Commander | U-Boat | Period | No. of Ships Sunk | Total Tonnage |
| Gunther Hessler | U-107 (Type IXB) | 03/41 – 07/41 | 14 | 86,699 |
| Georg Schewe | U-105 (Type IXB) | 02/41 – 06/41 | 12 | 71,450 |
| Viktor Schutze | U-103 (Type IXB) | 04/41 – 07/41 | 13 | 65,000 |
| Helmut Witte | U-159 (Type IXC) | 08/42 – 01/43 | 11 | 64,000 |
| Erwin Rostin | U-158 (Type IXC) | 05/42 – 06/42 | 12 | 63,000 |
| Otto Kretschmer | U-99 (Type VIIB) | 02/41 – 03/41 | 7 | 62,000 |
| Carl Emmermann | U-172 (Type IXC) | 08/42 – 12/42 | 8 | 60,000 |
| Werner Henke | U-515 (Type IXC) | 02/43 – 06/43 | 10 | 58,000 |
| Wolfgang Luth | U-181 (Type IXD2) | 09/42 – 01/43 | 12 | 58,000 |
| Reinhard Hardegen | U-123 (Type IXB) | 03/42 – 05/42 | 10 | 57,000 |
Atacks Against Large Passenger Liners
| Commander | U-Boat | Date of Attack | Name of Ship | Tonnage |
| Fritz Julius Lemp | U-30 (Type VIIA) | 3 Sep, 1939 | Athenia | 13,580 |
| Engelbert Endrass | U-20 (Type VIIB) | 6 Jun, 1940 | Carinthia | 20,300 |
| Hans Jemisch | U-32 (Type VII) | 28 Oct, 1940 | Empress of Britain | 42,300 |
| Werner Hartenstein | U-156 (Type IXC) | 12 Sep, 1942 | Laconia | 19,700 |
| Carl Emmermann | U-172 (Type IXC) | 10 Oct, 1942 | Orcades | 23,500 |
| Hans Ibbeken | U-178 (Type IXD) | 10 Oct, 1942 | Duchess of Atholl | 20,100 |
| Ernst-Ulrich Bruller | U-407 (Type VIIC) | 11 Nov, 1942 | Viceroy of India | 19,600 |
| Gustav Poel | U-413 (Type VIIC) | 14 Nov, 1942 | Warwick Castle | 20,100 |
| Horst Hamm | U-562 (Type VIIC) | 21 Dec, 1942 | Strathallan | 23,700 |
