Klaus Ewerth

Klaus Ewerth
Klaus Ewerth
Born	(1907-03-28)28 March 1907 Angerburg, East Prussia (now Węgorzewo, Poland)
Died	20 December 1943(1943-12-20) (aged 36) Atlantic Ocean
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1925–43
Rank	Kapitän zur See
Commands	U-1 U-35 U-36 U-26 U-850
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords, U-boat War Badge, Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords

Klaus Ewerth (28 March 1907 – 20 December 1943) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He reached the rank of Kapitän zur See with the Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Career

Klaus Ewerth joined the Reichsmarine in 1925. He commissioned the first German U-boat since World War I, the small Type IIA U-1 on 29 June 1935. He left the U-1 on 30 September 1936 to prepare for his next command. Klaus Ewerth commissioned the new Type VIIA U-35 on 3 November 1936. He commanded the boat until 5 December 1936. He then commissioned the new U-36 on 16 December 1936. He would command the boat for almost 2 years, until 31 October 1938. From November 1938 to August 1939, Ewerth served as an instructor at the Naval Academy Mürwik.

Ewerth then commanded the U-26 from 1 August 1939 to 3 January 1940. He went out on two patrols with the boat, spending 74 days at sea. He sank 4 ships during these patrols, 3 of them were lost to mines laid by U-26. From January 1940 to February 1943 Ewerth served in several staff positions with the U-Boat Command before being assigned to U-boat familiarization in preparation for his command of a new U-boat from March to April 1943.

Death

On 17 April 1943, Ewerth commissioned the huge new Type IXD boat U-850. After almost seven months in training and preparation Ewerth took the boat from Kiel heading in to the South Atlantic as part of the Monsun Gruppe. 33 days later the boat was sunk with all hands, 66 men, on 20 December 1943 in the mid-Atlantic west of Madeira, Portugal by depth charges and Fido homing torpedoes from five Grumman Avenger and Grumman Wildcat aircraft (VC-19) of the American escort carrier USS Bogue.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
15 September 1939	Alex van Opstal	Belgium	5,965	Sunk
7 October 1939	SS Binnendijk	Netherlands	6,873	Sunk
13 November 1939	Loire	France	4,285	Sunk
22 November 1939	Elena R.	Greece	4,576	Sunk

Awards

• Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords
• U-boat War Badge
• Iron Cross 2nd Class
• War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords

Bibliography

• Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.