Albert Lauzemis

Albert Lauzemis
Born	12 March 1918
Died	10 April 1944 (aged 26)
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1937–44
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands held	U-139 U-37 U-68
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class, German Cross in Gold

Albert Lauzemis (12 March 1918 – 10 April 1944) was a German U-boat commander^[1] in World War II.

Naval career

Albert Lauzemis joined Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in 1937. He went through U-boat training and U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) from June 1940 to February 1941. He trained for the Type IXC boats and on commissioning of U-68 by Kapitän zur See Karl-Friedrich Merten he became its Second Watch Officer (2WO). Lauzemis sailed on the boat for two patrols as 2WO and then for the third patrol as the First Watch Officer (1WO). He served on the boat until April 1942.^[2] During Lauzemis' stint on U-68 Merten sank eleven ships for over 63,000 tons. Lauzemis went through U-boat commander training with the 24th U-boat Flotilla in May 1942 and on 18 May he was given command of the small "duck" school boat U-139. He only served there for six weeks before taking command of the much larger Type IX U-37 on 1 July 1942. The hugely successful boat was by that time a school boat in the Baltic Sea. Lauzemis left the U-37 on 3 January 1943 and on the 21st took command of the U-68, his old boat. He left for his first war patrol as commander on 7 May 1943, heading for the Caribbean Sea. On the second patrol with the U-68 the outbound boat was attacked on 14 June 1943 having left base at Lorient only 2 days earlier. Lauzemis, the 2WO and another man were wounded and one lost overboard. The 1WO, Scherraus, brought the boat back to base. Lauzemis spent six weeks in hospital and was relieved of command during his recovery. During his five patrols, 228 days at sea, Lauzemis sank six ships for almost 28,000 tons.^[3] On 30 July Albert Lauzemis was again in command of his U-68 and took the boat out again on 14 August 1943. Lauzemis was killed when the boat was sunk on 10 April 1944 north-west of Madeira, Portugal, in position 33°24′N 18°59′W / 33.400°N 18.983°WCoordinates: 33°24′N 18°59′W / 33.400°N 18.983°W, by depth charges and rockets from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of the US escort carrier USS Guadalcanal.

Summary of Career

Ships sunk

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
13 March 1943	U-68	Cities Service Missouri	United States	7,506	Sunk
13 March 1943	U-68	Ceres	Netherlands	2,680	Sunk
21 October 1943	U-68	HMS Orfasy	Royal Navy	545	Sunk
22 October 1943	U-68	Litiopa	Norway	5,356	Sunk
31 October 1943	U-68	New Columbia	United Kingdom	6,574	Sunk
30 November 1943	U-68	Fort de Vaux	Free France	5,186	Sunk

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd Class
• Iron Cross 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold - 6 November 1943 (posthumous)

References

Notes

1. "Kapitänleutnant Albert Lauzemis". uboat.net. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
2. Busch, R.; Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
3. Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.