Jürgen von Rosenstiel

Jürgen von Rosenstiel
Born (1912-11-23)23 November 1912
Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, German Empire
Died 6 July 1942(1942-07-06) (aged 29)
Bay of Biscay
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch  Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1933–1943
Rank Kapitänleutnant
Commands held U-143
U-502
Battles/wars Spanish Civil War
World War II
Awards Spanish Cross in Silver without Swords, U-boat War Badge 1939, Iron Cross 1st Class

Jürgen von Rosenstiel (23 November 1912 – 6 July 1942)[1] was a German U-boat commander in World War II.

Naval career

Jürgen von Rosenstiel joined the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933. During his training he sailed on ships such as the Gorch Fock and then the cruiser Karlsruhe (taking part in a 239-day world trip in 1933 and again 55 days in Spanish waters in 1936-1937, where they joined the non-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast during the Spanish Civil War). Lastly he sailed on the school ship Schlesien from October 1938 to March 1939. He then joined the school ship in an official capacity, serving as radio technical officer and a watch officer on the Schlesien from July 1939 to March 1940 when he was then transferred to the U-boat force. From April to August 1940 Rosenstiel went through U-boat training and then joined the 2nd U-boat Flotilla as a supernumerary watch officer until September 1940.

Rosenstiel was Second Watch Officer (2WO) on the U-38 from September to November 1940 and then the boats first Watch Officer (1WO) until February 1941 when he began his U-boat Commander training with the 24th U-boat Flotilla and then with the 22nd U-boat Flotilla. In preparation of taking command of a new boat Rosenstiel went through U-boat familiarization at Deutsche Werft, Hamburg from 17 April 1941. On 31 May 1941 Rosenstiel commissioned the new Type IXC boat U-502 at Hamburg. He spent the next four months in the Baltic training his crew and preparing the boat for combat. On 29 September 1941 he took the boat out on its first of three war patrols. Rosenstiel would be very successful sinking 14 ships (78,843 gross register tons (GRT)) and damaging two more ships (23,797 GRT). He achieved his greatest successes with U-502 in the Caribbean. On the return leg of her third patrol, U-502 was sunk with all hands by a British Wellington bomber in the Bay of Biscay.

Summary of Career

Ships attacked

DateShipNationalityTonnageFate[2]
7 October 1941 Svend Foyn United Kingdom14,795 Damaged
16 February 1942 Tia Juana  United Kingdom2,395 Sunk
16 February 1942 Monagas  Venezuela 2,650 Sunk
16 February 1942 San Nicolas  United Kingdom2,391 Sunk
22 February 1942 J.N. Pew  United States9,033 Sunk
23 February 1942 Thalia  Panama8,329 Sunk
23 February 1942 Sun  United States 9,002 Damaged
11 May 1942 Cape of Good Hope  United Kingdom 4,963 Sunk
24 May 1942 Gonçalves Dias  Brazil4,996 Sunk
28 May 1942 Alcoa Pilgrim  United States 6,759 Sunk
3 June 1942 M.F. Elliott  United States6,940 Sunk
9 June 1942 Bruxelles  Belgium5,085 Sunk
9 June 1942 Franklin K. Lane  United States6,589 Sunk
15 June 1942 Scottsburg  United States8,001 Sunk
15 June 1942 Cold Harbor  Panama5,010 Sunk
15 June 1942 West Hardaway  United States5,702 Sunk

Awards

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Kapitänleutnant Jürgen von Rosenstiel". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-502". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
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