Claus Korth

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Claus Korth (* 7. November 1911 in Berlin ; † 24. January 1988 in Kiel ) was a German naval officer , submarine - Commander and Knight's Cross of the Navy in World War II . At the end of the Second World War he was a corvette captain . In the German Navy , he achieved the rank of sea ​​captain .

Imperial Navy

Claus Korth joined the Reichsmarine on April 1, 1932 ( crew 1932 ) and completed his infantry training with the 2nd division of the ship master division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund . On July 1, 1932, he came to the Niobe for board training . On July 26, 1932, the sailing training ship was on its way from Fehmarn to Warnemünde . The lightship Fehmarnbelt had just passed when the commandant, Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Ruhfus , had the upper sails salvaged because of thunderclouds. Within minutes, the sailor was seized by a gust of wind and while the wind turned 120 ° at the same time, the training ship was pushed under water like a screw. Because of the summer temperatures, various hatches were open, which allowed so much water to penetrate the ship within a short time that it sank after a few minutes. 69 officers , officer cadets and sailors drowned. Only 40 men, including Claus Korth, were rescued by boats from the lightship and the Hamburg freighter Theresia LM Russ .

After the sinking of the Niobe , Korth returned to the 2nd Division of the Baltic Sea Ship Main Division to finish his on-board training on October 26, 1932 on the Asta . On November 4, 1932 he was promoted to sea ​​cadet and on November 6, 1932 transferred to the light cruiser Cologne . On January 1, 1934 he became an ensign at sea , and on January 3, 1934 the ensign courses for Korth, u. a. the torpedo course, the blocking course and the main course for ensigns at the Mürwik Naval School . He received his on-board training on the ironclad Germany , his artillery training at the ship artillery school in Kiel-Wik , and his submarine training at the U-boat school in Kiel .

Navy

On December 16, 1935, Korth, since September 1, 1935, Oberfähnrich zur See , was transferred to the ironclad Germany and promoted to lieutenant on January 1, 1936 . On March 30, 1936, he was transferred to the submarine weapon and assigned to the submarine school. On January 31, 1937, he came to the Deschimag shipyard for building instruction and on April 15, 1937, he became a watch officer on the new U 32 boat . On October 1, 1937, he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea . On December 12, 1937 he was appointed first watch officer on U 32 . He held this position until July 4, 1938. Then he was again commanded to various courses and on December 29, 1938, commander of U 57 .

With U 57 he took part in the Spain mission and received the Spanish Cross in bronze with the other crew members .

Enterprises U 57

He completed his first patrol in World War II from August 15 to September 18, 1939, without achieving any success. The second venture lasted from October 25 to November 5, 1939 and was also unsuccessful. During this voyage, Korth was promoted to lieutenant captain on November 1, 1939 . Only on his third patrol from November 12 to 23, 1939, Korth was able to sink two ships with 2949 GRT . On his fourth venture from December 5 to 16, 1939, a ship with 1,173 GRT was sunk. On his fifth patrol from January 16 to 25, 1940, Korth put a mine barrier on which a ship with 8,240 GRT sank. He was also able to sink a ship with 1304 GRT. From February 8th to 25th, 1940 Korth drove his sixth patrol and sank a ship with 10,191 GRT. He was also able to damage a ship with 4996 GRT. Korth completed his seventh operation from March 14th to 29th, 1940 and sank a ship with 5742 GRT. On the eighth war patrol took U 57 at the operation weserübung part. but could not achieve any success because of several torpedo failures. After this voyage, Korth gave up command of U 57 .

Enterprises U 93

On July 30, 1940, he put U 93 into service. Korth made his first patrol with this boat from October 5th to 25th, 1940. On this voyage three ships with 13,214 GRT were sunk. On the following patrol from November 7th to 29th, 1940, no successes were achieved. On the next patrol from January 11 to February 14, 1942, four ships with 23,943 GRT were sunk. Korth drove his fourth venture with U 93 from May 3rd to June 10th 1941. A ship with 6235 GRT was sunk. For his successes, Korth was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on May 29, 1941 . On his 13th and last patrol from July 12th to August 21st, 1941 again no successes were achieved. Due to his mental constitution, Korth was replaced after this venture. On 13 patrols he sank 15 ships with a total of 72,991 GRT and damaged one ship with 4996 GRT.

Training and staff officer

On 1 October 1941, Korth 3. Admiral staff officer at the 2nd Admiral of Submarines , the then Rear Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg . On June 1, 1942, he became 1st training officer in the 27th U-Flotilla (under commanders Werner Hartmann and Erich Topp ), and on January 1, 1944, he was promoted to Corvette Captain. On March 6, 1944, he came to the Torpedoversuchsanstalt Nord in Eckernförde as a military adviser .

post war period

At the end of the war, Korth was taken prisoner, from which he was released on November 15, 1945. After the war he completed an apprenticeship as a gardener in the "Obst Muttergarten" in Kiel and in 1948 went into business for himself.

Federal Navy

In 1952, Claus Korth went to the Blank Office and then worked on building the German Navy . From 1952 to 1953 he worked in Paris as personal assistant to the German Senior Officer at EVG . In 1954 and 1955 he was involved in setting up the naval personnel department in Bonn and was employed there from 1955 to 1957 as a consultant in the personnel department III C Navy in the Federal Ministry of Defense ; there he was promoted to frigate captain on November 26, 1955 . In June 1957 he became head of the torpedo test station in Eckernförde , in October 1962 department head in Defense Division I in Kiel , in October 1964 department head for torpedo and anti-submarine weapons in the naval inspection naval weapons and in February 1968 group leader there. In this position he was promoted to sea captain on September 14, 1967 . On March 31, 1970, Korth was retired. In retirement he lived in Altenholz near Kiel in the neighborhood of Karl H. Peter .

Awards

Publications

  • Wolfgang Lüth / Claus Korth: Boat attacks again! Knight's Cross bearers tell , Berlin: Verlag Erich Klinghammer 1943.

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon from September 1939 to May 1945. Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-8132-0515-0 .
  • Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945. Podzun-Pallas, Friedburg 2000, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 .
  • Clemens Range : The knight's cross bearers of the Navy. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-87943-355-0 .
  • Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 467.
  2. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/uboote/bdu.htm
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Busch & Röll 2003, p. 137.
personal data
SURNAME Korth, Claus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer, most recently sea captain in the German Navy
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1988
Place of death Kiel