Wolfgang Kaufmann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)

Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 2,983 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 10,356 GRT
1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 625 tons

Born	23 Jun 1912		Würzburg
Died	27 Mar 1963	(50)	Bremen, Germany

Ranks

1 Apr 1933		Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1936		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov 1940		Kapitänleutnant

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-9	11 Jun 1940	20 Oct 1940	No war patrols
U-19	21 Oct 1940	8 Nov 1940	No war patrols
U-79	13 Mar 1941	23 Dec 1941	6 patrols (102 days)

Wolfgang Kaufmann was born on 23 Jun 1912 in Würzburg. He entered service with the Crew 1933. Wolfgang Kaufmann served as Gunnery Technical and Second Gunnery Officer (IIWO) on the light cruiser Leipzig until Sep 1939.

Wolfgang Kaufmann then underwent U-boat training from Sep 1939 to Apr 1940. He served as First Watch Officer (IWO) on the type IIB boat U-7 from Apr to Jun 1940, then commanded the type IIB boat U-9 from 11 Jun to 20 Oct 1940. Wolfgang Kaufmann commanded the type IIB boat U-19 from 21 Oct to 8 Nov 1940.

He was promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 Dec 1940 and served on the Staff of 2nd Flotilla from Nov 1940 to Jan 1941.

Wolfgang Kaufmann underwent U-boat Familiarization (Baubelehrung) from Jan to Mar 1941. He commissioned the new type VIIC boat U-79 on 13 Mar 1941. He took the boat our on 6 patrols, spending 102 days at sea during which he sank 3 ships (3,608 tons) and damaged 1 ship (10,356 tons).

U-79 was sunk on 23 December 1941 in the Mediterranean Sea north of Sollum, in position 32.15N, 25.19E, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Hasty and HMS Hotspur. 44 survivors (no casualties).

Wolfgang Kaufmann was taken POW on 23 Dec 1941, remaining a prisoner until 20 Jun 1947.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Special thanks to Mr. Fernando Almeida for details on date of death.

Patrol info for Wolfgang Kaufmann

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-79	5 Jun 1941	Kiel	5 Jul 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	31 days
2.	U-79	21 Jul 1941	Lorient	16 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	27 days
3.	U-79	14 Sep 1941	Lorient	18 Sep 1941	Lorient	Patrol 3,	5 days
4.	U-79	28 Sep 1941	Lorient	23 Oct 1941	Salamis	Patrol 4,	26 days
5.	U-79	29 Nov 1941	Salamis	8 Dec 1941	Salamis	Patrol 5,	10 days
6.	U-79	21 Dec 1941	Salamis	23 Dec 1941	Sunk	Patrol 6,	3 days
6 patrols, 102 days at sea

Ships hit by Wolfgang Kaufmann

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
11 Jun 1941	U-79	Havtor	1,524	nw
27 Jun 1941	U-79	Tibia (d.)	10,356	nl	HX-133
27 Jul 1941	U-79	Kellwyn	1,459	br	OG-69
21 Oct 1941	U-79	HMS Gnat (T 60) (t.)	625	br
			13,964
3 ships sunk (3,608 tons) and 1 ship damaged (10,356 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).

About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.