The Men - The Commander listing

Ernst Bauer

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)

Successes
24 ships sunk for a total of 111,564 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 450 tons (lost aboard transport ships)
4 ships damaged for a total of 31,304 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 6,996 GRT

Born	3 Feb 1914		Fürth, Bavaria
Died	12 Mar 1988	(74)	Westerland / Sylt

Kptlt. Ernst Bauer

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 Mar 1941	Kapitänleutnant
5 Apr 1945	Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

8 Nov 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
8 Nov 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
1 Aug 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
16 Mar 1942	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-120	20 Apr 1940	25 Nov 1940	No war patrols
U-126	22 Mar 1941	28 Feb 1943	5 patrols (391 days)

Personal information

Kptlt. Ernst Bauer

Ernst Bauer began his naval career in April 1933. After more than a year on the light cruiser Königsberg, he transferred to the U-boat force in January 1938.

He was watch officer on U-10 and U-37 before commissioning the training boat U-120 in April 1940. He left the boat in November 1940 and then commissioned the type IXC U-126 in March 1941.

On his 5 successful patrols with U-126 he operated mostly in Caribbean and African waters. He left the boat in March 1943 and served as training officer in the 27th Flotilla.

In October 1944 he became the commander of the 27th Flotilla and during the last days of war he was transferred to the 26th Flotilla. In 1955 he joined the German Bundesmarine and held several staff positions, retiring in 1972 as Kapitän zur See.

Patrol info for Ernst Bauer

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-126	5 Jul 1941	Kiel	24 Aug 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	51 days
2.	U-126	24 Sep 1941	Lorient	13 Dec 1941	Lorient	Patrol 2,	81 days
3.	U-126	2 Feb 1942	Lorient	29 Mar 1942	Lorient	Patrol 3,	56 days
4.	U-126	25 Apr 1942	Lorient	25 Jul 1942	Lorient	Patrol 4,	92 days
5.	U-126	19 Sep 1942	Lorient	7 Jan 1943	Lorient	Patrol 5,	111 days
5 patrols, 391 days at sea

Ships hit by Ernst Bauer

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
20 Jul, 1941	U-126	Canadian Star	8,293		br		damaged
27 Jul, 1941	U-126	Erato	1,335		br	OG-69
27 Jul, 1941	U-126	Inga I	1,304		nw	OG-69
4 Aug, 1941	U-126	Robert Max	172		br
14 Aug, 1941	U-126	Sud	2,589		yu	HG-70
10 Oct, 1941	U-126	HMS LCT-102 [Trans.]	450		br	OS-7
10 Oct, 1941	U-126	Nailsea Manor	4,926		br	OS-7
19 Oct, 1941	U-126	Lehigh	4,983		am
20 Oct, 1941	U-126	British Mariner	6,996		br		total loss
13 Nov, 1941	U-126	Peru	6,961		br

2 Mar, 1942	U-126	Gunny	2,362		nw
5 Mar, 1942	U-126	Mariana	3,110		am
7 Mar, 1942	U-126	Barbara	4,637		am
7 Mar, 1942	U-126	Cardonia	5,104		am
8 Mar, 1942	U-126	Esso Bolivar	10,389		pa		damaged
9 Mar, 1942	U-126	Hanseat	8,241		pa
12 Mar, 1942	U-126	Olga	2,496		am
12 Mar, 1942	U-126	Texan	7,005		am
13 Mar, 1942	U-126	Colabee	5,518		am		damaged
3 Jun, 1942	U-126	Høegh Giant	10,990		nw
15 Jun, 1942	U-126	Dutch Princess	125		br
16 Jun, 1942	U-126	Arkansan	6,997		am
16 Jun, 1942	U-126	Kahuku	6,062		am
27 Jun, 1942	U-126	Leiv Eiriksson	9,952		nw
29 Jun, 1942	U-126	Mona Marie	126		ca
1 Jul, 1942	U-126	Warrior	7,551		am
3 Jul, 1942	U-126	Gulfbelle	7,104		am		damaged
1 Nov, 1942	U-126	George Thatcher	7,176		am
4 Nov, 1942	U-126	Oued Grou	792		br
5 Nov, 1942	U-126	New Toronto	6,568		br	TS-23
			150,314
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. [Trans.] indicates the vessel was lost while being transported on another vessel.