Wilhelm Ambrosius

Wilhelm Ambrosius
Born	(1903-06-14)14 June 1903 Tuchel, West Prussia
Died	29 September 1955(1955-09-29) (aged 52) Durban, South Africa
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1921–1945
Rank	Fregattenkapitän
Commands held	U-43 2nd Minesweeper Flotilla
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	German Cross in Gold

Wilhelm Ambrosius (14 June 1903 in Tuchel, West Prussia – 29 September 1955) was a German U-boat officer in World War II and recipient of the German Cross in Gold (German: Deutsches Kreuz in Gold). The German Cross in Gold was awarded for repeated acts of bravery or achievement in combat. He enlisted in 1921 in the Weimar Republic's small navy and rose through the ranks to become a Mustang officer.

Career

Dates of Rank

3 October 1921	Rekrut (recruit)
3 March 1923	Funkgast (radio operator)
3 October 1923	Oberfunkgast (senior radio operator)
1 May 1925	Obermatrose (career change – able seaman)
1 November 1925	Matrosenobergefreiter (petty officer)
1 April 1926	Offiziersanwärter (officer cadet)
1 April 1928	Fähnrich zur See (ensign)
1 June 1930	Oberfähnrich zur See (senior ensign)
1 October 1930	Leutnant zur See (lieutenant)
1 October 1932	Oberleutnant zur See (senior lieutenant)
1 April 1936	Kapitänleutnant (captain lieutenant)
1 November 1940	Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain)
1 June 1944	Fregattenkapitän (frigate captain)^[1]^[2]

Decorations

6 June 1939	Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
21 August 1939	Spanisches Marineverdienstkreuz in Weiß am Bande 1. Klasse
15 December 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
April 1940	U-Boot Kriegsabzeichen
September 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
20 April 1943	War Merit Cross with Swords 2nd Class
1 September 1943	War Merit Cross with Swords 1st Class ^[1]
8 September 1944	German Cross in Gold as Fregattenkapitän in the 2. Minensuch-Flottille^[3]

Patrols

	U-Boot	Departure		Return		Days	Tonnage
1	U-43	6 November 1939	Wilhelmshaven	14 December 1939	Wilhelmshaven	39	11,772
2	U-43	13 March 1940	Wilhelmshaven	6 April 1940	Wilhelmshaven	25	0
3	U-43	12 April 1940	Wilhelmshaven	23 April 1940	Wilhelmshaven	12	0
4	U-43	13 May 1940	Wilhelmshaven	22 July 1940	Wilhelmshaven	71	29,456
	U-43	9 September 1940	Wilhelmshaven	12 September 1940	Bergen	4	0
5	U-43	15 September 1940	Bergen	18 October 1940	Lorient	34	5,802
Total						181	47,030^[1]

Ships attacked

Ambrosius sank eight ships sunk with a total of 47,030 gross register tons (GRT)

Data	U-Boat	Name of Ship	Tonnage	Nationality
16 November 1939	U-43	Arlington Court	4,915	United Kingdom
22 November 1939	U-43	Arijon	4,374	France
25 November 1939	U-43	Uskmouth	2,483	United Kingdom
21 June 1940	U-43	Yarraville	8,627	United Kingdom
30 June 1940	U-43	Avelona Star	13,376	United Kingdom
9 July 1940	U-43	Aylesbury	3,944	United Kingdom
17 July 1940	U-43	Fellside	3,509	United Kingdom
25 September 1940	U-43	Sulairia	5,802	United Kingdom
Total			47,030^[1]

References

Citations

1 2 3 4 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Wilhelm Ambrosius". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
↑ Busch & Röll 1999, p. 20–21.
↑ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 14.

Bibliography

Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.
Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.

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