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Zurmühlen, Bernhard (U-600)

Date of birth:
February 23rd, 1909 (Bielefeld/North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
Date of death:
November 25th, 1943 (Punta Delgado/Azoren-Atlantic Ocean, Portugal)
Buried on:
German Submarines Memorial
Nationality:
German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

Biography

Bernhard Zurmühlen was posthumously promoted to Korvettenkapitän.

Crew 33
Promotions:
11 Apr 1934 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 Apr 1940 Kapitänleutnant
1 Nov 1943 Korvettenkapitän

Career:
00.00.1933: joined the Reichsmarine
00.08.1939-00.08.1940: Radio Technical Officer on the old training battleship 'Schleswig-Holstein'
00.08.1940-00.11.1940: Nachrichtenoffizier, Nachrichtenverfügungstruppe Brügge - Bruges
00.12.1940-00.03.1941: instructor at the Signals School / Nachrichtenschule at Mürwik Naval Academy
00.03.1941-00.07.1941 : U-boat training
00.07.1941-00.09.1941: U-boat Commander training - 24. Unterseebootsflottille
00.09.1941: graduated and assigned as supernumerary Watch Officer (WO) to U-331 (Kptlt. Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen)
00.10.1941: two patrols: U-331 managed to enter the Mediterranean past the heavily defended Straits of Gibraltar
25.11.1941: U-331 sank the British battleship HMS 'Barham'
00.11.1941: 8. Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilung, Baubelehrung U-600 to prepare for his own command
11.12.1941: commissioned the type VIIC U-boat U-600
11.12.1941-25.11.1943: Kdt, U-600
00.12.1941-00.04.1942: training in the Baltic
14.07.1942: first war patrol out of five patrols, sinking five ships (28,600 tons) and damaging three (19,230 tons)
00.03.1943: U-600 fought in one of the largest convoy battles of the war, as part of Wolfpack Raubgraf, against convoy HX 229. U-600 was one of the most successful boats, with one large ship sunk and two damaged
25.11.1943: newly-promoted KrvKpt. Zurmühlen was lost with the entire crew of 54 when U-600 was sunk in the North Atlantic north of Ponta Delgada by depth charges from the British frigates HMS 'Bazely' and HMS 'Blackwood'

credited with 6 patrols and 278 days

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Käpitanleutnant (Lieutenant)
Unit:
Kommandant, U 600, 3. Unterseebootsflottille
Awarded on:
February 27th, 1943
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Käpitanleutnant (Lieutenant)
Unit:
Kdt, U-600
Awarded on:
December 1942
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Oberleutnant zur See
Unit:
FTO, 'Schleswig-Holstein'
Awarded on:
1939
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Käpitanleutnant (Lieutenant)
Unit:
FTO, 'Schleswig-Holstein'
Awarded on:
November 1941
Flotten-Kriegsabzeichen
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Käpitanleutnant (Lieutenant)
Unit:
Kdt, U-600
Awarded on:
September 23rd, 1942
U-boot Kriegsabzeichen (ohne Brillianten)

Sources

  • - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
    - Patzwall K., Scherzer V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Geschichte und Inhaber Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X

Photo