Engelbert Endrass

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German WW2 U-Boat commander

title: "Engelbert Endrass" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1911-births", "1940s-missing-person-cases", "1941-deaths", "kriegsmarine-personnel-killed-in-world-war-ii", "german-military-personnel-of-the-spanish-civil-war", "people-from-bamberg", "military-personnel-from-the-kingdom-of-bavaria", "people-who-died-at-sea", "recipients-of-the-knight's-cross-of-the-iron-cross-with-oak-leaves", "reichsmarine-personnel", "u-boat-commanders-(kriegsmarine)", "captains-who-went-down-with-the-ship", "german-sea-captains", "military-personnel-from-bavaria"] description: "German WW2 U-Boat commander" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Endrass" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German WW2 U-Boat commander ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

FieldValue
nameEngelbert Endrass
birth_date
death_date
birth_placeBamberg
death_place, Atlantic Ocean, off Azores

| | image | Engelbert Endrass.jpg | | allegiance | Nazi Germany | | serviceyears | 1935–41 | | rank | Kapitänleutnant | | branch | | | commands | | | unit | 7th U-boat Flotilla | | awards | Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves | ::

|name=Engelbert Endrass |birth_date= |death_date= |birth_place=Bamberg |death_place=, Atlantic Ocean, off Azores

|image=Engelbert Endrass.jpg |caption= |nickname= |allegiance=Nazi Germany |serviceyears=1935–41 |rank=Kapitänleutnant |branch= |commands=

|unit=7th U-boat Flotilla |battles= |awards=Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves |relations= |laterwork=

Engelbert Endrass () (2 March 1911 – 21 December 1941) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He commanded the and the , being credited with sinking 22 ships on ten patrols, for a total of of Allied shipping, to purportedly become the 23rd highest claiming U-boat commander of World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Endrass.

Early life and career

Endrass began his naval career in April 1935. After some months on the cruiser and service on escort ships, he was assigned in October 1937 to the U-boat force. He joined in December 1938 as Leutnant zur See.

World War II

Engelbert Endrass was Watch Officer when his commanding officer, Günther Prien penetrated the defences at Scapa Flow attack and sank the battleship in October 1939. The snorting bull emblem on U-47s conning tower was painted by Endrass before they returned. Endrass painted this symbol on all subsequent boats on which he served. The reason, given by Endrass for this, was the sight of Prien's demeanour as U-47 entered Scapa Flow, "his frowning face and hunched shoulders reminded him of a bull in a ring." Endrass remained on U-47 until May 1940, when he left and took over command of from the relatively unsuccessful Herbert Sohler, who had only sunk two ships in five patrols. Endrass had immediate success. He sank , an auxiliary cruiser, on his first patrol. The patrol yielded over 4,000 tons.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/U47logo.png" caption="Snorting bull emblem on the conning tower painted by Endrass"] ::

Endrass' success continued on his second patrol with U-46, sinking five more ships, including another British auxiliary cruiser, although the main periscope was damaged. The ship carried 23,225 steel drums and 2,700 wooden barrels and 440 tons of timber. Endrass was forced to use three torpedoes, for the drums fitted to British ships in this period were to provide extra ballast. It made sinking them more difficult and more expensive in munitions expenditure. Her loss prompted the Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches, Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, to order all Liverpool–bound ships to remain in convoy until past the Mull of Kintyre; 277 survivors were rescued by and .

Endrass and six other U-boats intercepted Convoy SC 7 and sank many ships. U-46 sank three during the three-day battle. The commander followed this up with an attack on Convoy HX 79, sinking two ships.

Five patrols later he received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. The presentation was made on 30 June 1941 by Adolf Hitler at the Führer Headquarters of the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) in Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn in Poland).

In September 1941 Endrass left U-46, which would become a training vessel and a month later took over . On his second patrol, he was killed on 21 December 1941 while operating against Convoy HG 76, when U-567 was sunk with all hands by depth charges from a and a , northeast of the Azores.

Awards

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • {{Cite book |last1=Busch |first1=Rainer |last2=Röll |first2=Hans-Joachim |year=2003 |title=Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 |trans-title=The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945 |language=de |location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany |publisher=Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn |isbn=978-3-8132-0515-2
  • {{Cite book |last=Fellgiebel |first=Walther-Peer |year=2000 |orig-year=1986 |title=Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile |trans-title=The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches |language=de |location=Friedberg, Germany |publisher=Podzun-Pallas |isbn=978-3-7909-0284-6
  • {{cite book |last=Niestlé |first=Axel |year=1998 |title=German U-boat Losses During World War II: Details of Destruction |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-1-5575-0641-2
  • {{Cite book |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer |year=1999 |title=Axis submarine successes of World War Two: German, Italian, and Japanese submarine successes, 1939-1945 |publisher=Greenhill Books |isbn=978-1557500298
  • {{cite book |last1=Rohwer |first1=Jürgen |last2=Hümmelchen |first2=Gerhard |author-link1=Jürgen Rohwer |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |year=2005 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location= Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-119-2
  • {{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Daniel |last2=Taylor |first2=Bruce |year=2011 |title=U-Boat Attack Logs: A Complete Record of Warship Sinkings from Original Sources, 1939–1945 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84832-118-2
  • {{Cite book |last=Scherzer |first=Veit |year=2007 |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives |language=de |location=Jena, Germany |publisher=Scherzers Militaer-Verlag |isbn=978-3-938845-17-2
  • {{cite book |last=Terraine |first=John |author-link=John Terraine |title=Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars, 1916–1945 |publisher=Leo Cooper |location=London |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-85052-760-5
  • {{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Franz |year=1997 |title=Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K |trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K |language=de |location=Osnabrück, Germany |publisher=Biblio-Verlag |isbn=978-3-7648-2299-6
  • {{Cite book |last=Vause |first=Jordan |year=1997 |title=Wolf: U-boat Commanders in World War II |location=Washington |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-1557508744

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1911-births1940s-missing-person-cases1941-deathskriegsmarine-personnel-killed-in-world-war-iigerman-military-personnel-of-the-spanish-civil-warpeople-from-bambergmilitary-personnel-from-the-kingdom-of-bavariapeople-who-died-at-searecipients-of-the-knight's-cross-of-the-iron-cross-with-oak-leavesreichsmarine-personnelu-boat-commanders-(kriegsmarine)captains-who-went-down-with-the-shipgerman-sea-captainsmilitary-personnel-from-bavaria