Karl-Friedrich Merten

Karl-Friedrich Merten
Karl-Friedrich Merten
Born	(1905-08-15)15 August 1905 Posen, German Empire
Died	2 May 1993(1993-05-02) (aged 87) Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany
Buried at	Cemetery in Waldshut-Tiengen
Allegiance	Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1928–45
Rank	Kapitän zur See
Unit	SSS Niobe Emden Elsass Schleswig-Holstein Bremse Königsberg Karlsruhe Leipzig U-38 2nd U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	escort ship F-7 U-68 26th U-boat Flotilla 24th U-boat Flotilla
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II Battle of Westerplatte Battle of Hel Operation Weserübung Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

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Spanish Civil War

World War II

Karl-Friedrich Merten (15 August 1905 – 2 May 1993) commanded the U-boat U-68 in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Merten was credited in Nazi propaganda with the sinking of 27 ships for a total of 170,151 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping. Merten joined the Reichsmarine (navy of the Weimar Republic) in 1926. He served on the light cruisers Karlsruhe and Leipzig during the Spanish Civil War patrols.

At the outbreak of World War II, he was stationed on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, participating in the Battle of Westerplatte and Battle of Hel. He transferred to the U-boat service in 1940, at first serving as a watch officer on U-38 before taking command of U-68 in early 1941. Commanding U-68 on five war patrols, patrolling in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Indian Ocean, he was awarded Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 June 1942 and the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 16 November 1942. On the second patrol, Merten helped rescue the crews of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis and the refuelling ship Python, which had been sunk by the Royal Navy. In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat Flotilla and in March 1943, Merten was given command of the 24th U-boat Flotilla. In February 1945, he was posted to the posted to the Führer Headquarters in Berlin. At the end of the war, he was taken prisoner of war by US forces and released again in late June 1945.

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