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Karl-Friedrich Merten Signed Naval Art
Naval Art  Signatures M to R  Merten, Karl-Friedrich |
Karl-Friedrich Merten
Karl-Friedrich Merten was born in 1905, joining the navy in 1928. After a ten year stint on warships and serving on the WW1 battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on the Polish Westerplatte in Septmeber 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1st May 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Oceans. U-68 was in the U-boat wolfpack Eisbar (Polar Bear) which in the course of a few weeks during September - October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa. In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat Flotilla in Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten moved to the 24th U-Boat Flotilla in Memel where he also was the flotilla commander. This was the training flotilla for future Commanders. After Merten gave up command of U-68, the boat had 4 commanders during the next 15 months. On April 10th 1944 U-68 was sunk off Madeira, Portugal by aircraft from the carrier USS Guadalcanal. A lookout survived. The remaining 56 crew members went down with the boat. After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine river along with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. Later he wroked in the shipbuilding industry. In his time commanding U-68 he sank 27 ships - over 170 thousand tons of shipping, making him the 7th most successful u-boat Ace. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. Karl-Friedrich Merten died 2nd May 1993.
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| Knights Cross | Oak Leaves |
| Karl-Friedrich Merten - Signed Naval Art Naval Crew Signatures |
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| Text for the above items : |
Catalina Attack by John Wynne Hopkins. D for Donald of 270 squadron, Royal Air Force, out of Freetown, West Africa operating in the Atlantic Ocean. It was during routine operation search that D for Donald surprised U515 on the surface and immediately attacked the submarine. U515 in putting up stiff resistance blew a large hole in the hull of D for Donald and the magazine of the starboard side 0.5 twin Browning was hit and the subsequent shrapnel wounded both blister gunners. U515 escaped but was sunk by an American naval hunter group a year later. D for Donald limped back to base and managed to make the beach before it would sink completely. |
The Element of Surprise by Robert Barbour. On 20th October 1943, Wildcat and Avenger aircraft from the Carrier US Core, on patrol north of the Azores, surprised U378, a type VIIC U-boat which had been active in that area. The element of surprise was so complete that the submarines guns remained unmanned throughout the action. |
U-203 Under Cover of Darkness by Anthony Saunders. October 1941, U203 approaches her mooring on the western bank at the French port of Brest. Her fate would be sealed by depth charges from the destroyer HMS Pathfinder and aircraft from the escort carrier HMS Biter while attacking the convoy ONS 4 south of Greenland on April 25th 1943. |
The Hunt for U-Boat 134 by David Pentland. Lockheed Vega PV-1 VB32 Squadron in the Santaren Channel. From this point on the U-boat was hunted and harassed only to be sunk in the Bay of Biscay. |
U-201 Deadly Chase by Anthony Saunders. 17th February 1943, U-201 with U-69 were ordered to intercept the westbound convoy ONS165. With fuel low U-201 was eventually forced to surface following a depth charge attack and rammed by the Destroyer HMS Fame. |
Time to Go by Robert Barbour. A type VIIC U-boat of the German navys 6th-7th Flotilla slowly manouevres within the confines of the Saint Nazaire submarine pens. The type VIIC was armed with 4 torpedo tubes in the bow and one in the stern, and had a range of patrol of approximately 9,700 nautical miles. |
Das Boote by Anthony Saunders. Lother Gunther Buchheim based his famous novel The Boat on his voyage aboard U96 in the early days of World War Two. During this operation on 13th February 1941, U96 sank the straggling tanker, Arthur F Conwin, which had dropped back from the westbound convoy, HX106, after being hit by another U-boat, U103. |
Atlantic Rendezvous by Robert Barbour. A U-boat wallows on the surface in typical Atlantic winter weather in February, 1944. approaching at low level is a Luftwaffe FW 200 C-8 Condor of 111KG 40 from the base at Bordeaux-Marignac in S.W. France. |
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