Erwin Rostin

Erwin Rostin
Born	(1907-10-08)8 October 1907 Güstrow, Mecklenburg
Died	Atlantic Ocean
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1933–42
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Unit	Schlesien
Commands held	Minensuchboot M 98, M 21 U-158 (25 September 1941–30 June 1942)
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Erwin Rostin (8 October 1907 in Güstrow – killed in action 1 July 1942 in Atlantic Ocean) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He is numbered thirty-one in the list of U-Boat aces of World War II.

Career

Rostin joined the Reichsmarine in 1933 and served eight years on minesweepers. He was transferred to submarine training in 1941. Rostin sailed for his first combat patrol as commander of U-158 on 7 February 1942, sinking five ships (38,785 tons), including the SS Empire Celt, and damaging two (15,264 tons) of the east coast of the United States His second and last patrol (4 May–30 June 1942), took him into the Gulf of Mexico where U-158 sank 12 ships (62,536 tons), one of the most successful patrols in the Kriegsmarine. However it ended with the sinking of U-158 by a United States Navy PBM Mariner bomber, with all hands lost, at . In five months Rostin sank 17 ships for a total of 101,321 GRT, and damaged two others for a total of 15,264 GRT.

Summary of career

Ships Attacked

Erwin Rostin as commander of U-158 sank 17 merchant ships totalling 101,321 gross register tons (GRT), and damaged another two of 15,264 GRT.

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
24 February 1942	Diloma	United Kingdom	8,146	Damaged
24 February 1942	Empire Celt	United Kingdom	8,032	Sunk
2 March 1942	Finnager	United Kingdom	9,551	Sunk
11 March 1942	Caribesa	United Kingdom	2,609	Sunk
13 March 1942	John D. Gill	United States	11,641	Sunk
15 March 1942	Ario	United States	6,952	Sunk
15 March 1942	Olean	United States	7,118	Damaged
25 May 1942	Darina	United Kingdom	8,113	Sunk
22 May 1942	Frank D. Baird	Canada	1,748	Sunk
2 June 1942	Knoxville City	United States	5,686	Sunk
4 June 1942	Nidarnes	Norway	2,647	Sunk
5 June 1942	Velma Lykes	United States	2,572	Sunk
7 June 1942	Hermis	Panama	5,234	Sunk
11 June 1942	Scheheradze	Panama	13,467	Sunk
12 June 1942	Cities Service Toledo	United States	8,192	Sunk
17 June 1942	Moira	Norway	1,560	Sunk
17 June 1942	San Blas	Panama	3,601	Sunk
23 June 1942	Major General Henry Gibbins	United States	5,766	Sunk
23 June 1942	Everalda	Latvia	3,950	Sunk

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (10 October 1939)
  • 1st Class (21 November 1940)
• Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)
• Minesweeper, Submarine Hunter and Security Forces War Badge (3 January 1941)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 28 June 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-158
• U-boat War Badge (1939) posthumously on 1 July 1942
• Mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht (18 March 1942 and 25 June 1942)

References

Notes

Bibliography