Date of birth:

March 12th, 1920 (Hamburg, Germany)

Date of death:

January 8th, 2008 (Hamburg, Germany)

Nationality:

German

Otto Westphalen began his naval career in October 1938. A year later he took part in the Poland campaign on the school ship Schlesien. Later he served six months on the torpedo boat Kondor before joining the U-boat force in October 1940. In 1941 he made five patrols as watch officer on U-566, mostly in the Arctic Sea. In May 1941 he took command of the school boat U-121. In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, which was then detached to the 13th (Arctic Sea) flotilla, where Westphalen became one of the most successful commanders. He sank two British warships: the sloops HMS Lark and Lapwing. He surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik.

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• Photo: Wilco Vermeer
• - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
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