Date of birth:

December 10th, 1909 (Hamburg, Germany)

Date of death:

August 27th, 1943 (Sargasso Sea, Middle Atlantic Ocean)

Nationality:

German

Herbert Kuppisch was born on December 10th, 1909 in Hamburg and he began his navy career in October 1933. During his schooling years he served on the Light Cruisers Leipzig and Konigsberg. In September 1935 he made the switch towards the U-boat fleet, with the rank of Oberfährich zur See. During his education years he was 2nd Watch Officer onboard the U 2, U 29, U 9, U 23 and after the completion of his commander training, he commissioned the U 58 (Type II C) and became the commander of this ship.

Herbert Kuppisch his first three patrols with the U 58 were between August 25th and December 5th, 1939. In this period he sailed from the ports of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel towards the North Sea. He was in total 42 days at sea. During his second patrol Kuppisch was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and after he returned from his third patrol, he was awarded the Eisernes Kreuz 2e Klasse. (Iron Cross 2nd Class)

Kuppisch 4th patrol started on December 27th, 1939, lasted 13 days and was successfully ended. He sailed from the port of Kiel towards the British East coast where he sank on January 1st, 1940 his first enemy ship. This was the 1.951 BRT measuring neutral Swedish cargo ship Lars Magnus Trozelli. On January 3rd he sank another Swedish cargo ship with one torpedo. This was the Svartön (2.475 BRT) and this vessel belonged to the HN-6 convoy. On January 8th, Kuppisch arrived in Kiel.

His 5th patrol began on January 20th, 1940. He sailed from Kiel on January 20th and arrived six days later in Wilhelmshaven. On this patrol there were no enemy ships spotted.

His 6th patrol started on January 27th, 1940, lasted 13 days and was ended with a small success. He sailed from the port of Wilhelmshaven on January 27th and made his way towards the British East coast, where he sank on February 3rd the small Estonian cargo ship Reet. (815 BRT) He arrived in Wilhelmshaven on February 8th, 1940.

Kuppisch 7th patrol started on March 31st, 1940 and lasted 34 days. He left on March 31st the port of Wilhelmshaven and sailed towards the Norwegian coast. He arrived on May 3rd in Kiel without sinking a single ship. One day after his return he was awarded the Eisernes Kreuz 1e Klasse (Iron Cross 1st Class) and the U Boot Kriegsabzeichen. (U-Boat Badge)

Kuppisch 8th and last patrol with the U 58 started on May 27th, 1940, lasted 22 days and became a successful patrol. He sailed from the port of Kiel towards the North Sea on May 27th and on June 1st he sighted a single ship. This was the 8.041 BRT measuring British cargo ship HMS Astronomer and he sank this ship with multiple torpedos. This cargo ship was in service with the British Royal Navy and Kuppisch returned on June 17th in Kiel.

After his return in Kiel he left the U 58 and commissioned the larger U 94 (Type VII C) on August 10th, 1940. The first two months were a trainings period from the crew and the U 94 became an operational front boat on November 20th, 1940.

Kuppisch 9th and first patrol with the U 94 started on November 20th, 1940, lasted 42 days and was successfully ended. He left the port of Kiel on November 20th and sailed into the North Atlantic Ocean where he sighted on December 2nd the HX-90 convoy. This 49 ships counting convoy was on route from Halifax (America) towards Great Britain. Early in the evening Kuppisch sank the 6.022 BRT measuring British cargo ship Stirlingshire and later on, he sank the British cargo ship Wilhelmina. (6.725 BRT) On December 11th he sank another British cargo ship with torpedos. This was the 5.306 BRT measuring Empire Statesman and this ship belonged to the SLS-56 convoy. On December 31st, 1940 Kuppisch arrived in Lorient. (France)

His 10th patrol started on January 9th, 1941, lasted 42 days and this patrol became another successful one. He sailed from the port of Lorient on January 9th again into the North Atlantic, where spotted northwest of Ireland a lonesome ship. This was the 3.174 BRT measuring British cargo ship Florian and Kuppisch sank this ship with multiple torpedos on January 20th. Nine days later he came across some stragglers from the SC-19 convoy and he began his attack. His first victim was the British cargo ship West Wales. (4.353 BRT) After he had sunk this ship the hunter became hunted. Kuppisch was spotted by a British Destroyer and was attacked with depth charges. After surviving several heavy attacks he slipped away and he found his next victim on January 30th, this was another straggler from that same convoy. The 5.125 BRT measuring British cargo ship Rushpool was Kuppisch last torpedo victim on this patrol. Kuppisch arrived on February 19th in Lorient.

His 11th patrol started on March 29th, 1941, lasted 21 days and was also successful ended. He sailed on March 29th from the port of Lorient towards the area south of Iceland. Here he found a lonesome ship that belonged to the scattered SC-26 convoy. This was the 5.414 BRT measuring British cargo ship Harbledown and he sank it with multiple torpedos. Two days later he saw the Norwegian tanker Lincoln Ellsworth and attacks it. This 5.580 BRT measuring ship was stopped by one torpedo and when it lay dead in the water, Kuppisch surfaced and sank the ship with his deck gun. On April 18th he arrived in Lorient.

Kuppisch 12th and most successful patrol started on April 29th, 1941 and lasted 37 days. He sailed from the port of Lorient towards the area south east of Greenland in the North Atlantic. On May 7th he intercepted the OB-318 convoy. This convoy was on route from Liverpool to the U.S.A. and consisted of 38 ships. Shortly after 23:00 Kuppisch fired a salvo of four torpedos towards this convoy and sank with this salvo 2 cargo ships. This were the Norwegian cargo ship Eastern Star (5.658 BRT) and large British cargo ship Ixion. (10.263 BRT) On May 14th, 1941 Kuppisch was awarded the Ritterkreuz zum Eisernes Kreuz (Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross) for this success. About two weeks after his last success, he sighted the HX-126 convoy and sank on May 20th another two ships. This were the Norwegian tanker John P. Pederson (6.128 BRT) and the British cargo ship Norman Monarch. (4.718 BRT)
On June 4th Kuppisch arrived in St. Nazaire. (France)

Kuppisch 13th and last patrol with the U 94 started on July 12th, 1941. He sailed from the port of St. Nazaire towards the area west of Gibraltar on July 12th. After being at sea for 36 days, he returned in St. Nazaire on August 16th. On this patrol weren’t any ships sunk. After his return Kuppisch left the U 94 and for filled for over a year a Staff position within the BdU and the OKM. On July 1st, 1943, he left his Staff position and took over the command of the U 847. (Type IXD 2)

Kuppisch 14th and 1st patrol with the U 847 was a short one. He sailed from the port of Kiel on July 6th, 1943 and arrived after 15 days in Bergen (Norway) on July 20th.

Herbert Kuppisch 15th and last patrol started on July 29th, 1943 and lasted 30 days. He sailed from the port of Bergen on July 29th on a resupply mission in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. In the period between August 12th and August 23rd, he resupplied seven other U-boats with fuel and sailed afterwards to the Indian Ocean. During his voyage towards the Indian Ocean the U 847 was spotted by 2 American airplanes who had taken off from the escort aircraft carrier USS Card. The American Wildcat and Avenger plane launched a successful airstrike on the U 847 with “Fido” torpedos. The U 847 was hit and sank immediately with Kuppisch and his entire crew (62) still onboard.

Kapitänleutnant Herbert Kuppisch was in total 338 days at sea and sank 16 ships measuring 82.108 BRT.

Promotions:

01-01-1934 Fähnrich zur See
01-06-1934 Obermaat
01-09-1935 Oberfähnrich zur See
01-01-1936 Leutnant zur See
01-10-1937 Oberleutnant zur See
01-11-1939 Kapitänleutnant

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• Photo 1: Known to STIWOT
• - DIXON, JEREMY, The U-boat Commanders, Naval Institute Press, 2019.
  - R. Busch/H-J Röll, Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945, Verlag E. S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH, Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn, 2003.
  - uboat.net
  - ubootwaffe.net
  - deutsche-marinesoldaten.de