Karl-Friedrich Merten
Karl-Friedrich Merten (15 August 1905 – 2 May 1993) commanded the U-boat 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 with the sinking of 27 ships for a total of 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 , participating in the Battle of Westerplatte and Battle of Hel. He transferred to the U-boat Arm in 1940, at first serving as a watch officer on 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 "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.

After the war, Merten worked in salvaging sunken ships in the Rhine river. In November 1948, Merten was arrested by the French and accused of allegedly wrongful sinking of the French tanker "Frimaire" in June 1942. He was acquitted and later worked in the shipbuilding industry. Merten, who had written his memoir and books on U-boat warfare, died of cancer on 2 May 1993 in Waldshut-Tiengen, Germany.
Q428661
U-boat
MISC
Q7318
Nazi Germany
Concept
Q151701
Kriegsmarine
ORG
Q362
World War II
EVE
Q165558
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
PER
Q643834
Reichsmarine
ORG
Q41304
Weimar Republic
Concept
Q778129
light cruiser
Concept
Q663558
"Karlsruhe"
MISC
Q698468
"Leipzig"
MISC
Q10859
Spanish Civil War
EVE
Q533034
Battle of Westerplatte
EVE
Q704550
Battle of Hel
EVE
Q151701
U-boat Arm
ORG
Q97
Atlantic Ocean
LOC
Q1247
Caribbean Sea
LOC
Q1239
Indian Ocean
LOC
Q165558
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
PER
Q1569963
auxiliary cruiser
Concept
Q701529
"Atlantis"
MISC
Q172771
Royal Navy
ORG
Q219259
26th U-boat Flotilla
MISC
Q595495
24th U-boat Flotilla
MISC
Q575259
"Führer" Headquarters
LOC
Q584
Rhine
LOC
Q1454723
acquitted
Concept
Q112983
memoir
Concept
Q505433
Waldshut-Tiengen
LOC
Q86404
Karl-Friedrich Merten
PER
1905-08-15T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
15 August 1905
DATE
1993-05-02T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2 May 1993
DATE
1926-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1926
DATE
1940-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1940
DATE
1941-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1941
DATE
1942-06-13T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
13 June 1942
DATE
1942-11-16T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
16 November 1942
DATE
1943-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
January 1943
DATE
1943-03-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 1943
DATE
1945-02-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
February 1945
DATE
1945-06-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 1945
DATE
1948-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 1948
DATE
1942-06-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 1942
DATE
1993-05-02T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2 May 1993
DATE
+27^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
27
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-68^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-68
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-68^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-68
NUMBER
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26
NUMBER
+24^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
24
NUMBER
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