U-230 Siegmann 24-Jul-1943 6 days
Kapitänleutnant Paul Siegmann brought his submarine U-230 to the north of Bermuda both westbound and eastbound starting on the 24th of July 1943. The first leg cut due west from northeast of the island to the northwest, exiting on the 26th. The return leg led from northwest of Bermuda starting on the second of August and lasted just three days, until the fourth.
U-230 sailed for the 9thU-boat Flotilla from Brest on the fifth of July, 1943. Its primary mission was to lay TMC mine off the US. The Siegmann did on the 31st of July off Norfolk Virginia. He then patrolled off the coast near Hatteras until early August, when he backtracked north of Bermuda. On the 13th he was east of Bermuda and supposed to rendezvous with U-117 east of Bermuda and southwest of the Azores, however U-117 did not keep the meeting.
On the 17th U-230 was able to rendezvous instead with U-634 and then both boats were told to proceed to U-847 some 800 miles southwest of the Azores for more fuel. They arrived on the 27th to find three other submarines there. After refueling them U-847 radioed to headquarters in France that her job had been completed, in reward for which she was tracked, discovered and destroyed by the Allies within three hours. U-230 meanwhile managed to return to Brest on the 8thof September 1943.
Paul Siegmann was born in Munich in 1913 and was a member of the Crew of 1935. He first served as the First Watch Officer of the torpedo boat Greif from 1940 to 1941. He commissioned U-612 from March to August 1942, when it was sunk in a collision with U-444 in August. In October 1942 he commissioned U-230 and stayed with her until August 1944, for seven war patrols of 253 days.
Overall Seigmann tallied four ships sunk for 6,453 tons, including two Royal Navy LSTs and one US Navy Patrol Craft, all in 1944. That year he was awarded the German Cross in Gold. At the time of writing in end 2013 Seigmann is believed to still be alive.
SOURCES: Gudmundur Helgason, Rainer Kolbicz, www.uboat.net, 2013, Kenneth Wynn, U-boat Operations of the Second World War, Volume 1 and Volume 2, 1997, R. Busch, and H.-J. Röll, German U-boat Commanders of World War II, 1988, Franz Kurowski, Knights Cross Holders of the U-boat Service