world war ii was marked with two great submarine campaigns the german navy used its uber fleet to
attempt to deny great britain the war materials needed to continue the war after the american
entry into the war the united states navy carried out a submarine command against japan tasked
with accomplishing the same goals against that island nation both sides practiced unrestricted
submarine warfare that meant submarines would torpedo ships of their enemies without warning
both the americans and the germans produced submarine officers noted for exceptional skill
and professionalism the u.s navy's submarines sunk over 5.5 million tons of japanese shipping
during the war the german u-boats destroyed 4.1 million tons of allied shipping over the
course of the war as well nearly 70 of all allied losses for all theaters of the global conflict
both services produced men with remarkable records of destruction inflicted on the enemy total ships
and tonnage sunk vary according to sources but here are the top 10 submarine aces of world war ii
number 10. slay d cutter 142 300 tons over 21 ships before he became a submarine ace in world
war ii shipment an all-american player in the navy in the 1930s qatar was inducted into the college
football hall of fame in 1967. after graduating in 1935 he served on the battleship uss idaho he
entered into the submarine service in 1936 and by 1941 was serving as the executive officer
on the uss pompano after three war patrols on the submarine he was assigned to a submarine
still under construction uss seahorse ss-304 as the executive officer after seahorse completed
its first war patrol its commanding officer was relieved for displaying a lack of aggression
against the enemy qatar was assigned to command the vessel in october 1943. his four war patrols
led to the sinking of over 142 000 tons of japanese shipping including an enemy submarine
i-274 contrary to hollywood depictions submarine on submarine attacks during the war
relatively few in number qatar remained in the navy after the war retiring as a captain in 1965.
for his service in world war ii he received the navy cross the service's second highest award for
each of his four war patrols and seahorse he never reached flag rank according to some because
of his ill-concealed disdain for desk bound senior officers including hyman rickover which
eliminated him for consideration from command in the emerging nuclear navy 9. eugene flockley 179
700 tons over 25 ships eugene flockley graduated from annapolis in 1935 and began his career
in submarines in 1938. the outbreak of world war ii found him serving on the uss bonita in
which he completed five war patrols before being assigned to command the uss barb ss-220 flockley
commanded the submarine during seven war patrols conducted between march 1944 and the end of the
war in august 1945. on one occasion fluckley put a party of men ashore in the japanese home island
charged with the destruction of a train as commanding officer of the uss bob fluckley earned
four navy crosses in the middle of honor following an attack on a japanese convoy in 1945 bob set a
record for speed in a submarine 23.5 knots as he withdrew from the pursuit of japanese destroyers
he remained in the navy following the war retiring as a rear admiral in 1972 known as lucky flukely
he wrote a well-received book about the war patrols aboard barb in 1992 called thunder below
fluckley commanded barb when it became the first submarine to deploy rockets against the enemy
bombarding targets in japan in june and july 1945. he thus helped usher in an entirely new use of the
submarine in warfare today's nuclear submarines carry both ballistic missiles and cruise missiles
for use against targets on both land and sea number eight heinrich lemon willembrock 183
253 tons over 25 ships among the four u-boats commanded by heinrich lemon-willenbrock during
world war ii was u-96 u-96 was the latest subject of the film das boot during his three patrols in
u-96 lehman villenbrock sank over 120 000 tons of mostly british shipping including three troop
ships primarily operating out of the submarine pens at brest saint nazir lehmann willembrock rose
to command the ninth u-boat flotilla in september 1944 as allied troops threatened to capture breast
lehman villenbrock assumed command of u-256 and escaped to norway despite the overwhelming air and
naval superiority of the allies lehman villenbrock surrendered to the british in 1945 he held him
captive for a year before he returned to germany he was then returned to the sea serving in and
commanding merchant vessels when the german merchant vessel and icebreaker otto han and
nuclear-powered ship became operational in 1969 it was he who commanded it he served as a consultant
during the filming of das boot in which jurgen pratchnow played the unnamed commander of u-96
during a war patrol in 1941. lehman villenbrock served in operational u-boats throughout the war
from 1939-1945 that he survived is remarkable given the casualty rate suffered by that branch
of the service he died in bremen the city of his birth on april the 18th 1986 number seven herbert
schultz 183 482 tons over 28 ships on september the 11th 1939 a german yubo transmitted a radio
message addressed to first lord of the admiralty winston churchill the message informed him of
the sinking of the british merchant ship furby giving its last position and requested they pick
up survivors in the ship's boats a few days later the u-boat commanded by herbert schultz stopped
another british vessel he let the ship continue on its way provided it rescued the survivors
from furby and did not radio the position of his ship it was an act of chivalry unmatched
in a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare schultz commanded u-48 on eight war patrols from
september 1939 until july 1941. after his stunning successes at sea he served in staff positions
eventually commanding the merwick naval school he remained in that assignment until the war's
end he eventually returned to active duty with the west german navy in 1956 retiring in 1968. during
his relatively brief service as an active u-boat commander he achieved one of the highest success
rates of the war he also achieved a level of notoriety within the german high command for his
complaints regarding manufacturing defects which produced numerous failures in german torpedoes
health issues plagued schultz as well for whatever reason from july 1941 through to the end of the
war one of germany's best uber commanders remained a sure and immeasurable benefit for the allies
6. heinrich leave 187 267 tons over 34 ships when world war ii began in september 1939 heinrich lieb
was one of the most experienced u-boat officers in the service in command of u-38 he claimed his
first victim on september the 6th from that date until june 1941 he sank 34 allied ships all of
the merchamen reaching a total of nearly 190 000 tons by the summer of 1941 lee was among the most
highly decorated german uber commanders he was also among those senior both in terms of service
and rank as more and more u-boats left german shipyards the men to command them were younger and
less experienced in july 1941 lee left u-38 for a staff position with the german naval high command
his nine war patrols all of which were successful comprised a total of 333 days at sea on average he
sank an allied ship every 10 days during a nazi war career of 21 months on his last patrol alone
from april to june 1941 he sank eight ships for over forty seven thousand tons as with heinrich
lieb his promotion to a staff position was a blessing for the allies number five gunther preen
194 103 tons over 31 ships gunther prion was the author of a submarine exploit of legendary
proportions in october 1939 under orders from rear admiral carl donots he took his submarine into
scarpa flow the main anchorage of the royal navy's home fleet there he sang the british battleship
royal oak which carried over 800 men to their deaths and successfully eluded detection while
escaping when prien returned to germany on october the 17th he was to instant celebrity he became the
first yubo commander to be awarded the knights cross of the iron cross the german propaganda
ministry called him the bull of scarpaflow prien had an image of a snorting ball painted on the
conning tower of u-47 even winston churchill acknowledged his attack as a feat of professional
skill and daring by february 1941 priyan had completed nine war patrols with 29 ships sunk
on the 10th priyan was lost at sea after another two sinkings to his credit the official cause of
his loss has never been determined prion is a controversial character with some calling
him an unrepentant and fervid nazi while others claiming he supported the german resistance his
war career lasted 18 months making him one of the most successful submarine aces of the war number
four eric top 197 460 tons over 35 ships eric top commanded four different u-boats during the second
world war the first u-57 sank after colliding with the norwegian freighter norway was neutral
at the time in september 1940. top had been in command just three months and already had credit
for six sinkings he then assumed command of a new construction u-552 on october 31 1941 top
and u552 were in patrol in the north atlantic when they encountered the us navy destroyer ruben james
although the united states was officially neutral top attacked and sank reuben james when the
american ship approached the submarine only 44 of the 159 men on board the destroyers survived
reuben james was the first american ship sunk by enemy action during world war ii later in
1942 top sank several ships off the east coast of the united states in sight of land in many cases
it was a period which the u-boat skippers called the second happy time as sinkings of allied ships
increased with america's entry into the war top was promoted into staff jobs in late 1942 having
completed nine war patrols sinking nearly three dozen ships he returned to command two additional
u-boats in late winter 1945 though neither completed a patrol post-war positions included a
commission into the west german navy and with nato he also served as a consultant for the computer
game silent hunter ii he died in germany in 2005 at the age of 91. number three wolfgang luth 221
981 tons over 47 ships wolfgang luff completed his first war patrol in 1939 as first officer
under heinrich lieb in december of that year luth received command of u9 while in command
of that u-boat he attacked and sank a surfaced french submarine doris off the coast of holland
in 1940 he took command of u-138 with which his sinkings continued to increase reaching well over
55 000 tons by autumn lewis later commanded u-43 and later u-181 in 1943 he departed on patrol in
the indian ocean and along south africa which ultimately lasted 205 days the second longest
patrol of any submarine during world war ii in total this completed 15 war patrols surviving
depth charges by escort ships bombing and strafing runs by enemy aircraft and bombardment by armed
merchant ships he logged over 600 days at sea during the war in 1944 he assumed new duties
at merwick and he remained there when the british occupied the area in may 1945. on the evening of
may the 15th he was returning to the academy after drinking heavily in local bars a century called
out for him to halt either luth did not hear the german century's challenge or was just too drunk
to obey it and the century shot him once in the head the occupying british authorities allowed the
germans to give luther state funeral the century was cleared of any wrongdoing by both british and
german authorities 2. richard o'cain 227 824 tons over 33 ships richard h o'kane served in
10 war patrols in the pacific during world war ii in five he was the executive officer of uss wahoo
under dudley mushmorton subsequently he commanded uss tang on five more o'cane assumed command of
tang in october 1943 before the submarine sank via a vaulty torpedo it destroyed 33 japanese ships
it also served as a lifeguard during aerial operations on one such mission tang rescued 24
american airmen in october 1944 tang was involved in a night surface action when one of his mark 18
torpedoes went on a circular run unable to evade tang was struck by the faulty weapon and sank
only nine men survived including okay and were taken prisoner by the japanese o'caine was held
for a time at afuna without notification to the red cross that he was a prisoner later he was
transferred to amura prisoner of war camp among his fellow prisoners was greg pappy boyington of
the black sheep squadron richard o'kane remained in the navy following the war retiring in 1957.
among the many legends surrounding his career is his prowess at the game of cribbage cocaine is
said to have once scored a 29 in one hand against odds of more than 200 000 to 1. his personal
cribbage board is assigned to the wardroom of the oldest attack submarine in the u.s fleet to this
day number one otto kretschmer 274 333 tons over 44 ships otto kretschmer reigns as the ace of aces
for submarine warfare his career of destruction in the atlantic began in 1939. his early patrols were
short in number of days at sea and relatively unsuccessful by early 1940 he had developed his
preferred means of attack kretschmer chose to attack while surfaced whenever possible
at night and by firing just one torpedo at each target rather than salvos in april 1940
crutchman took command of u-99 when possible he took u-99 inside the enemy convoys allowing him
to attack in any direction before diving the boat to escape in september 1940 kretchner completed
his 15th war patrol in march 1941 he attacked a convoy escorted by british destroyers it was part
of the same action which cost the germans gunther preen krechner's attacks sank five ships and
forced the abandonment of another which was destroyed by the escorts but the severity of the
british depth charging forced kreshner to surface his ship signal it was sinking and order his crew
to abandon ship u-99 was scuttled by the germans and krechner became prisoner of war after being
held in britain for some time for interrogation he spent the rest of the war in a prisoner of
war camp in canada he was released on december 31 1947 and returned to west germany in 1955
he joined the west german navy he worked with nato retiring in 1970 with the rank of admiral
ironically otto kretschmer died following an accident on a boat where he fell down some steps
suffering fatal injuries he was 86 and he was on a cruise celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary