World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseErnst Franz Maria Vogelsang was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in Aug 1911 to Ernst Josef Maria Vogelsang and Maria Margaretha Vogelsang as the oldest of four children. He spent most of his childhood in Recklinghausen where his parents were from. He joined the German Navy in Apr 1931, and first saw action in the Spanish Civil War. Between Oct 1938 and May 1940, he served aboard destroyer Z5 Paul Jacobi during the Norway campaign. He attended submarine school between Jun and Nov 1940, and submarine commander school between Nov 1940 and 8 Dec 1940. He took command of U-18 on 18 Dec 1940; aboard U-18, he trained new submarine crews and future submarine commanding officers. On 29 May 1941, he was made the commanding officer of U-132. With U-132, he successfully carried out three war patrols, sinking Allied ships as far as the Canadian coast. During the fourth war patrol, after sinking British ship Empire Lynx and Dutch ship Hobbema in the North Atlantic Ocean, another Allied ship, ammunition ship Hatimura, exploded, sending debris in all directions, including toward U-132. Struck, the ship sank very quickly with all 47 lives lost.

Ernst Vogelsang Timeline