Number Name Rank Unit Date of award Notes 5 Günther Prien Kapitänleutnant commander of U-47 20 October 1940 missing in action 7 March 1941[11] 6 Otto Kretschmer Kapitänleutnant commander of U-99 4 November 1940 Awarded 5th Swords on 26 December 1941 7 Joachim Schepke Kapitänleutnant commander of U-100 1 December 1940 killed in action 17 March 1941[12] 13 Heinrich Liebe Kapitänleutnant commander of U-38 10 June 1941 14 Engelbert Endrass Oberleutnant zur See commander of U-46 10 June 1941 killed in action 21 December 1941[13] 15 Herbert Schultze Kapitänleutnant commander of U-48 12 June 1941 23 Viktor Hermann Otto Schütze Korvettenkapitän commander of U-103 14 July 1941 51 Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock Kapitänleutnant commander of U-96 31 December 1941 56 Reinhard Suhren Oberleutnant zur See commander of U-564 31 December 1941 Awarded 18th Swords on 1 September 1942 87 Erich Topp Kapitänleutnant commander of U-552 11 April 1942 Awarded 17th Swords on 17 August 1942 89 Reinhard Hardegen Kapitänleutnant commander of U-123 23 April 1942 104 Rolf Mützelburg Kapitänleutnant commander of U-203 15 July 1942 killed on active service 11 September 1942[14] 105 Adalbert Schnee Kapitänleutnant commander of U-201 15 July 1942 123 Klaus Scholtz Korvettenkapitän commander of U-108 10 September 1942 125 Heinrich Bleichrodt Kapitänleutnant commander of U-109 23 September 1942 142 Wolfgang Lüth Kapitänleutnant commander of U-181 13 November 1942 Awarded 29th Swords on 15 April 1943 and 7th Diamonds on 9 August 1943 147 Karl-Friedrich Merten Korvettenkapitän commander of U-68 16 November 1942 171 Friedrich Guggenberger Kapitänleutnant commander of U-81 8 January 1943 177 Johann Mohr Kapitänleutnant commander of U-124 13 January 1943 killed in action 3 April 1943[15] 208 Georg Lassen Kapitänleutnant commander of U-160 7 March 1943 223 Karl Dönitz Großadmiral commander in chief of the Kriegsmarine Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine 6 April 1943 224 Albrecht Brandi Korvettenkapitän commander of U-617 11 April 1943 Awarded 66th Swords on 9 May 1944 and 22nd on Diamonds 24 November 1944 234 Otto von Bülow Kapitänleutnant commander of U-404 26 April 1943 250 Robert Gysae Kapitänleutnant commander of U-177 31 May 1943 256 Carl Emmermann Kapitänleutnant commander of U-172 4 July 1943 257 Werner Henke Kapitänleutnant commander of U-515 4 July 1943 killed as prisoner of war on 15 June 1944[16] 645 Werner Hartmann Kapitän zur See leader of U-boat operations in the Mediterranean Sea, commander of U-198 5 November 1944 (852) Rolf Thomsen Kapitänleutnant commander of U-1202 29 April 1945 (853) Hans-Günther Lange Kapitänleutnant commander of U-711 29 April 1945