Jost Metzler

Jost Metzler
Jost Metzler
Born	(1909-02-26)26 February 1909 Altshausen
Died	Bavendorf-Ravensburg
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Korvettenkapitän
Commands held	U-69 U-847 19th U-boat Flotilla
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Jost Metzler (26 February 1909 – 29 September 1975) was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II, commander of the U-boats U-69 and U-847, and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Career

Metzler joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1933, after spending eight years in the merchant marine. He served on the torpedo boat T-196 and on several minesweepers. After 13 patrols on the minesweeper Grille, he transferred to the U-boat arm in April 1940, commissioning U-69 in November 1940.

On his first patrol, sailing from Kiel to St. Nazaire in early 1941, he sank three ships for a total of 18,576 tons. On his second patrol south-west of Iceland, he sank a single ship of 3,759 tons and damaged another. Metzler's third patrol on U-69 was the most successful. He laid 16 mines in the harbour of Lagos, Nigeria, where they later sank a British steamer. He then sank another five ships for a total of 25,544 tons.

Metzler developed renal colic a few days after leaving St. Nazaire on his fourth patrol in August 1941, forcing the U-boat to return to port. After two months in hospital he served as the leading training officer in 25th and 27th U-boat Flotilla until February 1943.

Metzler commanded U-847 from February to June 1943 without sailing on any patrols, and was appointed temporary locum commander of 5th U-boat Flotilla for two months before serving as commander of 19th U-boat Flotilla from October 1943 until the end of war.

In 1954 Metzler published a memoir The Laughing Cow: The Story of U-69. The title is derived from the time when U-69 was first assigned to 7th U-boat Flotilla and the crew were instructed to paint Günther Prien's snorting bull insignia on the U-boat's conning tower. No illustration was enclosed, so U-69's First Watch Officer, Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Jürgen Auffermann instructed a shipyard worker to copy the head of laughing cow which appeared on the packaging of a popular French dairy product instead. This naturally proved to be a source of great amusement.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

As a U-boat commander of U-69 Jost Metzler is credited with the sinking of ten ships for a total of 50,873 gross register tons (GRT), further damaging one ship of 4,887 GRT and damaging one ship of 5,445 GRT so severely that it had to be considered a total loss.

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
17 February 1941	MV Siamese Prince	United Kingdom	8,456	Sunk
19 February 1941	SS Empire Blanda	United Kingdom	5,693	Sunk
23 February 1941	SS Marslew	United Kingdom	4,542	Sunk
30 March 1941	SS Coultarn	United Kingdom	3,759	Sunk
3 April 1941	Thirlby	United Kingdom	4,877	Damaged
21 May 1941	SS Robin Moor	USA	4,999	Sunk
21 May 1941	SS Tewkesbury	United Kingdom	4,601	Sunk
31 May 1941	MV Sangara	United Kingdom	5,445	Total loss
3 June 1941	barge Robert Hughes	United Kingdom	2,879	Sunk (mine)
27 June 1941	SS Empire Ability	United Kingdom	7,603	Sunk
27 June 1941	SS River Lugar	United Kingdom	5,423	Sunk
3 July 1941	SS Robert L. Holt	United Kingdom	2,918	Sunk

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (1 June 1936)
• Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (21 December 1939)
  • 1st Class (2 March 1941)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (12 April 1941)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 28 July 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-69
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 27 June 1941

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Jost Metzler in the German National Library catalogue