__NOTOC__ Johann Mohr (12 June 1916 – 2 April 1943) was a captain with the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Mohr joined the ''Reichsmarine'' in 1934. After serving as first Watch Officer (second-in-command) to

Georg-Wilhelm Schulz Georg-Wilhelm Schulz (10 March 1906 – 5 July 1986) was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War. From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in September 1941, he sank 19 ships for a total of . For this he received the K ...

in on three patrols, in September 1941 he assumed command of the U-boat on six patrols, and sank 27 merchant ships, for a total of 129,292 GRT of Allied shipping. On 25/26 September 1941 Mohr was part of a Wolfpack that attacked convoy HG 73. Mohr sank ''Empire Stream'', ''Petrel'' and ''Siremalm''.

Rolf Mützelburg Rolf Mützelburg (23 June 1913 – 11 September 1942) was a German U-boat commander during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Mützelburg died on active service on 11 September 1 ...

sank the steamer ''Cortes'', for which Mohr has been wrongly credited. On 24 November and 3 December 1941 Mohr sank the British

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

and the steamer ''Sagadahoc''. On 14 March 1942 ''British Resource'' was sunk by Mohr and his crew. In March Mohr achieved a run of successes; ''Ceiba'' and ''Acme'' (17 March), ''Kassandra Louloudis'' and ''E.M. Clark'' (18 March), ''Papoose'' and ''W.E. Hutton'' (19 March), ''Esso Nashville'' and ''Atlantic Sun'' (21 March) and finally ''Naeco'' on 23 March completed the run. All but three were

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

-owned vessels. He sank four ships from

Convoy ON 92 Convoy ON 92 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 92nd of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed from Liverpool on 6 May 1942Hague, p. 158 an ...

in May 1942; SS Empire Dell, ''Mount Parnes'', ''Cristales'' and ''Llanover''. On 9 June the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

''Mimosa'' was engaged and sunk by ''U-124'', the escort screen prevented Mohr from sinking any ships from Convoy ONS 100. Mohr persisted, and three nights later, on 12 June, he sank the 4,093grt British steamer ''Dartford''. Six days later, Mohr picked up Convoy ONS 102 in the congested

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

shipping lanes. He accounted for the American cargo ''Seattle Spirit'', which destroyed 5,627grt. Mohr's last success of the year came on 28 December, when ''U-124'' torpedoed and sank the British ship ''Treworlas'' (4,692grt). On 9 January 1943 Mohr intercepted the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Convoy TB-1. In a single action Mohr and his crew sank ''Broad Arrow'' (7,718grt), ''Birmingham City'' (6,194grt), ''Collingsworth'' (5,101grt) and the 4,554grt ''Minotaur''; amounting to approximately 24,000 grts. On 2 April 1943 Mohr sailed ''U-124'' to intercept Convoy OS 45. He succeeded in penetrating the escort screen and sinking ''Gogra'' (5,190 grt) and ''Katha'' (4,357grt) in position . The escorts were alerted and began hunting the U-boat. Mohr was killed when ''U-124'' was detected, engaged and sunk with all hands about west of

Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, by the British

and the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

Awards

Spanish Cross The Spanish Cross (german: Spanien-Kreuz) was an award of Nazi Germany given to German troops who participated in the Spanish Civil War, fighting for nationalist general, later Spanish caudillo, Francisco Franco. History With the outbreak o ...

in Bronze (6 June 1939)Busch & Röll 2003, p. 203. *

Memel Medal The Return of Memel Commemorative Medal (''Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des Memellandes''; 22. März 1939) was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, the last in a series of Occupation Medals. Description G ...

(26 October 1939) *

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

(1939) 2nd Class (29 November 1939) & 1st Class (4 May 1941) *

U-boat War Badge The U-boat War Badge (german: U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen) was a German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II. History The ''U-boat War Badge'' was originally instituted during the First World War on Feb ...

(1939) (4 May 1941) *

** Knight's Cross on 27 March 1942 as ''

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer and ...

'' and commander of ''U-124'' ** 177th Oak Leaves on 13 January 1943 as ''Kapitänleutnant'' and commander of ''U-124''Fellgiebel 2000, p. 65.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * Rohwer, Jürgen (1999). Axis submarine successes of World War Two: German, Italian, and Japanese submarine successes, 1939–1945. Greenhill Books. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohr, Johann 1916 births 1943 deaths Military personnel from Hanover Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Reichsmarine personnel People lost at sea Military personnel from the Province of Hanover Captains who went down with the ship