U-69 Commander Ulrich Gräf

Oberleutnant zur See Ulrich Gräf was the commander of U-69 when it attacked and sank S.S. Caribou. He joined the German Navy in 1935. He was serving as First Watch Officer on U-74 when this photograph was taken between May and August 1941. He took command of the training submarine U-23 in September 1941 and then was appointed commander of Germany’s first Type VIIC U-boat U-69 on March 31, 1942.

On his first combat patrol in U-69, Gräf sank five Allied merchant ships off the American coast and in the Caribbean in May and June 1942. On his second combat patrol, U-69 sank S.S. Carolus in the St. Lawrence estuary on October 9, 1942 and S.S. Caribou in the Cabot Strait on October 14, 1942.

On his third combat patrol in U-69, Gräf and his entire crew were killed when their U-boat was sunk by HMS Fame on February 17, 1943.  U-69 had joined wolf pack Haudegen to attack convoy ONS-165 in the mid-Atlantic. HMS Fame counterattacked with depth charges, which damaged U-69 and forced it to the surface. HMS Fame then rammed and sank the U-boat with none of the 46 crewmen surviving.