Crew rotation

[Rosencrantz]

If I remember it right, E. L. Beach tells in one of his books about USN subs how they got frequently rotation system for crew. It was something like 1/3 of the crew got changed after patrol (in 2 - 3 months I think). After 20 years subs to be as a hobby I haven't seen any detailed info how these things were organized in Kriegsmarine.

Any info availible?

-RC-

[cmdrk]

Some info for you.
From Timothy Mulligan's book 'Lone Wolf' it was policy to rotate crews out to spread the experience in an expanding fleet. Typically a crewman would serve 2 or 3 patrols on one boat then be sent to specialized training and back to the boats.

The book's focus is on U-515 and put it's career in comparison to the UBoat arm in general. U-515's captain managed to keep a higher level of experienced crew.

U-515 had 6 patrols. Of the NCO and seamen
19 served all 6
15 served on 3+

So roughly a third of the crew where plank owners.
Another quarter served more than typical.

The boat had 100 crew serve on it. Over 6 patrols the rotation rate would have been about 9. At the start of the 4th patrol 12 new crew were taken on.

Hope this helps.