Harald Gelhaus

Harald Gelhaus (24 July 1915 in Göttingen – 2 December 1997 in Bochum) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. As commander of U-143 and U-107 Gelhaus is credited with the sinking of 19 ships (including SS Clan Alpine) for a total of 100,373 gross register tons (GRT) and further damaging one ship of 10,068 GRT.

Harald Gelhaus
Born	(1915-07-24)24 July 1915 Göttingen
Died	2 December 1997(1997-12-02) (aged 82) Bochum
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1935–45
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands	U-143 U-107
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (5 April 1939)^[1]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (31 October 1940)^[2]
  • 1st Class (24 February 1941)^[2]
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (31 December 1940)^[2]
• U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (1 October 1944)^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 March 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-107^[3][4]
• War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (1 September 1944)^[2]