Career
The Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Westphalen joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1938, and took part in the invasion of Poland aboard the battleship Schlesien a year later. He then served on the torpedo boat Kondor for six months before joining the U-boat force in October 1940.
He sailed on four patrols as watch officer of U-566 in 1941, and in May 1942 took command of the school boat U-121.
In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, and was attached to 13th U-boat Flotilla, based at Trondheim, Norway, for operations against convoys in the Arctic Sea. Westphalen sailed on seven combat patrols between March 1944 and May 1945, though all his victories were made in February and March 1945.
He sank three merchant ships, damaged another, and sank the British sloops HMS Lark and HMS Lapwing. On 29 April 1945 he attacked but missed HMS Goodall which was sunk an hour later by U-286.
In January 1944 Westphalen served on the military court which sentenced Oskar Kusch, the commander of U-154, to death on charges of "defeatism".
Westphalen surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik. Ships attacked Wehrmachtbericht reference.