Iron Cross, 2nd Class awarded to Korvettenkapitan Erwin Arnold Martin Wilhelm Rostin.

Captain Rostin was born in 1907 in Gustrow, Mecklenburg. He commissioned ‘U-158’ on 25 September 1941 and took her on two patrols into the North Atlantic and off Bermuda. Under Rostin’s command 17 allied ships were sunk before ‘U-158’ herself was sunk 30 June 1942 northwest of Bermuda by American aircraft. There were no survivors. Captain Rostin had been awarded the Knight’s Cross on June 28, 1942.

The medal is in the form of a black cross patée with a silver edge and on the obverse a swastika in the centre and the date ‘1939’ at the base. The date ‘1813’ is inscribed on the reverse.