He initially entered the merchant marine, eventually spending ten years there, including time spent on sailing ships.

The patrol was only eight days old when U-64 was detected by a British aircraft on 13 April, whilst hove-to 50 yards off-shore in Herjangsfjord near Narvik.

[2] U-64 was sunk, killing eight of the crew; thirty-eight survivors, including Schulz, managed to escape to be rescued by German mountain troops.

During this time several later successful U-boat captains had served under Schulz, including Mohr, Reinhard Hardegen and Werner Henke.

He was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1943, and in October 1943 he was attached to the Staff of the 'FdU Ausbildungsflottillen' (Commander Training flotillas) in Gotenhafen.

[1] In 1994 the Köhler Mittler Verlag in Hamburg published his autobiographical account Über dem nassen Abgrund: Als Kommandant und Flottillenchef im U-Boot-Krieg (engl.