The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945, one of the three branches of the Wehrmacht alongside the Heer and the Luftwaffe, succeeding the interwar Reichsmarine. Under the Oberkommando der Marine, initially led by Großadmiral Erich Raeder and later by Großadmiral Karl Dönitz from 1943, it expanded rapidly in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, aided by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935 that permitted a fleet 35 percent the size of the Royal Navy. Plan Z, approved in early 1939, envisioned a large surface fleet including battleships, aircraft carriers and cruisers for parity with Britain by the mid-1940s, but the outbreak of war forced its abandonment in favour of accelerated U-boat construction. At the start of the conflict the Kriegsmarine possessed limited capital ships such as the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, the Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers, Deutschland-class Panzerschiffe and a handful of heavy and light cruisers, together with destroyers, torpedo boats and only 57 operational U-boats. Its primary strategy centred on commerce raiding rather than fleet actions, with surface raiders including the Admiral Graf Spee and auxiliary cruisers disrupting Allied shipping early on, while the U-Bootwaffe under the Befehlshaber der U-Boote employed Wolfpack tactics against convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. Major operations included the invasion of Norway in 1940, which cost ten destroyers and several cruisers, the Atlantic sortie of the Bismarck in 1941 that sank HMS Hood before her own destruction, and extensive U-boat campaigns that peaked in 1942 before Allied countermeasures, radar, air power and codebreaking inflicted heavy losses from May 1943 onward. Personnel strength rose from around 78,000 in 1939 to a peak of over 800,000 by 1944. By war’s end the surface fleet was largely confined to Baltic support and evacuation duties, while remaining U-boats were scuttled or surrendered; overall the Kriegsmarine sank substantial Allied tonnage yet suffered catastrophic submarine losses exceeding 70 percent of boats committed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRILLANTENTRÄGER
Kapitän zur See Wolfgang Lüth (1913-1945) was born on 15 October 1913 in Riga, then part of the Russian Empire, as a Baltic German, and after studying law for three semesters he entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933 as an Offiziersanwärter. Following training on the sailing ship Gorch Fock and the cruiser Karlsruhe he transferred to the U-Bootwaffe in 1937, rising to Oberleutnant zur See by 1938 and serving as Wachoffizier on several boats before receiving his first independent command. In December 1939 he took command of U-9, a Type IIB boat, with which he conducted six Feindfahrten and sank seven merchant ships plus the French submarine Doris; he then commanded the Type IID boat U-138 on two patrols, sinking further vessels and earning the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 October 1940 as Oberleutnant zur See und Kommandant of U-138. Transferred to the long-range Type IX boat U-43, he completed five patrols between October 1940 and April 1942, sinking twelve ships for over 68,000 BRT and being promoted to Kapitänleutnant. In May 1942 he commissioned the large Type IXD2 boat U-181 and led it on two highly successful Feindfahrten into the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; on the first of these he sank twelve ships and received the Eichenlaub on 13 November 1942 while still at sea. The second patrol, lasting 205 days and ranking among the longest of the war, saw him sink a further ten ships, for which he was awarded the Schwerter on 15 April 1943 and, after additional successes, the Brillanten on 9 August 1943 as Korvettenkapitän und Kommandant of U-181, becoming the first Kriegsmarine officer to receive this highest grade of the Ritterkreuz. After returning to Bordeaux in October 1943 he was withdrawn from front-line service, later commanding the 22. U-Boot-Flottille and, from September 1944, the Marinekriegsschule Mürwik as Kapitän zur See. On the night of 13–14 May 1945, shortly after the German surrender, he was accidentally shot and killed by a German sentry near the academy when he failed to give the password, ending the career of one of the most decorated and successful U-Boot-Kommandanten of the war.
Fregattenkapitän Albrecht Brandi (1914-1966) was born on 20 June 1914 in Dortmund as the son of industrial manager Ernst Brandi and grew up in the Weimar Republic before joining the Kriegsmarine on 1 April 1935 as Seeoffiziersanwärter in Crew 35; after training aboard the school ship Gorch Fock and the light cruiser Karlsruhe he served as watch officer on minesweepers and later commanded M-1 of the 1. Minensuchflottille during the invasion of Poland and Operation Weserübung, earning both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz. In April 1941 he transferred to the U-boat arm, completed training, and sailed as Kommandantenschüler on U-552 under Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp before commissioning U-617 on 9 April 1942; assigned to the 5. Unterseebootsflottille for training and then the 7. and 29. Unterseebootsflottille, he conducted seven war patrols mostly in the Mediterranean, sinking eight merchant ships totaling 25,879 GRT, one auxiliary warship of 810 GRT and three warships of about 5,000 tons. As Kapitänleutnant he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 January 1943 for successes on his early patrols that included the destruction of several merchantmen and HMS St. Issey; the Eichenlaub followed on 11 April 1943 after further claims and the confirmed sinking of the minelayer HMS Welshman. Forced to beach U-617 after an air attack off Morocco on 12 September 1943, he escaped Spanish internment, returned to Germany, briefly commanded U-380 until its destruction in Toulon, and then took over U-967 of the 29. Unterseebootsflottille, sinking the destroyer USS Fechteler and earning the Schwerter on 9 May 1944. Promoted Korvettenkapitän and later Fregattenkapitän, he directed U-boat operations in the eastern Baltic and the Marinekleinkampfverbände in Holland; the Brillanten were awarded on 24 November 1944 for his overall record as one of only two Kriegsmarine officers so honored. Released from Canadian captivity in September 1945, Brandi worked as a bricklayer, studied architecture, chaired the Association of German Architects for three years, and died suddenly on 6 January 1966 in Cologne, buried with military honors in Dortmund.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHWERTERTRÄGER
Fregattenkapitän Otto Kretschmer (1912-1998), born 1 May 1912 and who died 5 August 1998, was one of the most successful U-boat commanders of the Kriegsmarine in World War II and earned the nickname Otto der Schweiger for his strict radio discipline and skillful use of silent running. Serving initially as Kapitänleutnant in command of U-23 and then from April 1940 as commander of U-99, he pioneered effective night surface attacks from the dark side of convoys and the “one torpedo, one ship” tactic, sinking a total of 47 ships totaling 274,333 gross register tons, including the British destroyer HMS Daring and several armed merchant cruisers, between September 1939 and his capture in March 1941. These outstanding results brought him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 4 August 1940 for his early U-99 patrols, notably the sinking of the Auckland Star and successful strikes against convoy OB 191, the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub on 4 November 1940 as only the sixth recipient after further devastating attacks that included the sinking of HMS Laurentic and HMS Patroclus, and finally the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern on 26 December 1941 as the fifth recipient and by then Korvettenkapitän for his cumulative record and the last patrols that added the sinking of HMS Forfar along with many more merchant vessels; he was later promoted to Fregattenkapitän on 1 September 1944 while a prisoner of war after U-99 was scuttled on 17 March 1941.
Fregattenkapitän Erich Topp (1914-2005), born on 2 July 1914 in Hannover, emerged as one of the most successful U-boat commanders of the Kriegsmarine during World War II, ultimately sinking 35 ships for a total of 197,460 gross register tons (GRT) and ranking as the third-highest tonnage scorer among German submariners. He began his naval career in 1934, served aboard the light cruiser Karlsruhe, and transitioned to the U-boat force, initially as first watch officer on U-46 before taking command of U-57 in the 1st U-boat Flotilla in June 1940, where he conducted aggressive patrols into the North Atlantic and North Channel, achieving multiple sinkings that earned him the Iron Cross 1st Class. Transferring to the newly commissioned Type VIIC submarine U-552 in December 1940 with the 7th U-boat Flotilla, Topp distinguished himself further during operations west of Ireland and in the North Atlantic; his third war patrol in May-June 1941 resulted in credited sinkings that led to the award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 June 1941 as Oberleutnant zur See for approximately 14 ships sunk or damaged totaling around 90,000 GRT across his commands. During subsequent patrols, including the dramatic sinking of the US destroyer USS Reuben James on 31 October 1941 while escorting Convoy HX 156, and highly productive operations off the American East Coast during the Second Happy Time in early 1942 where U-552 sank seven ships for over 45,000 GRT on one patrol alone, Topp received the Eichenlaub on 11 April 1942 as the 87th recipient while at sea, recognizing his cumulative successes. His continued daring raids, including additional sinkings and damage to shipping on patrols in mid-1942, culminated in the Schwerter award on 17 August 1942 as the 17th recipient, elevating him amid his leadership of the Red Devil Boat U-552. Later commanding the 27th U-boat Flotilla for training and contributing to tactics for advanced Type XXI Elektroboote while briefly commanding U-2513 before surrendering at war's end, Topp survived to postwar service in the Bundesmarine, rising to Konteradmiral and NATO roles.
Fregattenkapitän Reinhard "Teddy" Suhren (1916-1984) first gained distinction as 1. Wachoffizier on U-48 and later as Kommandant of the Type VIIC submarine U-564 in the 1. U-Boot-Flottille. After joining the navy in 1935 as part of Crew 35, completing training on the school ship Gorch Fock, the light cruiser Emden and various specialist courses, and serving briefly on destroyers and earlier U-boats, Suhren spent nine war patrols from 1939 to 1940 aboard U-48 (initially in the Wegener Flotille) under commanders Herbert Schultze, Hans-Rudolf Rösing and Heinrich Bleichrodt, where as torpedo weapons officer he fired the majority of the boat’s successful torpedoes and contributed decisively to the sinking of roughly 200,000 gross register tons of Allied shipping, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 3 November 1940 as Oberleutnant zur See; the award was personally advocated by Bleichrodt, who credited Suhren’s skill more than his own command and threatened to refuse his own decoration if Suhren were overlooked. In April 1941 Suhren commissioned and took command of U-564, and during his six patrols as Kommandant he sank eighteen merchant vessels totalling 95,544 GRT plus the British corvette HMS Zinnia (900 long tons) while damaging four further merchants of 28,907 GRT; his first three patrols, which together accounted for ten ships of approximately 28,324 GRT including the sinking of HMS Zinnia on 23 August 1941, earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub on 31 December 1941 as Oberleutnant zur See, while his next three highly successful cruises—culminating in the sixth patrol into the mid-Atlantic and Caribbean near Trinidad, where despite an aircraft attack that forced him to dive to 200 metres he sank five ships of 32,181 GRT—brought the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern on 1 September 1942 as Kapitänleutnant. After handing over U-564 in October 1942 Suhren served as an instructor with the 27. U-Boot-Flottille, rose to Fregattenkapitän and held senior operational posts as Führer der Unterseeboote Norwegen and ultimately Commander-in-Chief of U-boats in the North Sea; following the war he worked in the petroleum industry and died of stomach cancer on 25 August 1984.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien (1908-1941), one of the most celebrated commanders of the Kriegsmarine’s U-Bootwaffe, gained legendary status during the early years of World War II as the captain of U-47. On the night of 14 October 1939, Prien executed a daring penetration of the heavily defended British naval base at Scapa Flow, where he torpedoed and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak, resulting in the loss of over 800 British sailors. This bold operation made him an instant hero in Germany and earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 18 October 1939, making him the first U-boat commander to receive the prestigious award, which was personally presented by Adolf Hitler. Prien continued his successful career in the Atlantic, sinking numerous Allied ships, and on 20 October 1940 he was further honored with the Eichenlaub (Oak Leaves) to his Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his outstanding achievements and a total tonnage exceeding 200,000 tons sunk. His career ended tragically when U-47 was lost with all hands on 7 March 1941, likely sunk by British escorts in the North Atlantic.
Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke (1912-1941) was a prominent U-boat commander in the Kriegsmarine who earned his reputation as one of the most successful submarine officers during the early years of the war. As the commander of U-100, a Type VIIB boat, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 September 1940 for his successful military leadership and effectiveness against Allied shipping. Following his continued successes, he became the seventh recipient of the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 December 1940. Throughout his career, Schepke was credited with sinking 36 ships, though he famously claimed 37 vessels for a total of 213,310 gross register tons, a figure often viewed with skepticism by his peers due to a tendency to exaggerate his tonnage reports. His service ended on 17 March 1941 when U-100 was forced to the surface by depth charges from HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc and subsequently rammed by the latter during an attack on Convoy HX-112, resulting in his death.
Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Liebe (1908-1997) was one of the most successful U-Boot commanders of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War, earning distinction through a series of highly effective Atlantic patrols that made him one of Germany’s leading submarine aces. After joining the Reichsmarine in 1927, he eventually took command of U-38, a Type IXA U-Boot that became one of the most successful submarines of the war under his leadership. During the early phases of the Battle of the Atlantic, Liebe demonstrated exceptional tactical skill, aggressive convoy attacks, and remarkable endurance on long-range patrols against Allied shipping. These operations resulted in the destruction of numerous merchant vessels and severely disrupted Allied maritime logistics. For his outstanding success in command of U-38 and the sinking of large amounts of enemy tonnage during the opening years of the Atlantic campaign, Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 August 1940. He continued to achieve further successes during subsequent patrols, increasing his tally to 34 ships sunk with a total of approximately 187,267 GRT, placing him among the highest-scoring U-Boot commanders of the war. In recognition of these continued achievements, his leadership, and the sustained effectiveness of U-38 in combat operations, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 June 1941 as the 13th recipient of that higher award. Following his frontline service, Liebe was transferred to staff and training duties within the Kriegsmarine, surviving the war and later living a long postwar life until his death in Eisenach in 1997.
Kapitänleutnant Engelbert Endrass (1911-1941) was one of the most successful commanders of the Kriegsmarine U-Boot-Waffe during the Second World War, having first gained fame as the 1. Wachoffizier aboard U-47 under Günther Prien during the daring penetration of Scapa Flow and the sinking of the British battleship HMS Royal Oak in October 1939. After taking command of U-46 on 22 May 1940, Endrass quickly demonstrated exceptional aggressiveness and tactical skill in the Battle of the Atlantic. During his first two war patrols as commander, he sank numerous Allied merchant vessels and two large British auxiliary cruisers, HMS Carinthia and HMS Dunvegan Castle, inflicting heavy losses on Allied shipping despite operating under difficult conditions, including damage to his attack periscope. These successes, which totaled more than 60,000 GRT of enemy shipping destroyed within a few months, earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 September 1940 as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of U-46. Endrass continued his successful convoy operations throughout late 1940 and the first half of 1941, participating in attacks against convoys such as SC 7 and HX 79 and steadily increasing his sinking record. In recognition of his sustained combat achievements, leadership, and repeated successes against heavily escorted Atlantic convoys, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 June 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-46, becoming the 14th member of the German armed forces to receive that distinction. After relinquishing U-46 in September 1941, he assumed command of U-567, but his career ended during operations against Convoy HG 76 when his submarine was sunk by British escort vessels on 21 December 1941 northeast of the Azores, with the loss of all hands. His final tally: 19 ships sunk, with the total tonnage of 81,164 GRT.
Korvettenkapitän Herbert Schultze (1909-1987) was one of the most successful and widely known U-Boot commanders of the Kriegsmarine during the early years of the Second World War, achieving fame as the commander of U-48, one of Germany’s most successful submarines. After taking command of U-48 in 1938, Schultze began a remarkable combat career in the Atlantic, where his aggressive yet often highly publicized adherence to traditional naval prize rules brought him international attention. During the opening months of the war he sank numerous Allied merchant vessels, including Royal Sceptre, Winkleigh, Firby, and many others, while conducting a series of highly successful patrols that resulted in tens of thousands of tons of enemy shipping destroyed. His growing record of success, leadership, and effectiveness in disrupting British maritime supply lines led to the award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 March 1940. Schultze continued his operational achievements throughout 1940 and early 1941, eventually reaching a total of more than 169,709 gross register tons of 26 Allied shipping sunk, making him one of the leading U-Boot aces of the period. In recognition of these continued successes while commanding U-48, as well as his sustained contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic and exemplary leadership within the U-Boot-Waffe, he was awarded the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 12 June 1941 as the sixth U-Boot commander to receive that distinction. Shortly afterward he was withdrawn from frontline patrol duty and assigned to command the 3. U-Flottille at La Rochelle, later serving in several important staff positions under Großadmiral Karl Dönitz.
Kapitän zur See Viktor Schütze (1906-1950) was one of the most successful U-boat commanders of the Second World War, serving initially in the Reichsmarine aboard torpedo boats from 1925 before transferring to the U-boat arm in 1935 and rising through commands of U 19, U 11, and U 25 prior to taking over the Type IXB boat U 103 of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille in July 1940. As Kommandant of U 103 he conducted multiple patrols in the North Atlantic and off the African coast, during which his cumulative successes across five patrols earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 11 December 1940 for sinking 19 ships totaling 91,953 gross register tons and damaging one additional vessel. He continued aggressive operations, and over the course of two further patrols in the first half of 1941 he sank another 16 ships for 88,120 gross register tons while damaging one more, actions that directly resulted in the award of the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 July 1941 as the 23rd recipient of the Oak Leaves. By the time he relinquished command of U 103 in mid-1941 to become Flottillenchef of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille and later Führer der U-Boote Ausbildungsflottillen, Schütze’s personal final tally as a front-line commander stood at 35 ships sunk for a total of 180,073 gross register tons plus two vessels damaged for 14,213 gross register tons, placing him among the elite aces of the Battle of the Atlantic before he transitioned to training and staff roles until the end of the war.
Kapitän zur See Ernst-Felix Krüder (1897-1941) was an officer of the Kriegsmarine who commanded the Hilfskreuzer „Pinguin“ (Schiff 33 / HSK 5), one of the most successful German auxiliary cruisers and commerce raiders of the Second World War. After distinguished service in the First World War aboard the SMS König at the Battle of Jutland and later as Funkentelegraphie-Offizier on the SMS Goeben, followed by post-war roles in the Reichsmarine including command of minesweepers and as Chef der 1. Minensuchflottille, he took command of the converted freighter Pinguin on 6 February 1940 (promoted Kapitän zur See the same day) and sailed from Gotenhafen on 15 June 1940 for a 357-day cruise in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Under his leadership the Pinguin sank or captured 32 Allied merchant vessels totaling 154,619 GRT through gunfire, torpedoes, scuttling, and minefields it laid, notably sinking the British freighter Domingo de Larrinaga on 31 July 1940 near Ascension Island, capturing the bulk of the Norwegian whaling fleet in January 1941 (including the factory ships Ole Wegger and Pelagos plus numerous whalers dispatched as prizes), and laying mines off Australia that destroyed several additional ships. For these cumulative successes—specifically 11 ships of 78,947 GRT sunk or captured plus three more vessels of 17,781 GRT destroyed by his Australian minefield—he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 December 1940; posthumously, on 15 November 1941 as the 40th recipient, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for a further 18 ships of 57,891 GRT sunk, captured or destroyed by mines (with one additional vessel damaged). The Pinguin was finally sunk on 8 May 1941 in the Indian Ocean east of Somaliland and northwest of the Seychelles by the British heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall; a direct hit detonated the ship’s mine magazine, killing Krüder and most of the crew along with many prisoners of war.
Vizeadmiral Bernhard Rogge (1899-1982), born on 4 November 1899 in Schleswig and died on 29 June 1982 in Reinbek, was a distinguished German naval officer who rose to the rank of Vizeadmiral in the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later served as Konteradmiral in the post-war Bundesmarine. A devoutly religious man and skilled seaman with a career beginning in the Imperial German Navy in 1915, Rogge commanded various sail training ships before taking charge of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (HSK 2, also known as Schiff 16), a disguised merchant raider that departed on its legendary 655-day cruise on 31 March 1940. Under his leadership, Atlantis conducted one of the most successful commerce raiding operations of the war, operating across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans while sinking or capturing a total of 22 enemy merchant ships totaling approximately 145,697 GRT through a combination of clever deception, precise gunnery, and humane treatment of prisoners that earned respect even from adversaries. For these exploits, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 7 December 1940 as Kapitän zur See and Kommandant of Hilfskreuzer Atlantis after accounting for 13 ships and 94,000 GRT, recognizing the disruption inflicted on Allied supply lines far from home waters. The Eichenlaub followed on 31 December 1941 as the 45th recipient, honoring the full tally of successes and over 110,000 nautical miles sailed, making Rogge one of the most effective surface raider commanders of the conflict; notably, the capture of secret documents from the British steamer Automedon near Sumatra further amplified his impact by aiding Japanese strategic planning. Renowned for his chivalrous conduct toward captured crews, which contrasted with harsher wartime norms and contributed to his avoidance of post-war Allied prosecution, Rogge exemplified professional seamanship amid the demands of commerce warfare.
Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911-1986) began his naval career in 1931 and transferred to the U-boat arm in 1939, later commanding the Type VIIC submarine U-96 as Kapitänleutnant from September 1940 until March 1942 while attached to the 7. U-Flottille and conducting eight war patrols in the Battle of the Atlantic that resulted in the sinking of twenty-four ships totaling 170,237 gross register tons along with two ships damaged for 15,864 gross register tons and one ship declared a total loss. For his achievements during the first three of these patrols, in which U-96 under his command sank fourteen ships of 115,580 gross register tons and damaged two others of 15,864 gross register tons including the prominent sinking of the British troopship Almeda Star of 14,935 gross register tons on 17 January 1941, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 February 1941 as Kommandant of U-96 in recognition of his rapid destruction of more than 125,000 gross register tons of enemy shipping in a short period. For further successes achieved over the course of another five war patrols in which he sank an additional ten ships totaling 58,746 gross register tons, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 while still serving as Kommandant of U-96, after which he went on to command the 9. U-Flottille in Brest and briefly U-256 before becoming Flottillenchef of the 11. U-Flottille until the end of the war.
Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Hardegen (1913-2018) was an officer in the Kriegsmarine during World War II, best known as a successful U-boat commander who sank or damaged numerous Allied vessels, primarily while serving with the 2nd U-boat Flotilla. Having previously served as 1.WO aboard U-124 under Kapitanleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz, he took command of U-147 in late 1940 before assuming command of the Type IXB U-boat U-123 in May 1941. His most notable achievements came during Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat), the German U-boat offensive against American shipping along the East Coast in early 1942, where he penetrated heavily illuminated coastal waters with remarkable audacity. On his first Drumbeat patrol, Hardegen and his crew aboard U-123 sank several ships including the British tanker Coimbra and others off Cape Hatteras, accumulating over 100,000 GRT in claimed sinkings that earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 23 January 1942. During his second and final patrol in March-April 1942, he continued his aggressive operations along the Florida and Georgia coasts, sinking or heavily damaging tankers and freighters such as the American tanker Muskogee, Empire Steel, Oklahoma, Esso Baton Rouge, Gulfamerica (torpedoed and then shelled from a daring close-range position near the beach amid onshore spectators), and others with a combination of torpedoes and deck gun fire, often in shallow waters where ships were sometimes later refloated; these successes, bringing his patrol claims to around 74,000 GRT amid fierce but often ineffective American responses including depth charges and air attacks, led to the award of the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz on 23 April 1942 (the 89th such presentation). Health issues forced his retirement from frontline U-boat duties shortly thereafter, after which he commanded Marine-Infanterie-Regiment 6 briefly in 1945; postwar, he built a successful career as a businessman and politician in Bremen, living to the age of 105 as the last surviving German U-boat captain.
Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg (1913-1942) was born on 23 June 1913 in Kiel and joined the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic on 1 April 1932 as a member of Crew 32, later transferring to the Kriegsmarine; after two years of service on minesweepers he entered the U-boat arm in October 1939, commanded the school boat U-10 from June to November 1940 within the 21. Unterseebootsflottille, gained combat experience aboard U-100 under Joachim Schepke, and in February 1941 commissioned U-203 into the 1. Unterseebootsflottille as Kapitänleutnant, going on to complete eight war patrols in the Atlantic, off the US east coast and in the Caribbean during which he sank nineteen ships totaling approximately 81,961 GRT and damaged three others of 17,052 GRT. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 17 November 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-203 for sinking twelve ships of 39,744 GRT and damaging one of 8,293 GRT over four patrols, and received the Eichenlaub on 15 July 1942, the 104th award of its kind, again as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-203 for sinking a further ten ships of 47,558 GRT and damaging three more of 17,052 GRT. On 11 September 1942, while U-203 was southwest of the Azores, Mützelburg went swimming and dived from the conning tower but struck the deck head-first when the boat lurched in a swell; despite the arrival of a doctor from the supply boat U-462 the following day he died of his injuries and was buried at sea on 12 September 1942.
Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee (1913-1982), known as “Addi”, was born on 31 December 1913 in Berlin and died on 4 November 1982 in Hamburg; he joined the Reichsmarine in April 1934, served aboard the light cruiser Leipzig, transferred to the U-boat arm in May 1937, and as 1.WO completed five combat patrols aboard U-23 under Oberleutnant zur See Otto Kretschmer before taking his own commands of U-6 (one short patrol supporting Unternehmen Weserübung), U-60 (three patrols sinking two ships of 3,188 GRT and damaging one of 15,434 GRT), the training boat U-121, and from January 1941 the Type VIIC U-201, in which he conducted seven combat patrols between April 1941 and August 1942 sinking nineteen merchant ships totalling 87,001 GRT as well as the auxiliary warships HMS Springbank and HMS Laertes while damaging two further vessels, for overall wartime successes of twenty-one merchant ships of approximately 90,847 GRT plus two auxiliaries; as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of U-201 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 August 1941 after three successful patrols, and as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of the same boat he was awarded the Eichenlaub (105th recipient) on 15 July 1942 for the outstanding results of his seventh patrol, during which he sank nine ships totalling 56,349 GRT (including the British anti-submarine trawler HMS Laertes) and damaged another of 7,417 GRT; promoted ultimately to Korvettenkapitän, he later served on the staff of the Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote as Geleitzugs-Admiralstabsoffizier organising convoy operations before taking command of the Type XXI Elektroboot U-2511 in September 1944, with which he conducted a final short patrol in May 1945 that ended with the German surrender after he had closed undetected to within 500 metres of the British cruiser HMS Norfolk without firing, after which he worked in the German Mine Sweeping Administration, testified at the Peleus trial, and later directed a sailing school on Elba while serving for many years as chairman of the Verband Deutscher Ubootfahrer.
Kapitän zur See Klaus Scholtz (1908-1987) was born on 22 March 1908 in Magdeburg and joined the Reichsmarine on 5 April 1927 as a Seeoffiziersbewerber of Crew 1927, serving initially on training ships and later on torpedo boats including the Jaguar, which he commanded from 1937 to 1939. In April 1940 he transferred voluntarily to the U-Bootwaffe, completed the necessary courses, and on 22 October 1940 assumed command of the Type IXB submarine U-108 of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. On his first Feindfahrt from 15 February to 12 March 1941 he sank two ships totalling 8,078 BRT; on the second patrol he sank the British Hilfskreuzer Rajputana of 16,444 BRT on 13 April 1941. Subsequent Atlantic patrols yielded further successes, including seven ships of 26,931 BRT on the third voyage, and by the end of his fifth Feindfahrt in December 1941 he had sunk thirteen ships amounting to 61,760 BRT. For these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 December 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-108. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November 1941, he continued successful operations, sinking five ships of 20,082 BRT on his sixth patrol and five more of 31,340 BRT on the seventh. On his eighth and final Feindfahrt from 13 July to 10 September 1942 he sank three additional ships of 17,496 BRT, bringing his total to twenty-five vessels of approximately 128,000 BRT. For these further successes he received the Eichenlaub on 10 September 1942 as the 123rd recipient while still Kommandant of U-108. He then relinquished command and on 15 October 1942 became Flottillenchef of the 12. Unterseebootsflottille based at Bordeaux. Promoted to Fregattenkapitän in July 1944, he was captured by American forces on 11 September 1944 while leading remaining personnel from the isolated fortress of Bordeaux and was released in April 1946. After the war he served in the Grenzschutz See and later the Bundesmarine, rising to Kapitän zur See before retiring in 1966; he died on 1 May 1987 in Bad Schwartau.
Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909-1977), known as "Ajax", was born on 21 October 1909 in Berga in the Kyffhäuser region and entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933 as Fähnrich zur See, receiving successive promotions to Leutnant zur See in 1935, Oberleutnant zur See in 1937 and Kapitänleutnant in 1939 while serving on training ships and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper before transferring to the U-Bootwaffe. On 4 September 1940 he assumed command of the Type VIIB boat U-48 of the 7. Unterseebootsflottille and on his first Feindfahrt sank several merchant vessels as well as the British sloop HMS Dundee, culminating on 18 September 1940 in the torpedoing of the passenger liner City of Benares near Rockall with heavy loss of life. For sinking fourteen ships totalling approximately 77,500 BRT and damaging another on these early patrols he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 October 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-48, an honour he initially hesitated to accept until his I. Wachoffizier Reinhard Suhren was similarly decorated. After briefly commissioning U-67 he took command of the Type IXB boat U-109 on 5 June 1941 and conducted six Feindfahrten in the Atlantic, sinking a further thirteen ships of more than 80,000 BRT. These continued successes brought his overall total to twenty-seven ships of roughly 159,000 BRT sunk and three damaged, for which he received the Eichenlaub on 23 September 1942 as the 125th recipient while still Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-109. Health problems forced him to relinquish front-line command in early 1943; he then served as a tactics instructor with the 2. Unterseeboots-Ausbildungs-Division and later as Flottillenchef of the 22. Unterseebootsflottille, being promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November 1943. After the war he lived quietly in West Germany and died in Munich on 9 January 1977.
Korvettenkapitän Werner Töniges (1910-1995) was born on 7 January 1910 in Oberhausen as the son of a mining director and transferred from the Handelsmarine to the Kriegsmarine in 1935, receiving promotion to Leutnant zur See in 1937. He served aboard the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee during the Spanish Civil War before transferring to the Schnellbootwaffe, where he commanded the boats S 24, S 26 and later S 102 of the 1. Schnellbootflottille. In the early months of the Second World War he conducted numerous Feindfahrten in the English Channel, achieving several sinkings that earned him the Eisernes Kreuz second and first class in 1940. On 25 February 1941, after completing eighty-eight combat patrols as Oberleutnant zur See und Kommandant of S 102, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his successes against Allied shipping, which by that time included several freighters and steamers. Continuing operations with the same boat, Töniges later transferred with elements of the flotilla to the Black Sea, where he sank additional Soviet vessels, among them the passenger ship Belostok and other transports evacuating troops from Sevastopol and the Taman Peninsula. By the autumn of 1942 his cumulative record stood at eighteen war and merchant ships plus two U-Boot-Jäger sunk for a total of approximately 86,200 BRT after 281 Feindfahrten. For these achievements he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 13 November 1942 as Kapitänleutnant, becoming the first Schnellboot-Kommandant to earn this distinction. Shortly beforehand he had been posted as Kompaniechef to the 1. Abteilung of the Marineschule Mürwik in Flensburg-Mürwik, where he also received the Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten. From September 1943 he served as Ausbildungsoffizier and Referent in the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 January 1945. After the war he worked as an independent merchant in Witten and died in Essen on 25 January 1995.
Kapitän zur See Karl-Friedrich Merten (1905-1993) was born on 15 August 1905 in Posen and entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1926 as a member of Crew 26, completing basic training before serving as Seekadett on the sail training ship Niobe and undertaking a world cruise aboard the light cruiser Emden. Promoted through the ranks to Leutnant zur See in 1930 and Kapitänleutnant in 1936, he served as an artillery officer on the light cruisers Karlsruhe and Leipzig during Spanish Civil War non-intervention patrols and later commanded the escort ship F-7. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was stationed as Kadettenoffizier on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, participating in the bombardment of Westerplatte and the Battle of Hel, for which he received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse. Volunteering for the U-boat arm in May 1940, he trained as Kommandantenschüler under Heinrich Liebe on U-38 before commissioning U-68 on 11 February 1941 as its Kommandant within the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. Over five war patrols lasting 368 days in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Indian Oceans, Merten sank 27 ships totalling 170,151 GRT. On 13 June 1942, as Korvettenkapitän and Kommandant of U-68, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for successes on his first three patrols, during which eleven ships of 63,047 GRT were sunk, and for distinguishing himself in the rescue of the crews of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis and the supply ship Python. Further successes on two subsequent patrols, in which sixteen vessels of 107,128 GRT were destroyed, earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 16 November 1942. In early 1943 he relinquished command of U-68 and became Chef of the 26. Unterseebootsflottille at Pillau, later transferring to command the 24. Unterseebootsflottille at Memel. Promoted to Fregattenkapitän in 1944 and Kapitän zur See on 15 April 1945, he was briefly assigned to the Führerhauptquartier before the war’s end. Released from captivity in June 1945, he later worked in ship salvage on the Rhine and in the shipbuilding industry until retirement, dying of cancer on 2 May 1993 in Waldshut-Tiengen.
Kapitän zur See der Reserve Hellmuth von Ruckteschell (1890-1948) was born on 22 March 1890 in Hamburg and joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1909 as Seekadett, later serving in the First World War as Oberleutnant zur See on U-boats including U 3 and U 57 before commanding UB 34 from 1917 and U 54 from 1918, during which he sank numerous vessels and earned both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz along with the Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he left the navy, lived abroad for a time due to Allied blacklisting for aggressive tactics, and worked as a carpenter before being recalled to the Kriegsmarine in 1939 as an officer of the reserve. He briefly commanded the Minenschiff Cobra and then took over the Hilfskreuzer HSK 3 Widder in May 1940 as Korvettenkapitän der Reserve, sailing into the Atlantic where over 180 days he sank or captured ten Allied merchant ships totaling about 58,644 BRT through determined commerce-raiding actions that included surprise attacks and prize-taking. For this outstanding leadership and success with Widder he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 October 1940 upon returning to a French port. He next supervised the conversion of another vessel into the Hilfskreuzer HSK 9 Michel and assumed command in early 1942 as Fregattenkapitän der Reserve, departing on a long cruise that operated in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, during which he sank fourteen more Allied ships amounting to roughly 94,363 BRT without loss to his own command. Promoted to Kapitän zur See der Reserve in September 1942, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December 1942 as the 158th recipient for these further successful raiding achievements with Michel. Health issues led him to relinquish command upon reaching Japan in March 1943, after which he served as an assistant to the Marineattaché in Tokyo until the war’s end. He was later tried by a British military court in Hamburg for alleged breaches of the laws of naval warfare during his raiding voyages, sentenced to imprisonment, and died on 24 September 1948 in the Strafanstalt Fuhlsbüttel.
Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Guggenberger (1915-1988) was born on 6 March 1915 in Munich and entered the Reichsmarine as a cadet on 26 September 1934, later transferring to the U-Boot-Waffe in October 1939 where he served as I. Wachoffizier aboard U-28 under Kapitänleutnant Günther Kuhnke before briefly commanding the boat himself in a training role. On 26 April 1941 he commissioned U-81 and took her on successive Feindfahrten, first in the Atlantic and then into the Mediterranean after successfully forcing the Strait of Gibraltar. On 13 November 1941, while operating against a British naval formation in the western Mediterranean despite heavy enemy defenses, Kapitänleutnant Guggenberger launched a torpedo attack that struck the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (22,600 tons), causing such severe damage that the vessel sank the following day with the loss of only one crewman; for this outstanding success, together with earlier sinkings, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 December 1941. He continued to command U-81 on further Mediterranean patrols, sinking additional merchant and naval vessels including tankers, and was recognized as one of the most successful U-Boot commanders in that theater. On 8 January 1943, after accumulating a total of seventeen ships sunk totaling over 66,000 GRT, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as its 171st recipient while still holding the rank of Kapitänleutnant and command of U-81. He briefly commissioned U-847 before serving as Admiralstabsoffizier on the staff of the Befehlshaber der U-Boote, then took command of U-513, which was sunk off Brazil in July 1943; Guggenberger survived and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner. After release he worked as an architect, rejoined the Bundesmarine in 1956, rose to Konteradmiral, served as Chief of Staff at NATO’s AFNORTH headquarters, and retired in 1972; he disappeared on a walk near Erlenbach am Main on 13 May 1988 and his remains were found two years later.
Korvettenkapitän Johann Mohr (1916-1943) was born on 12 June 1916 in Hanover and entered the Reichsmarine as an Offiziersanwärter on 8 April 1934, receiving basic training before serving on training ships and the Panzerschiff Deutschland during the Spanish Civil War, for which he received the Spanienkreuz in Bronze. After transfer to the U-Boot-Waffe in April 1940 and service as Wachoffizier on U-124 under Kapitänleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz on three Feindfahrten, he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 September 1941 and assumed command of U-124 on 8 September 1941 as part of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. Over six patrols lasting 268 days at sea he sank 27 merchant ships totaling approximately 129,292 GRT together with the British light cruiser HMS Dunedin and the Free French corvette Mimosa, while also damaging three further vessels. His notable early successes included attacks on convoy HG 73 and the sinking of HMS Dunedin on 24 November 1941. For sinking 15 ships of 63,032 GRT and damaging three more of 26,167 GRT across his first patrols as Kommandant, including the cruiser, Mohr was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 27 March 1942 while still at sea during a highly successful patrol off the American coast. Continuing his aggressive operations, he later sank four ships from convoy ONS 92 in a single night and, after the Ritterkreuz, an additional 17 armed merchant ships of some 84,600 GRT. These further achievements, bringing his total to around 35 ships and 188,000 GRT including the cruiser, earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 13 January 1943 as the 177th recipient, recognized for outstanding tactical skill and bold employment of his boat against heavily escorted convoys. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1943, Mohr sailed from Lorient on 27 March for his final patrol and on 2 April penetrated the screen of convoy OS 45 to sink the steamers Gogra and Katha west of Porto, Portugal. The escorts HMS Stonecrop and HMS Black Swan then detected and depth-charged U-124, sinking it with all hands in position approximately 41°02′N 15°39′W; Mohr and his entire crew perished.
Korvettenkapitän Georg Lassen (1915-2012) was born on 12 May 1915 in Berlin-Steglitz and entered the Kriegsmarine in 1935, rising through the ranks from Offiziersanwärter and Seekadett to Leutnant zur See and later Oberleutnant zur See. At the outbreak of the Second World War he served as I. Wachoffizier aboard U-29 under Kapitänleutnant Otto Schuhart, participating in the sinking of multiple vessels including the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. From 3 January to 14 September 1941 he commanded U-29 itself while it operated as a training boat with the 24. Unterseebootsflottille. On 16 October 1941 he commissioned the Type IXC boat U-160, initially attached to the 4. Unterseebootsflottille and later the 10. Unterseebootsflottille, and conducted four war patrols lasting a total of 328 days. During his first patrol between March and April 1942 in American waters he sank or damaged six ships totaling around 43,560 GRT. For his overall successes with U-160 after two patrols, amounting to eleven ships sunk for 66,012 GRT and two damaged, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 August 1942 while holding the rank of Oberleutnant zur See and serving as Kommandant of U-160. Promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 September 1942, he continued his highly effective operations. On his fourth and final patrol in South African waters, during the night of 3 to 4 March 1943 against convoy DN-21 near Durban, Lassen and the crew of U-160 sank or damaged six ships totaling 41,076 GRT in under five hours. This outstanding action, combined with further successes that brought his career total to twenty-six ships sunk for 156,082 GRT and five damaged for 34,419 GRT, led to the award of the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 7 March 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-160. In June 1943 he was reassigned as a tactics instructor and Chef Offizierskompanie with the 1. U-Boot-Lehrdivision. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1945, he survived the war, later worked as a businessman and managing director, lost an arm in a traffic accident, and eventually settled in Mallorca, where he died on 18 January 2012 at the age of ninety-six.
Großadmiral Karl Dönitz (1891-1980) was born on 16 September 1891 in Grünau near Berlin to Emil Dönitz, an engineer, and Anna Beyer, and enlisted in the Kaiserliche Marine as Seekadett on 1 April 1910, advancing to Fähnrich zur See in 1911 and receiving his commission as Leutnant zur See on 27 September 1913. At the outbreak of the First World War he served aboard the light cruiser SMS Breslau in the Mediterranean, which later operated from Constantinople against Russian forces in the Black Sea after transfer to the Ottoman Navy; promoted to Oberleutnant zur See in March 1916, he transferred to the submarine service, trained at Flensburg-Mürwik, served as watch officer on U-39, and then commanded UC-25 before taking over UB-68 in the Mediterranean, where technical failures forced him to surface and scuttle the boat near Malta on 4 October 1918, leading to his capture by the British and internment until 1919. After returning to Germany he continued in the Reichsmarine, rising through Kapitänleutnant, Korvettenkapitän and Fregattenkapitän, commanding torpedo boats and the training cruiser Emden before being appointed in 1935 to rebuild the U-boat arm in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles as Führer der U-Boote and later Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU), developing the Rudeltaktik or wolfpack tactics that concentrated multiple boats against Allied convoys. With the start of the Second World War he directed the U-boat campaign in the Battle of the Atlantic, achieving early successes that earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 April 1940 while holding the rank of Konteradmiral and serving as Befehlshaber der U-Boote, the decoration being awarded specifically for the outstanding successes of his U-Boote against the British fleet and Allied merchant shipping. Promoted successively to Vizeadmiral, Admiral and finally Großadmiral on 30 January 1943, he replaced Erich Raeder as Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine while retaining command of the U-boat force; on 6 April 1943 he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as the 223rd recipient, granted for his achievements as leader of the U-Boat arm and the associated successes of his forces, especially in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite heavy losses after May 1943 he continued to press U-boat operations until the end of the war; named by Adolf Hitler as successor, he became head of state on 30 April 1945, formed the Flensburg Government, ordered the German surrender, and was arrested on 23 May 1945. Tried at Nuremberg, he was convicted of crimes against peace and war crimes, sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment at Spandau, released on 1 October 1956, and lived quietly in Aumühle until his death on 24 December 1980.
Kapitän zur See Gerhard von Kamptz (1902-1998) was born on 27 December 1902 in Kopaschütz, Kreis Schroda in the Province of Posen, the son of Paul Wilhelm August von Kamptz, estate owner, and Hedwig Josephine Emilie Schmekel; he entered the Reichsmarine in 1923 and rose steadily through the ranks, becoming Leutnant zur See in 1927, Oberleutnant zur See in 1929, Kapitänleutnant on 1 April 1935, Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1939, Fregattenkapitän on 1 April 1943 and finally Kapitän zur See on 1 July 1943. Early in his career he commanded the newly recommissioned Zieten as Oberleutnant zur See from October 1933 to September 1935 and later served as company leader in the V. Marineartillerie-Abteilung at Pillau; in November 1938 he was appointed Chef of the newly formed 2. Räumbootsflottille, a post he held until January 1941. During operations in the North Sea and especially in the Norwegian campaign of 1940 his flotilla performed with distinction under his personal leadership, repeatedly exceeding assigned objectives through his courage, skill and determination in overcoming every difficulty; for these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 October 1940 while still Korvettenkapitän and Chef of the 2. Räumbootsflottille. From mid-March 1941, with brief interruptions, until March 1943 he commanded the newly established 8. Räumbootsflottille (also referred to as 8. Minensuchflottille), under whose escort more than 400,000 BRT of shipping reached port without loss; for the outstanding leadership of this unit, which accomplished all its tasks in an exemplary manner, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (the 225th award) on 14 April 1943 as Fregattenkapitän and Chef of the 8. Räumbootsflottille. He subsequently served as Chef of the short-lived 4. Geleitflottille at La Spezia, directed special operations in Italy, commanded the Sperrschule at Sønderborg from December 1943 to October 1944, and worked as Abteilungschef in the Wehrgeistigen Führungsstab of the OKM before becoming Inselkommandant of Bornholm in March–April 1945 as successor to Robert Moraht. Ordered to surrender only to Western forces, he refused Soviet demands after the partial German capitulation of 4 May 1945, leading to Soviet air attacks on Rønne and Nexø; the island was finally handed over on 9 May, after which he spent nearly nine years in Soviet captivity until his release on 1 January 1954. He settled in Kiel, where he died on 16 May 1998 at the age of 95 and was buried in the Kieler Nordfriedhof.
Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Wuppermann (1916-2005) was born on 15 December 1916 in Berlin as the son of a bank director and joined the Kriegsmarine on 3 April 1936, serving as Seekadett aboard the Emden from September that year before becoming Adjutant to the 1. Schnellboot-Flottille in April 1938 and later to the U-Boots-Schulflottille. From March 1939 he commanded Schnellboot S 20 and then S 25 in the 1. Schnellboot-Flottille, taking part in patrols during the Invasion of Poland in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and English Channel as well as in the Norwegian Campaign, for which he received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 20 April 1940 and the 1. Klasse on 28 May 1940 after sinking the French destroyer Sirocco and a tanker. Promoted to Oberleutnant zur See on 1 October 1940, he transferred to the 3. Schnellboot-Flottille, assumed command of S 60 on 21 December 1940 and briefly acted as Chef of the flottille in February-March 1941. On 7 March 1941 near Great Yarmouth he led attacks that sank two destroyers, two freighters and a tanker; during Operation Barbarossa with S 60 he sank the cargo ship Gaisma on 21-22 June 1941, the Soviet submarine S 3 two days later and, with other boats, two destroyers and a torpedo boat on 27 June, actions for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 3 August 1941 as Kommandant of S 60. From October 1941 he commanded S 56 in the Mediterranean, where on 14 June 1942 he torpedoed and severely damaged the British cruiser Newcastle, sank several patrol vessels and, during the fall of Tobruk on 21 June 1942, destroyed numerous ships including freighters and landing craft; these further successes earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 14 April 1943 as the 226th recipient while still Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of S 56, along with the Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten. Promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 April 1943, he later served as Ausbildungsleiter, Chef of the 21. and 22. Schnellboot-Flottille, in the Stab of the Führer der Schnellboote and finally as Chef of the 1. Schnellboot-Division in the Adriatic until the end of the war, after which he was released from captivity in June 1946 and later reached Fregattenkapitän der Reserve in the Bundesmarine; he died on 15 April 2005 in Osnabrück.
Kapitän zur See Otto von Bülow (1911-2006) was born on 16 October 1911 in Wilhelmshaven as the son of Kapitän zur See Otto von Bülow and Johanna Meyer, descending from the old Mecklenburg aristocratic family of von Bülow. He entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1930 as Offiziersanwärter of Crew 30, serving initially on the training ship Niobe and light cruiser Emden before assignments on the Panzerschiff Deutschland as Batteriekommandeur and later on the Linienschiff Schleswig-Holstein as Flak-Artillerieoffizier, followed by land-based duties with Marine-Flakabteilungen. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-Boot-Waffe, completed training, and on 11 November 1940 assumed command of the training boat U-3 in the 21. U-Boot-Flottille. On 6 August 1941, as Kapitänleutnant, he commissioned and took command of U-404 in the 6. U-Flottille, conducting six war patrols totaling 280 days at sea in the Atlantic and off the American coast. With U-404 he sank 14 merchant ships totaling 71,450 GRT as well as the British destroyer HMS Veteran of 1,120 tons and damaged two further ships of 16,689 GRT. These successes, especially the sinking of eleven merchant vessels and HMS Veteran, earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 October 1942 while still Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-404. During his sixth patrol on 23 April 1943 he fired four torpedoes at what he identified as the American aircraft carrier USS Ranger in the mid-North Atlantic; hearing explosions, he reported a presumed sinking, though the actual target was the British escort carrier HMS Biter and the weapons caused no damage. German propaganda announced the sinking of the Ranger, and on 26 April 1943 he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 234th recipient for this action, remaining Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-404. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 June 1943, he left U-404 in July and from 1 September 1943 commanded the 23. U-Flottille in Danzig as a training unit. In spring 1945 he briefly commanded the Type XXI boat U-2545 before leading Marinesturmbataillon I. Captured by British forces in May 1945 and released in August, he joined the Bundesmarine in 1956, later commanding the destroyer Z-6 and the 3. Zerstörergeschwader, rising to Kapitän zur See and serving as garrison chief of Hamburg until retirement in 1970. He died on 5 January 2006 in Wohltorf.
Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Kemnade (1911-2008) was born on 12 December 1911 in Schwarmstedt near Hanover and joined the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1931 as a naval officer candidate. After training he served on cruisers including Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Nürnberg and Emden, where he was I. Torpedooffizier and Adjutant at the outbreak of war and was promoted to Kapitänleutnant. From mid-May 1940 he commanded the 3. Schnellbootflottille, operating in the North Sea, Baltic, English Channel and from 1942 in the Mediterranean. On 11 September 1940 he was seriously wounded aboard S 13 during a British air raid on Vlissingen. Under his leadership the flotilla conducted 171 sorties, sinking, damaging or capturing some 70 warships including two cruisers, 14 destroyers and several submarines as well as twelve merchant vessels of about 100000 GRT. The Ritterkreuz was awarded on 23 July 1942 for Mediterranean successes, including the attack on a British convoy in which two cruisers were torpedoed, one probably sunk, plus earlier sinkings of a destroyer, escort, submarine chaser and 15000 GRT of shipping off the Libyan coast. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän, he received the Eichenlaub on 27 May 1943 as the 249th recipient for continued outstanding leadership, especially in supporting the Tunisian bridgehead after the Allied landings in North Africa, where his flotilla was the first German-Italian naval unit to raise the flag in Tunis and Bizerta and secure supply lines while inflicting heavy losses. From July 1943 he served as Referent in the Seekriegsleitung. After the war he worked in insurance until joining the Bundesmarine on 1 April 1956 as Fregattenkapitän, later rising to Konteradmiral and holding posts including commander of the Schnellbootflottille, Befehlshaber der Seestreitkräfte Ostseezugänge and Befehlshaber im Wehrbereich I before retiring on 30 September 1970. He died in Hamburg on 29 January 2008.
Korvettenkapitän Carl Emmermann (1915-1990) was born on 6 March 1915 in Hamburg and entered the Kriegsmarine in 1934, serving initially as a training officer at the Marineschule Mürwik before joining the U-boat force in 1939. In November 1940 he became first watch officer on UA under Hans Eckermann, and on 5 November 1941 he took command of U-172 as Kapitänleutnant. Over five patrols lasting 373 days in the Caribbean, South African waters with the wolf pack Eisbär, and the North and South Atlantic, he sank 26 merchant ships totaling 152,080 GRT. His greatest success came on 10 October 1942 with the sinking of the British liner-troopship SS Orcades of 23,456 GRT. For sinking 17 ships totaling 95,429 GRT, including the Orcades and the US freighter Santa Rita from which a map of Cape Town mine barriers was captured, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 27 November 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-172. The Eichenlaub followed on 4 July 1943, the 256th award, for a further ten ships of 57,475 GRT while still Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-172. During his fifth patrol his crew rescued half the men from the scuttled U-604. Afterward he commanded the 6. U-Boot-Flottille, led the Erprobungsgruppe Typ XXIII and wrote its battle instructions, briefly commanded U-3037, and in the final weeks led the 31. U-Boot-Flottille and Marine-Bataillon Emmermann around Hamburg. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän, he survived the war, studied engineering, prospered in business, and died on 25 March 1990 in Celle.
Korvettenkapitän Werner Henke (1909-1944) was born on 13 May 1909 in Rudak near Thorn in West Prussia and after service in the merchant marine joined the Reichsmarine in April 1934 as Offiziersanwärter. He trained at the Naval Academy Mürwik, served aboard the Panzerschiff Admiral Scheer and the Linienschiff Schleswig-Holstein, participating in the opening action at Westerplatte in September 1939, and later became II. and then I. Wachoffizier on U-124 under Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Schulz and Kapitänleutnant Johann Mohr. In November 1941 he attended the Kommandantenlehrgang and on 21 February 1942 commissioned the Type IXC boat U-515 as its first Kommandant, assigned to the 10. U-Boots-Flottille. On his first two Feindfahrten he sank ten ships totaling 71 677 GRT, including the destroyer depot ship Hecla and the passenger liner Ceramic on 7 December 1942 west of the Azores; for these successes he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 17 December 1942 as Oberleutnant zur See zur Verwendung. During his third patrol, on the night of 30 April to 1 May 1943, Henke attacked convoy TS-37 some ninety miles south of Freetown and in the space of eight hours sank eight merchant vessels amounting to 49 456 tons, an action that, together with further sinkings raising his score by another thirteen ships of 81 373 GRT, earned him the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz on 4 July 1943 as Kapitänleutnant zur Verwendung, the 257th award of the decoration. Overall he was credited with approximately twenty-five ships of some 155 000 BRT. On 9 April 1944 U-515 was sunk north of Madeira by aircraft from the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal and depth charges from four destroyer escorts; Henke and forty-three crewmen were captured. Fearing extradition to Britain over false accusations arising from the Ceramic sinking, he attempted to climb the fence of the Fort Hunt interrogation center on 15 June 1944 and was shot dead by a guard. He was posthumously promoted to Korvettenkapitän and is buried at Fort George G. Meade.
Kapitän zur See Viktor Schütze (1906-1950) was one of the most successful U-boat commanders of the Second World War, serving initially in the Reichsmarine aboard torpedo boats from 1925 before transferring to the U-boat arm in 1935 and rising through commands of U 19, U 11, and U 25 prior to taking over the Type IXB boat U 103 of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille in July 1940. As Kommandant of U 103 he conducted multiple patrols in the North Atlantic and off the African coast, during which his cumulative successes across five patrols earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 11 December 1940 for sinking 19 ships totaling 91,953 gross register tons and damaging one additional vessel. He continued aggressive operations, and over the course of two further patrols in the first half of 1941 he sank another 16 ships for 88,120 gross register tons while damaging one more, actions that directly resulted in the award of the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 July 1941 as the 23rd recipient of the Oak Leaves. By the time he relinquished command of U 103 in mid-1941 to become Flottillenchef of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille and later Führer der U-Boote Ausbildungsflottillen, Schütze’s personal final tally as a front-line commander stood at 35 ships sunk for a total of 180,073 gross register tons plus two vessels damaged for 14,213 gross register tons, placing him among the elite aces of the Battle of the Atlantic before he transitioned to training and staff roles until the end of the war.
Kapitän zur See Ernst-Felix Krüder (1897-1941) was an officer of the Kriegsmarine who commanded the Hilfskreuzer „Pinguin“ (Schiff 33 / HSK 5), one of the most successful German auxiliary cruisers and commerce raiders of the Second World War. After distinguished service in the First World War aboard the SMS König at the Battle of Jutland and later as Funkentelegraphie-Offizier on the SMS Goeben, followed by post-war roles in the Reichsmarine including command of minesweepers and as Chef der 1. Minensuchflottille, he took command of the converted freighter Pinguin on 6 February 1940 (promoted Kapitän zur See the same day) and sailed from Gotenhafen on 15 June 1940 for a 357-day cruise in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Under his leadership the Pinguin sank or captured 32 Allied merchant vessels totaling 154,619 GRT through gunfire, torpedoes, scuttling, and minefields it laid, notably sinking the British freighter Domingo de Larrinaga on 31 July 1940 near Ascension Island, capturing the bulk of the Norwegian whaling fleet in January 1941 (including the factory ships Ole Wegger and Pelagos plus numerous whalers dispatched as prizes), and laying mines off Australia that destroyed several additional ships. For these cumulative successes—specifically 11 ships of 78,947 GRT sunk or captured plus three more vessels of 17,781 GRT destroyed by his Australian minefield—he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 December 1940; posthumously, on 15 November 1941 as the 40th recipient, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for a further 18 ships of 57,891 GRT sunk, captured or destroyed by mines (with one additional vessel damaged). The Pinguin was finally sunk on 8 May 1941 in the Indian Ocean east of Somaliland and northwest of the Seychelles by the British heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall; a direct hit detonated the ship’s mine magazine, killing Krüder and most of the crew along with many prisoners of war.
Vizeadmiral Bernhard Rogge (1899-1982), born on 4 November 1899 in Schleswig and died on 29 June 1982 in Reinbek, was a distinguished German naval officer who rose to the rank of Vizeadmiral in the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later served as Konteradmiral in the post-war Bundesmarine. A devoutly religious man and skilled seaman with a career beginning in the Imperial German Navy in 1915, Rogge commanded various sail training ships before taking charge of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (HSK 2, also known as Schiff 16), a disguised merchant raider that departed on its legendary 655-day cruise on 31 March 1940. Under his leadership, Atlantis conducted one of the most successful commerce raiding operations of the war, operating across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans while sinking or capturing a total of 22 enemy merchant ships totaling approximately 145,697 GRT through a combination of clever deception, precise gunnery, and humane treatment of prisoners that earned respect even from adversaries. For these exploits, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 7 December 1940 as Kapitän zur See and Kommandant of Hilfskreuzer Atlantis after accounting for 13 ships and 94,000 GRT, recognizing the disruption inflicted on Allied supply lines far from home waters. The Eichenlaub followed on 31 December 1941 as the 45th recipient, honoring the full tally of successes and over 110,000 nautical miles sailed, making Rogge one of the most effective surface raider commanders of the conflict; notably, the capture of secret documents from the British steamer Automedon near Sumatra further amplified his impact by aiding Japanese strategic planning. Renowned for his chivalrous conduct toward captured crews, which contrasted with harsher wartime norms and contributed to his avoidance of post-war Allied prosecution, Rogge exemplified professional seamanship amid the demands of commerce warfare.
Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911-1986) began his naval career in 1931 and transferred to the U-boat arm in 1939, later commanding the Type VIIC submarine U-96 as Kapitänleutnant from September 1940 until March 1942 while attached to the 7. U-Flottille and conducting eight war patrols in the Battle of the Atlantic that resulted in the sinking of twenty-four ships totaling 170,237 gross register tons along with two ships damaged for 15,864 gross register tons and one ship declared a total loss. For his achievements during the first three of these patrols, in which U-96 under his command sank fourteen ships of 115,580 gross register tons and damaged two others of 15,864 gross register tons including the prominent sinking of the British troopship Almeda Star of 14,935 gross register tons on 17 January 1941, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 February 1941 as Kommandant of U-96 in recognition of his rapid destruction of more than 125,000 gross register tons of enemy shipping in a short period. For further successes achieved over the course of another five war patrols in which he sank an additional ten ships totaling 58,746 gross register tons, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 while still serving as Kommandant of U-96, after which he went on to command the 9. U-Flottille in Brest and briefly U-256 before becoming Flottillenchef of the 11. U-Flottille until the end of the war.
Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Hardegen (1913-2018) was an officer in the Kriegsmarine during World War II, best known as a successful U-boat commander who sank or damaged numerous Allied vessels, primarily while serving with the 2nd U-boat Flotilla. Having previously served as 1.WO aboard U-124 under Kapitanleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz, he took command of U-147 in late 1940 before assuming command of the Type IXB U-boat U-123 in May 1941. His most notable achievements came during Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat), the German U-boat offensive against American shipping along the East Coast in early 1942, where he penetrated heavily illuminated coastal waters with remarkable audacity. On his first Drumbeat patrol, Hardegen and his crew aboard U-123 sank several ships including the British tanker Coimbra and others off Cape Hatteras, accumulating over 100,000 GRT in claimed sinkings that earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 23 January 1942. During his second and final patrol in March-April 1942, he continued his aggressive operations along the Florida and Georgia coasts, sinking or heavily damaging tankers and freighters such as the American tanker Muskogee, Empire Steel, Oklahoma, Esso Baton Rouge, Gulfamerica (torpedoed and then shelled from a daring close-range position near the beach amid onshore spectators), and others with a combination of torpedoes and deck gun fire, often in shallow waters where ships were sometimes later refloated; these successes, bringing his patrol claims to around 74,000 GRT amid fierce but often ineffective American responses including depth charges and air attacks, led to the award of the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz on 23 April 1942 (the 89th such presentation). Health issues forced his retirement from frontline U-boat duties shortly thereafter, after which he commanded Marine-Infanterie-Regiment 6 briefly in 1945; postwar, he built a successful career as a businessman and politician in Bremen, living to the age of 105 as the last surviving German U-boat captain.
Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg (1913-1942) was born on 23 June 1913 in Kiel and joined the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic on 1 April 1932 as a member of Crew 32, later transferring to the Kriegsmarine; after two years of service on minesweepers he entered the U-boat arm in October 1939, commanded the school boat U-10 from June to November 1940 within the 21. Unterseebootsflottille, gained combat experience aboard U-100 under Joachim Schepke, and in February 1941 commissioned U-203 into the 1. Unterseebootsflottille as Kapitänleutnant, going on to complete eight war patrols in the Atlantic, off the US east coast and in the Caribbean during which he sank nineteen ships totaling approximately 81,961 GRT and damaged three others of 17,052 GRT. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 17 November 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-203 for sinking twelve ships of 39,744 GRT and damaging one of 8,293 GRT over four patrols, and received the Eichenlaub on 15 July 1942, the 104th award of its kind, again as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-203 for sinking a further ten ships of 47,558 GRT and damaging three more of 17,052 GRT. On 11 September 1942, while U-203 was southwest of the Azores, Mützelburg went swimming and dived from the conning tower but struck the deck head-first when the boat lurched in a swell; despite the arrival of a doctor from the supply boat U-462 the following day he died of his injuries and was buried at sea on 12 September 1942.
Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee (1913-1982), known as “Addi”, was born on 31 December 1913 in Berlin and died on 4 November 1982 in Hamburg; he joined the Reichsmarine in April 1934, served aboard the light cruiser Leipzig, transferred to the U-boat arm in May 1937, and as 1.WO completed five combat patrols aboard U-23 under Oberleutnant zur See Otto Kretschmer before taking his own commands of U-6 (one short patrol supporting Unternehmen Weserübung), U-60 (three patrols sinking two ships of 3,188 GRT and damaging one of 15,434 GRT), the training boat U-121, and from January 1941 the Type VIIC U-201, in which he conducted seven combat patrols between April 1941 and August 1942 sinking nineteen merchant ships totalling 87,001 GRT as well as the auxiliary warships HMS Springbank and HMS Laertes while damaging two further vessels, for overall wartime successes of twenty-one merchant ships of approximately 90,847 GRT plus two auxiliaries; as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of U-201 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 August 1941 after three successful patrols, and as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of the same boat he was awarded the Eichenlaub (105th recipient) on 15 July 1942 for the outstanding results of his seventh patrol, during which he sank nine ships totalling 56,349 GRT (including the British anti-submarine trawler HMS Laertes) and damaged another of 7,417 GRT; promoted ultimately to Korvettenkapitän, he later served on the staff of the Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote as Geleitzugs-Admiralstabsoffizier organising convoy operations before taking command of the Type XXI Elektroboot U-2511 in September 1944, with which he conducted a final short patrol in May 1945 that ended with the German surrender after he had closed undetected to within 500 metres of the British cruiser HMS Norfolk without firing, after which he worked in the German Mine Sweeping Administration, testified at the Peleus trial, and later directed a sailing school on Elba while serving for many years as chairman of the Verband Deutscher Ubootfahrer.
Kapitän zur See Klaus Scholtz (1908-1987) was born on 22 March 1908 in Magdeburg and joined the Reichsmarine on 5 April 1927 as a Seeoffiziersbewerber of Crew 1927, serving initially on training ships and later on torpedo boats including the Jaguar, which he commanded from 1937 to 1939. In April 1940 he transferred voluntarily to the U-Bootwaffe, completed the necessary courses, and on 22 October 1940 assumed command of the Type IXB submarine U-108 of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. On his first Feindfahrt from 15 February to 12 March 1941 he sank two ships totalling 8,078 BRT; on the second patrol he sank the British Hilfskreuzer Rajputana of 16,444 BRT on 13 April 1941. Subsequent Atlantic patrols yielded further successes, including seven ships of 26,931 BRT on the third voyage, and by the end of his fifth Feindfahrt in December 1941 he had sunk thirteen ships amounting to 61,760 BRT. For these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 December 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-108. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November 1941, he continued successful operations, sinking five ships of 20,082 BRT on his sixth patrol and five more of 31,340 BRT on the seventh. On his eighth and final Feindfahrt from 13 July to 10 September 1942 he sank three additional ships of 17,496 BRT, bringing his total to twenty-five vessels of approximately 128,000 BRT. For these further successes he received the Eichenlaub on 10 September 1942 as the 123rd recipient while still Kommandant of U-108. He then relinquished command and on 15 October 1942 became Flottillenchef of the 12. Unterseebootsflottille based at Bordeaux. Promoted to Fregattenkapitän in July 1944, he was captured by American forces on 11 September 1944 while leading remaining personnel from the isolated fortress of Bordeaux and was released in April 1946. After the war he served in the Grenzschutz See and later the Bundesmarine, rising to Kapitän zur See before retiring in 1966; he died on 1 May 1987 in Bad Schwartau.
Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909-1977), known as "Ajax", was born on 21 October 1909 in Berga in the Kyffhäuser region and entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933 as Fähnrich zur See, receiving successive promotions to Leutnant zur See in 1935, Oberleutnant zur See in 1937 and Kapitänleutnant in 1939 while serving on training ships and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper before transferring to the U-Bootwaffe. On 4 September 1940 he assumed command of the Type VIIB boat U-48 of the 7. Unterseebootsflottille and on his first Feindfahrt sank several merchant vessels as well as the British sloop HMS Dundee, culminating on 18 September 1940 in the torpedoing of the passenger liner City of Benares near Rockall with heavy loss of life. For sinking fourteen ships totalling approximately 77,500 BRT and damaging another on these early patrols he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 October 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-48, an honour he initially hesitated to accept until his I. Wachoffizier Reinhard Suhren was similarly decorated. After briefly commissioning U-67 he took command of the Type IXB boat U-109 on 5 June 1941 and conducted six Feindfahrten in the Atlantic, sinking a further thirteen ships of more than 80,000 BRT. These continued successes brought his overall total to twenty-seven ships of roughly 159,000 BRT sunk and three damaged, for which he received the Eichenlaub on 23 September 1942 as the 125th recipient while still Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-109. Health problems forced him to relinquish front-line command in early 1943; he then served as a tactics instructor with the 2. Unterseeboots-Ausbildungs-Division and later as Flottillenchef of the 22. Unterseebootsflottille, being promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November 1943. After the war he lived quietly in West Germany and died in Munich on 9 January 1977.
Korvettenkapitän Werner Töniges (1910-1995) was born on 7 January 1910 in Oberhausen as the son of a mining director and transferred from the Handelsmarine to the Kriegsmarine in 1935, receiving promotion to Leutnant zur See in 1937. He served aboard the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee during the Spanish Civil War before transferring to the Schnellbootwaffe, where he commanded the boats S 24, S 26 and later S 102 of the 1. Schnellbootflottille. In the early months of the Second World War he conducted numerous Feindfahrten in the English Channel, achieving several sinkings that earned him the Eisernes Kreuz second and first class in 1940. On 25 February 1941, after completing eighty-eight combat patrols as Oberleutnant zur See und Kommandant of S 102, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his successes against Allied shipping, which by that time included several freighters and steamers. Continuing operations with the same boat, Töniges later transferred with elements of the flotilla to the Black Sea, where he sank additional Soviet vessels, among them the passenger ship Belostok and other transports evacuating troops from Sevastopol and the Taman Peninsula. By the autumn of 1942 his cumulative record stood at eighteen war and merchant ships plus two U-Boot-Jäger sunk for a total of approximately 86,200 BRT after 281 Feindfahrten. For these achievements he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 13 November 1942 as Kapitänleutnant, becoming the first Schnellboot-Kommandant to earn this distinction. Shortly beforehand he had been posted as Kompaniechef to the 1. Abteilung of the Marineschule Mürwik in Flensburg-Mürwik, where he also received the Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten. From September 1943 he served as Ausbildungsoffizier and Referent in the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 January 1945. After the war he worked as an independent merchant in Witten and died in Essen on 25 January 1995.
Kapitän zur See Karl-Friedrich Merten (1905-1993) was born on 15 August 1905 in Posen and entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1926 as a member of Crew 26, completing basic training before serving as Seekadett on the sail training ship Niobe and undertaking a world cruise aboard the light cruiser Emden. Promoted through the ranks to Leutnant zur See in 1930 and Kapitänleutnant in 1936, he served as an artillery officer on the light cruisers Karlsruhe and Leipzig during Spanish Civil War non-intervention patrols and later commanded the escort ship F-7. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was stationed as Kadettenoffizier on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, participating in the bombardment of Westerplatte and the Battle of Hel, for which he received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse. Volunteering for the U-boat arm in May 1940, he trained as Kommandantenschüler under Heinrich Liebe on U-38 before commissioning U-68 on 11 February 1941 as its Kommandant within the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. Over five war patrols lasting 368 days in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Indian Oceans, Merten sank 27 ships totalling 170,151 GRT. On 13 June 1942, as Korvettenkapitän and Kommandant of U-68, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for successes on his first three patrols, during which eleven ships of 63,047 GRT were sunk, and for distinguishing himself in the rescue of the crews of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis and the supply ship Python. Further successes on two subsequent patrols, in which sixteen vessels of 107,128 GRT were destroyed, earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 16 November 1942. In early 1943 he relinquished command of U-68 and became Chef of the 26. Unterseebootsflottille at Pillau, later transferring to command the 24. Unterseebootsflottille at Memel. Promoted to Fregattenkapitän in 1944 and Kapitän zur See on 15 April 1945, he was briefly assigned to the Führerhauptquartier before the war’s end. Released from captivity in June 1945, he later worked in ship salvage on the Rhine and in the shipbuilding industry until retirement, dying of cancer on 2 May 1993 in Waldshut-Tiengen.
Kapitän zur See der Reserve Hellmuth von Ruckteschell (1890-1948) was born on 22 March 1890 in Hamburg and joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1909 as Seekadett, later serving in the First World War as Oberleutnant zur See on U-boats including U 3 and U 57 before commanding UB 34 from 1917 and U 54 from 1918, during which he sank numerous vessels and earned both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz along with the Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he left the navy, lived abroad for a time due to Allied blacklisting for aggressive tactics, and worked as a carpenter before being recalled to the Kriegsmarine in 1939 as an officer of the reserve. He briefly commanded the Minenschiff Cobra and then took over the Hilfskreuzer HSK 3 Widder in May 1940 as Korvettenkapitän der Reserve, sailing into the Atlantic where over 180 days he sank or captured ten Allied merchant ships totaling about 58,644 BRT through determined commerce-raiding actions that included surprise attacks and prize-taking. For this outstanding leadership and success with Widder he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 October 1940 upon returning to a French port. He next supervised the conversion of another vessel into the Hilfskreuzer HSK 9 Michel and assumed command in early 1942 as Fregattenkapitän der Reserve, departing on a long cruise that operated in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, during which he sank fourteen more Allied ships amounting to roughly 94,363 BRT without loss to his own command. Promoted to Kapitän zur See der Reserve in September 1942, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December 1942 as the 158th recipient for these further successful raiding achievements with Michel. Health issues led him to relinquish command upon reaching Japan in March 1943, after which he served as an assistant to the Marineattaché in Tokyo until the war’s end. He was later tried by a British military court in Hamburg for alleged breaches of the laws of naval warfare during his raiding voyages, sentenced to imprisonment, and died on 24 September 1948 in the Strafanstalt Fuhlsbüttel.
Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Guggenberger (1915-1988) was born on 6 March 1915 in Munich and entered the Reichsmarine as a cadet on 26 September 1934, later transferring to the U-Boot-Waffe in October 1939 where he served as I. Wachoffizier aboard U-28 under Kapitänleutnant Günther Kuhnke before briefly commanding the boat himself in a training role. On 26 April 1941 he commissioned U-81 and took her on successive Feindfahrten, first in the Atlantic and then into the Mediterranean after successfully forcing the Strait of Gibraltar. On 13 November 1941, while operating against a British naval formation in the western Mediterranean despite heavy enemy defenses, Kapitänleutnant Guggenberger launched a torpedo attack that struck the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (22,600 tons), causing such severe damage that the vessel sank the following day with the loss of only one crewman; for this outstanding success, together with earlier sinkings, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 December 1941. He continued to command U-81 on further Mediterranean patrols, sinking additional merchant and naval vessels including tankers, and was recognized as one of the most successful U-Boot commanders in that theater. On 8 January 1943, after accumulating a total of seventeen ships sunk totaling over 66,000 GRT, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as its 171st recipient while still holding the rank of Kapitänleutnant and command of U-81. He briefly commissioned U-847 before serving as Admiralstabsoffizier on the staff of the Befehlshaber der U-Boote, then took command of U-513, which was sunk off Brazil in July 1943; Guggenberger survived and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner. After release he worked as an architect, rejoined the Bundesmarine in 1956, rose to Konteradmiral, served as Chief of Staff at NATO’s AFNORTH headquarters, and retired in 1972; he disappeared on a walk near Erlenbach am Main on 13 May 1988 and his remains were found two years later.
Korvettenkapitän Johann Mohr (1916-1943) was born on 12 June 1916 in Hanover and entered the Reichsmarine as an Offiziersanwärter on 8 April 1934, receiving basic training before serving on training ships and the Panzerschiff Deutschland during the Spanish Civil War, for which he received the Spanienkreuz in Bronze. After transfer to the U-Boot-Waffe in April 1940 and service as Wachoffizier on U-124 under Kapitänleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz on three Feindfahrten, he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 September 1941 and assumed command of U-124 on 8 September 1941 as part of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. Over six patrols lasting 268 days at sea he sank 27 merchant ships totaling approximately 129,292 GRT together with the British light cruiser HMS Dunedin and the Free French corvette Mimosa, while also damaging three further vessels. His notable early successes included attacks on convoy HG 73 and the sinking of HMS Dunedin on 24 November 1941. For sinking 15 ships of 63,032 GRT and damaging three more of 26,167 GRT across his first patrols as Kommandant, including the cruiser, Mohr was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 27 March 1942 while still at sea during a highly successful patrol off the American coast. Continuing his aggressive operations, he later sank four ships from convoy ONS 92 in a single night and, after the Ritterkreuz, an additional 17 armed merchant ships of some 84,600 GRT. These further achievements, bringing his total to around 35 ships and 188,000 GRT including the cruiser, earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 13 January 1943 as the 177th recipient, recognized for outstanding tactical skill and bold employment of his boat against heavily escorted convoys. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1943, Mohr sailed from Lorient on 27 March for his final patrol and on 2 April penetrated the screen of convoy OS 45 to sink the steamers Gogra and Katha west of Porto, Portugal. The escorts HMS Stonecrop and HMS Black Swan then detected and depth-charged U-124, sinking it with all hands in position approximately 41°02′N 15°39′W; Mohr and his entire crew perished.
Korvettenkapitän Georg Lassen (1915-2012) was born on 12 May 1915 in Berlin-Steglitz and entered the Kriegsmarine in 1935, rising through the ranks from Offiziersanwärter and Seekadett to Leutnant zur See and later Oberleutnant zur See. At the outbreak of the Second World War he served as I. Wachoffizier aboard U-29 under Kapitänleutnant Otto Schuhart, participating in the sinking of multiple vessels including the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. From 3 January to 14 September 1941 he commanded U-29 itself while it operated as a training boat with the 24. Unterseebootsflottille. On 16 October 1941 he commissioned the Type IXC boat U-160, initially attached to the 4. Unterseebootsflottille and later the 10. Unterseebootsflottille, and conducted four war patrols lasting a total of 328 days. During his first patrol between March and April 1942 in American waters he sank or damaged six ships totaling around 43,560 GRT. For his overall successes with U-160 after two patrols, amounting to eleven ships sunk for 66,012 GRT and two damaged, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 August 1942 while holding the rank of Oberleutnant zur See and serving as Kommandant of U-160. Promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 September 1942, he continued his highly effective operations. On his fourth and final patrol in South African waters, during the night of 3 to 4 March 1943 against convoy DN-21 near Durban, Lassen and the crew of U-160 sank or damaged six ships totaling 41,076 GRT in under five hours. This outstanding action, combined with further successes that brought his career total to twenty-six ships sunk for 156,082 GRT and five damaged for 34,419 GRT, led to the award of the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 7 March 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-160. In June 1943 he was reassigned as a tactics instructor and Chef Offizierskompanie with the 1. U-Boot-Lehrdivision. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1945, he survived the war, later worked as a businessman and managing director, lost an arm in a traffic accident, and eventually settled in Mallorca, where he died on 18 January 2012 at the age of ninety-six.
Großadmiral Karl Dönitz (1891-1980) was born on 16 September 1891 in Grünau near Berlin to Emil Dönitz, an engineer, and Anna Beyer, and enlisted in the Kaiserliche Marine as Seekadett on 1 April 1910, advancing to Fähnrich zur See in 1911 and receiving his commission as Leutnant zur See on 27 September 1913. At the outbreak of the First World War he served aboard the light cruiser SMS Breslau in the Mediterranean, which later operated from Constantinople against Russian forces in the Black Sea after transfer to the Ottoman Navy; promoted to Oberleutnant zur See in March 1916, he transferred to the submarine service, trained at Flensburg-Mürwik, served as watch officer on U-39, and then commanded UC-25 before taking over UB-68 in the Mediterranean, where technical failures forced him to surface and scuttle the boat near Malta on 4 October 1918, leading to his capture by the British and internment until 1919. After returning to Germany he continued in the Reichsmarine, rising through Kapitänleutnant, Korvettenkapitän and Fregattenkapitän, commanding torpedo boats and the training cruiser Emden before being appointed in 1935 to rebuild the U-boat arm in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles as Führer der U-Boote and later Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU), developing the Rudeltaktik or wolfpack tactics that concentrated multiple boats against Allied convoys. With the start of the Second World War he directed the U-boat campaign in the Battle of the Atlantic, achieving early successes that earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 April 1940 while holding the rank of Konteradmiral and serving as Befehlshaber der U-Boote, the decoration being awarded specifically for the outstanding successes of his U-Boote against the British fleet and Allied merchant shipping. Promoted successively to Vizeadmiral, Admiral and finally Großadmiral on 30 January 1943, he replaced Erich Raeder as Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine while retaining command of the U-boat force; on 6 April 1943 he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as the 223rd recipient, granted for his achievements as leader of the U-Boat arm and the associated successes of his forces, especially in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite heavy losses after May 1943 he continued to press U-boat operations until the end of the war; named by Adolf Hitler as successor, he became head of state on 30 April 1945, formed the Flensburg Government, ordered the German surrender, and was arrested on 23 May 1945. Tried at Nuremberg, he was convicted of crimes against peace and war crimes, sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment at Spandau, released on 1 October 1956, and lived quietly in Aumühle until his death on 24 December 1980.
Kapitän zur See Gerhard von Kamptz (1902-1998) was born on 27 December 1902 in Kopaschütz, Kreis Schroda in the Province of Posen, the son of Paul Wilhelm August von Kamptz, estate owner, and Hedwig Josephine Emilie Schmekel; he entered the Reichsmarine in 1923 and rose steadily through the ranks, becoming Leutnant zur See in 1927, Oberleutnant zur See in 1929, Kapitänleutnant on 1 April 1935, Korvettenkapitän on 1 April 1939, Fregattenkapitän on 1 April 1943 and finally Kapitän zur See on 1 July 1943. Early in his career he commanded the newly recommissioned Zieten as Oberleutnant zur See from October 1933 to September 1935 and later served as company leader in the V. Marineartillerie-Abteilung at Pillau; in November 1938 he was appointed Chef of the newly formed 2. Räumbootsflottille, a post he held until January 1941. During operations in the North Sea and especially in the Norwegian campaign of 1940 his flotilla performed with distinction under his personal leadership, repeatedly exceeding assigned objectives through his courage, skill and determination in overcoming every difficulty; for these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 October 1940 while still Korvettenkapitän and Chef of the 2. Räumbootsflottille. From mid-March 1941, with brief interruptions, until March 1943 he commanded the newly established 8. Räumbootsflottille (also referred to as 8. Minensuchflottille), under whose escort more than 400,000 BRT of shipping reached port without loss; for the outstanding leadership of this unit, which accomplished all its tasks in an exemplary manner, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (the 225th award) on 14 April 1943 as Fregattenkapitän and Chef of the 8. Räumbootsflottille. He subsequently served as Chef of the short-lived 4. Geleitflottille at La Spezia, directed special operations in Italy, commanded the Sperrschule at Sønderborg from December 1943 to October 1944, and worked as Abteilungschef in the Wehrgeistigen Führungsstab of the OKM before becoming Inselkommandant of Bornholm in March–April 1945 as successor to Robert Moraht. Ordered to surrender only to Western forces, he refused Soviet demands after the partial German capitulation of 4 May 1945, leading to Soviet air attacks on Rønne and Nexø; the island was finally handed over on 9 May, after which he spent nearly nine years in Soviet captivity until his release on 1 January 1954. He settled in Kiel, where he died on 16 May 1998 at the age of 95 and was buried in the Kieler Nordfriedhof.
Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Wuppermann (1916-2005) was born on 15 December 1916 in Berlin as the son of a bank director and joined the Kriegsmarine on 3 April 1936, serving as Seekadett aboard the Emden from September that year before becoming Adjutant to the 1. Schnellboot-Flottille in April 1938 and later to the U-Boots-Schulflottille. From March 1939 he commanded Schnellboot S 20 and then S 25 in the 1. Schnellboot-Flottille, taking part in patrols during the Invasion of Poland in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and English Channel as well as in the Norwegian Campaign, for which he received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 20 April 1940 and the 1. Klasse on 28 May 1940 after sinking the French destroyer Sirocco and a tanker. Promoted to Oberleutnant zur See on 1 October 1940, he transferred to the 3. Schnellboot-Flottille, assumed command of S 60 on 21 December 1940 and briefly acted as Chef of the flottille in February-March 1941. On 7 March 1941 near Great Yarmouth he led attacks that sank two destroyers, two freighters and a tanker; during Operation Barbarossa with S 60 he sank the cargo ship Gaisma on 21-22 June 1941, the Soviet submarine S 3 two days later and, with other boats, two destroyers and a torpedo boat on 27 June, actions for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 3 August 1941 as Kommandant of S 60. From October 1941 he commanded S 56 in the Mediterranean, where on 14 June 1942 he torpedoed and severely damaged the British cruiser Newcastle, sank several patrol vessels and, during the fall of Tobruk on 21 June 1942, destroyed numerous ships including freighters and landing craft; these further successes earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 14 April 1943 as the 226th recipient while still Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of S 56, along with the Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten. Promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 April 1943, he later served as Ausbildungsleiter, Chef of the 21. and 22. Schnellboot-Flottille, in the Stab of the Führer der Schnellboote and finally as Chef of the 1. Schnellboot-Division in the Adriatic until the end of the war, after which he was released from captivity in June 1946 and later reached Fregattenkapitän der Reserve in the Bundesmarine; he died on 15 April 2005 in Osnabrück.
Kapitän zur See Otto von Bülow (1911-2006) was born on 16 October 1911 in Wilhelmshaven as the son of Kapitän zur See Otto von Bülow and Johanna Meyer, descending from the old Mecklenburg aristocratic family of von Bülow. He entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1930 as Offiziersanwärter of Crew 30, serving initially on the training ship Niobe and light cruiser Emden before assignments on the Panzerschiff Deutschland as Batteriekommandeur and later on the Linienschiff Schleswig-Holstein as Flak-Artillerieoffizier, followed by land-based duties with Marine-Flakabteilungen. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-Boot-Waffe, completed training, and on 11 November 1940 assumed command of the training boat U-3 in the 21. U-Boot-Flottille. On 6 August 1941, as Kapitänleutnant, he commissioned and took command of U-404 in the 6. U-Flottille, conducting six war patrols totaling 280 days at sea in the Atlantic and off the American coast. With U-404 he sank 14 merchant ships totaling 71,450 GRT as well as the British destroyer HMS Veteran of 1,120 tons and damaged two further ships of 16,689 GRT. These successes, especially the sinking of eleven merchant vessels and HMS Veteran, earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 October 1942 while still Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-404. During his sixth patrol on 23 April 1943 he fired four torpedoes at what he identified as the American aircraft carrier USS Ranger in the mid-North Atlantic; hearing explosions, he reported a presumed sinking, though the actual target was the British escort carrier HMS Biter and the weapons caused no damage. German propaganda announced the sinking of the Ranger, and on 26 April 1943 he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 234th recipient for this action, remaining Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-404. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 June 1943, he left U-404 in July and from 1 September 1943 commanded the 23. U-Flottille in Danzig as a training unit. In spring 1945 he briefly commanded the Type XXI boat U-2545 before leading Marinesturmbataillon I. Captured by British forces in May 1945 and released in August, he joined the Bundesmarine in 1956, later commanding the destroyer Z-6 and the 3. Zerstörergeschwader, rising to Kapitän zur See and serving as garrison chief of Hamburg until retirement in 1970. He died on 5 January 2006 in Wohltorf.
Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Kemnade (1911-2008) was born on 12 December 1911 in Schwarmstedt near Hanover and joined the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1931 as a naval officer candidate. After training he served on cruisers including Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Nürnberg and Emden, where he was I. Torpedooffizier and Adjutant at the outbreak of war and was promoted to Kapitänleutnant. From mid-May 1940 he commanded the 3. Schnellbootflottille, operating in the North Sea, Baltic, English Channel and from 1942 in the Mediterranean. On 11 September 1940 he was seriously wounded aboard S 13 during a British air raid on Vlissingen. Under his leadership the flotilla conducted 171 sorties, sinking, damaging or capturing some 70 warships including two cruisers, 14 destroyers and several submarines as well as twelve merchant vessels of about 100000 GRT. The Ritterkreuz was awarded on 23 July 1942 for Mediterranean successes, including the attack on a British convoy in which two cruisers were torpedoed, one probably sunk, plus earlier sinkings of a destroyer, escort, submarine chaser and 15000 GRT of shipping off the Libyan coast. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän, he received the Eichenlaub on 27 May 1943 as the 249th recipient for continued outstanding leadership, especially in supporting the Tunisian bridgehead after the Allied landings in North Africa, where his flotilla was the first German-Italian naval unit to raise the flag in Tunis and Bizerta and secure supply lines while inflicting heavy losses. From July 1943 he served as Referent in the Seekriegsleitung. After the war he worked in insurance until joining the Bundesmarine on 1 April 1956 as Fregattenkapitän, later rising to Konteradmiral and holding posts including commander of the Schnellbootflottille, Befehlshaber der Seestreitkräfte Ostseezugänge and Befehlshaber im Wehrbereich I before retiring on 30 September 1970. He died in Hamburg on 29 January 2008.
Korvettenkapitän Robert Gysae (1911-1989) was born on 14 January 1911 in Berlin-Charlottenburg and joined the Reichsmarine in April 1931 as an Offiziersanwärter. After serving on the torpedo boats Albatros, Leopard and T-107 he transferred to the U-Bootwaffe in April 1940. In October 1940, as Kapitänleutnant, he commissioned the Type VIIC boat U-98 without prior experience as 1. Wachoffizier or Kommandantenschüler, an unusual distinction reflecting high trust from the BdU. Over six patrols in the North Atlantic lasting 194 days he sank ten merchant ships and one auxiliary warship. His most celebrated success, which largely earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 as the 99th recipient in the Kriegsmarine and 43rd in the U-Bootwaffe, was the sinking of the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Salopian of 10,549 GRT on 13 May 1941. Despite the cruiser’s superior speed, Gysae pursued her in a two-day cat-and-mouse chase before delivering the fatal torpedoes. In March 1942 he took command of the long-range Type IXD2 boat U-177. On two extended patrols into the Indian Ocean and off South Africa, lasting 312 days, he sank a further fourteen ships totalling over 87,000 GRT and damaged one more. While still at sea on his second patrol he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 31 May 1943 as the 250th recipient overall, 31st in the Kriegsmarine and 24th among U-boat men, recognising these additional successes of roughly 54,669 GRT sunk plus one ship damaged. Overall he was credited with twenty-four merchant vessels of 136,266 GRT, one auxiliary warship of 10,549 GRT and one ship damaged of 2,588 GRT across eight patrols. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän in July 1943, he left U-177 in October and in January 1944 assumed command of the 25. U-Bootsflottille, a training flotilla at Gotenhafen. In the final weeks of the war he led the Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1. After brief captivity he served in the Deutscher Minenräumdienst, then joined the Bundesmarine in 1956, rising to Flottillenadmiral, serving as naval attaché in the United States and commanding the Marinedivision Nordsee until retirement in March 1970. He died in Wilhelmshaven on 26 April 1989.
Korvettenkapitän Carl Emmermann (1915-1990) was born on 6 March 1915 in Hamburg and entered the Kriegsmarine in 1934, serving initially as a training officer at the Marineschule Mürwik before joining the U-boat force in 1939. In November 1940 he became first watch officer on UA under Hans Eckermann, and on 5 November 1941 he took command of U-172 as Kapitänleutnant. Over five patrols lasting 373 days in the Caribbean, South African waters with the wolf pack Eisbär, and the North and South Atlantic, he sank 26 merchant ships totaling 152,080 GRT. His greatest success came on 10 October 1942 with the sinking of the British liner-troopship SS Orcades of 23,456 GRT. For sinking 17 ships totaling 95,429 GRT, including the Orcades and the US freighter Santa Rita from which a map of Cape Town mine barriers was captured, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 27 November 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-172. The Eichenlaub followed on 4 July 1943, the 256th award, for a further ten ships of 57,475 GRT while still Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-172. During his fifth patrol his crew rescued half the men from the scuttled U-604. Afterward he commanded the 6. U-Boot-Flottille, led the Erprobungsgruppe Typ XXIII and wrote its battle instructions, briefly commanded U-3037, and in the final weeks led the 31. U-Boot-Flottille and Marine-Bataillon Emmermann around Hamburg. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän, he survived the war, studied engineering, prospered in business, and died on 25 March 1990 in Celle.
Korvettenkapitän Werner Henke (1909-1944) was born on 13 May 1909 in Rudak near Thorn in West Prussia and after service in the merchant marine joined the Reichsmarine in April 1934 as Offiziersanwärter. He trained at the Naval Academy Mürwik, served aboard the Panzerschiff Admiral Scheer and the Linienschiff Schleswig-Holstein, participating in the opening action at Westerplatte in September 1939, and later became II. and then I. Wachoffizier on U-124 under Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Schulz and Kapitänleutnant Johann Mohr. In November 1941 he attended the Kommandantenlehrgang and on 21 February 1942 commissioned the Type IXC boat U-515 as its first Kommandant, assigned to the 10. U-Boots-Flottille. On his first two Feindfahrten he sank ten ships totaling 71 677 GRT, including the destroyer depot ship Hecla and the passenger liner Ceramic on 7 December 1942 west of the Azores; for these successes he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 17 December 1942 as Oberleutnant zur See zur Verwendung. During his third patrol, on the night of 30 April to 1 May 1943, Henke attacked convoy TS-37 some ninety miles south of Freetown and in the space of eight hours sank eight merchant vessels amounting to 49 456 tons, an action that, together with further sinkings raising his score by another thirteen ships of 81 373 GRT, earned him the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz on 4 July 1943 as Kapitänleutnant zur Verwendung, the 257th award of the decoration. Overall he was credited with approximately twenty-five ships of some 155 000 BRT. On 9 April 1944 U-515 was sunk north of Madeira by aircraft from the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal and depth charges from four destroyer escorts; Henke and forty-three crewmen were captured. Fearing extradition to Britain over false accusations arising from the Ceramic sinking, he attempted to climb the fence of the Fort Hunt interrogation center on 15 June 1944 and was shot dead by a guard. He was posthumously promoted to Korvettenkapitän and is buried at Fort George G. Meade.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsmarine
https://www.tracesofwar.com/awards/83/ritterkreuz-des-eisernen-kreuzes.htm
https://uboat.net/men/decorations/ritter_winners.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment