The 2. Unterseebootsflottille was one of the most famous and successful U-boat formations of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. Originally established in 1938 and headquartered at Wilhelmshaven before later operating from French Atlantic bases such as Lorient, the flotilla became widely known by its nickname “Salzwedel,” honoring Kapitänleutnant Reinhold Salzwedel, a distinguished U-boat commander of the First World War. Throughout the Battle of the Atlantic, the 2. Unterseebootsflottille served as a frontline combat formation, deploying some of Germany’s most accomplished submarine commanders against Allied shipping routes. The flotilla included renowned U-boat aces such as Erich Topp, Herbert Schultze, Adalbert Schnee, and Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, whose boats accounted for hundreds of thousands of tons of enemy merchant shipping sunk. Its crews operated primarily with Type VII and later Type IX U-boats, conducting long-range patrols across the North Atlantic, Arctic waters, and occasionally more distant operational theaters. The unit produced numerous recipients of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, Eichenlaub, Schwerter, and even the Brillanten, reflecting the high combat effectiveness and prestige associated with the flotilla during the peak years of the U-boat campaign. Despite its early successes, increasing Allied technological superiority, improved convoy tactics, radar, air patrols, and codebreaking gradually reduced the effectiveness of German submarine operations. Nevertheless, the 2. Unterseebootsflottille remained active until the final months of the war in 1945.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
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.
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.
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.
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.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_U-boat_Flotilla
https://uboat.net/flotillas/2flo.htm
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