The 29. Unterseebootsflottille was established in December 1941 at La Spezia in Italy as a Frontflottille of the Kriegsmarine’s U-Boot-Waffe, operating exclusively in the Mediterranean Sea against Allied convoys and supply lines under the command of the Führer der Unterseeboote Italien and later the Führer der Unterseeboote Mittelmeer. Its first Flottillenchef was Korvettenkapitän Franz Becker from December 1941 until May 1942, followed by Korvettenkapitän Fritz Frauenheim from May 1942 to July 1943 and then Korvettenkapitän Günther Jahn from August 1943 until the unit’s dissolution. In late May 1942 the remaining boats of the disbanded 23. U-Flottille were absorbed into the 29. Unterseebootsflottille, expanding its strength. The primary base remained La Spezia until August 1943, after which the flotilla transferred its headquarters to Toulon in southern France while maintaining additional support facilities at Pola, Messina, Marseille and Salamis. Equipped mainly with Type VII B and Type VII C U-Boote, the flotilla was assigned a total of fifty-two boats over its existence, including well-known vessels such as U-81, U-331, U-73, U-559 and U-565. These boats conducted numerous Feindfahrten against Mediterranean shipping, supporting Axis operations in North Africa and targeting Malta-bound convoys under difficult conditions of clear water and strong Allied air and surface defenses. By mid-1944 losses had severely reduced the number of operational boats, and after U-407 was sunk on 19 September 1944 the final two remaining vessels, U-565 and U-596, were scuttled at Salamis, leading to the formal dissolution of the 29. Unterseebootsflottille in September 1944.
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BRILLANTENTRÄGER
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.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
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.
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