Ritterkreuzträger of U-bootjäger (Submarine Hunter)

Operating under the command of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War, the specialized surface units designated as U-Boot-Jäger served as the backbone of Germany's coastal anti-submarine warfare and convoy escort operations across contested maritime theaters ranging from the icy fjords of Norway to the sun-bleached waters of the Mediterranean. Because the German naval command faced an urgent shortage of purpose-built antisubmarine escorts early in the conflict, numerous commercial civilian assets—predominantly sturdy deep-sea fishing trawlers, whalers, and fast commercial steamers—were requisitioned, militarized, and commissioned into service as submarine chasers. These converted warships were organized into specialized tactical formations known as U-Jagd-Flottillen, which were tasked with patrolling coastal shipping lanes, securing vital maritime supply routes, sweeping acoustic and magnetic mines, and hunting down hostile Allied submersibles that threatened Axis logistics. Typically manned by seasoned naval personnel, including experienced junior officers holding ranks such as Leutnant zur See and Oberleutnant zur See, alongside veteran NCOs with ratings like Oberfeldwebel, these vessels underwent extensive structural modifications. Shipyards fitted them with reinforced weapons platforms, heavy anti-aircraft armaments including multi-barrel Flak guns, specialized sound-ranging equipment, sonar gear, and stern racks loaded with lethal depth charges. Despite suffering from limited speed, rudimentary pre-radar detection technology, and vulnerability to heavy seas, individual submarine chasers like UJ 2210 under the command of officers such as Leutnant Otto Pollmann achieved notable combat successes in narrow seas by engaging enemy undersea craft in fierce depth-charge duels. Operating in grueling environments under constant threat from Allied carrier aviation, submarine torpedoes, and surface attacks, these dedicated flotillas persevered through unrelenting combat attrition until the final collapse of the German Kriegsmarine in May 1945.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Kapitänleutnant der Reserve Otto Pollmann (1915-1958) was born on 3 March 1915 in Wesermünde and died on 28 February 1958 in Leer. After service in the merchant marine he entered the Kriegsmarine as Funkgefreiter and Reserve-Offiziers-Anwärter on 1 April 1939, serving initially aboard the destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim and later with the 12. U-Jagd-Flottille. Promoted stepwise through Matrosenobergefreiter, Steuermannsmaat der Reserve, Steuermann der Reserve and Obersteuermann der Reserve, he became Leutnant zur See der Reserve on 1 September 1942 and took command of the submarine chaser UJ 2210 of the 22. U-Jagd-Flottille in the Mediterranean early in 1943. In a remarkable seven-week period he was credited with destroying four enemy submarines and playing a decisive role in the destruction of a fifth, actions that earned him the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 3 March 1943 and the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 19 May 1943 while still a Leutnant zur See der Reserve. Continuing his aggressive hunting, he raised his claimed total to ten submarines by early 1944, receiving the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 26 January 1944 upon promotion to Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve. Further successes brought his official tally to fourteen enemy submarines sunk or damaged, among them the confirmed destruction of HMS Tigris, and on 25 April 1944 he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 461st recipient. Shortly thereafter UJ 2210 was lost, yet Pollmann survived and later commanded in the 11. U-Jagd-Flottille in the Baltic, ending the war as Kapitänleutnant der Reserve and company commander in the Bataillon Emmermann protecting the Dönitz government in Flensburg. After a period of internment he rejoined the Bundesmarine on 1 July 1956 as Korvettenkapitän, serving in staff roles devoted to submarine-hunting doctrine until his death while acting as a NATO liaison officer. His extraordinary record as the Kriegsmarine’s most successful U-Boot-Jäger, achieved with a modest coastal craft against Allied submarines in contested Mediterranean waters, remains one of the most striking individual achievements of the surface forces.

Source :
https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2025/06/25/german-navy-submarine-hunters-kriegsmarine-u-boot-jager-part-ii/