Full name: Reinhard Johann Heinz Paul Anton Suhren
Nickname: Teddy
Date of Birth: 16.04.1916 - Langenschwalbach, Taunus, German Empire
Date of Death: 25.08.1984 - Halstenbek, West Germany
Battles and Operations: Battle of the Atlantic, convoy battles HX-133, OG-71, HG-75, ON-87, OS-34, TAW(S), operations in Norwegian and northern waters 1944-1945
Promotions:
05.04.1935 Offiziersanwärter
25.09.1935 Seekadett
01.07.1936 Fähnrich zur See
01.01.1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
01.04.1938 Leutnant zur See
01.10.1939 Oberleutnant zur See
01.01.1942 Kapitänleutnant
01.09.1942 Korvettenkapitän
01.06.1944 Fregattenkapitän
Career:
05.04.1935 entered the Reichsmarine as member of Crew 35
1935 basic training and sailing course on Gorch Fock
1935-1936 training cruise on light cruiser Emden to the Americas
1936-1937 Naval Academy Mürwik
1937 torpedo, artillery and other specialist courses
1937-1938 service on destroyer Z 3 Max Schultz
30.03.1938 transferred to U-boat force and U-boat school
06.11.1938-21.04.1939 II. Wachoffizier on U-51, U-46 and U-47
22.04.1939-09.11.1940 I. Wachoffizier on U-48 under commanders Schultze, Rösing and Bleichrodt (nine war patrols)
10.11.1940-02.03.1941 instructor at torpedo firing school 24. U-Flottille Memel
03.04.1941-01.10.1942 Kommandant U-564 (six war patrols, 284 days at sea)
10.1942-1943 instructor and Gruppenführer with 27. U-Flottille (together with Erich Topp)
1944-1945 Führer der U-Boote Norwegen / FdU Nordmeer (Narvik)
31.05.1953 founding member of the board of the Deutscher Marinebund
Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (25.09.1939)
U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen 1939 (21.12.1939)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (25.02.1940)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (45. Verleihung, 03.11.1940) as Oberleutnant zur See and I. Wachoffizier on U-48 for his decisive contribution as torpedo officer to the sinking of more than 200,000 GRT of Allied shipping during nine patrols; Heinrich Bleichrodt refused to accept his own Ritterkreuz until Suhren was also decorated because more than half of U-48s successes were due to torpedoes fired and aimed by Suhren while surfaced
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub (56. Verleihung, 31.12.1941) as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of U-564 for three highly successful patrols in which he sank ten ships for 28,324 GRT (including the British corvette HMS Zinnia on 23.08.1941 during convoy OG-71) and damaged two more for 11,596 GRT
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern (18. Verleihung, 01.09.1942) as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-564 for three further outstanding patrols in which he sank another ten ships for 67,981 GRT and damaged three more for 19,440 GRT
U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten (March 1942)
Wehrmachtbericht mention (17.02.1945)
Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2. Klasse mit Schwertern (30.01.1944)
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Reinhard Suhren, universally known as Teddy, was one of the most successful and colourful U-boat commanders of the Second World War. The nickname originated during his cadet days when a marching drill prompted the remark that his gait resembled that of a teddy bear; the name stayed with him for the rest of his life.
Born in his grandmother's house in Langenschwalbach in the Taunus, he was the second of four children. After passing his Abitur he joined the navy in April 1935. His early career nearly ended in February 1937 when, during carnival leave at the Naval Academy Mürwik, he missed the stricter curfew of his company and was downgraded in his service-worthiness rating, dropping him to the bottom of his class.
After standard training and a long overseas cruise on the light cruiser Emden he completed all necessary specialist courses and served briefly on the destroyer Z 3 Max Schultz before volunteering for the U-boat arm in 1938. Following U-boat school he spent short periods as second watch officer on several boats before joining the legendary U-48 as first watch officer in April 1939. In that role he took part in nine war patrols and was personally responsible for firing and aiming the majority of the torpedoes that contributed to U-48 becoming the most successful U-boat of the war. Of the roughly 119 torpedoes fired by the boat during his time aboard, 65 were launched by Suhren while surfaced, with an exceptionally high hit rate. His commander Heinrich Bleichrodt insisted that the success of the boat was due far more to the first watch officer than to himself and refused to wear his own Ritterkreuz until Suhren received the same honour. The award was finally presented on 3 November 1940.
Still six months short of the minimum age of 25 for an independent command, Suhren was sent to the torpedo school as an instructor until he took over the new Type VIIC boat U-564 in April 1941. In six patrols he sank 18 merchant ships for 95,544 GRT, one warship (the corvette HMS Zinnia) and damaged four additional vessels for 28,907 GRT. The first three patrols earned him the Oak Leaves at the end of December 1941. The next three patrols, which included spectacular convoy attacks and the sinking of large tankers such as Victolite and Lubrafol as well as the British freighters British Consul and Empire Cloud, brought the Swords on 1 September 1942, the same day he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän. Only five U-boat commanders received the Swords during the entire war.
In October 1942 Suhren left U-564 to become an instructor and later chief of staff in the 27th (training) Flotilla, working closely with Erich Topp. In 1944 he was promoted Fregattenkapitän and appointed Führer der U-Boote for Norway and the northern waters, a post he held until the end of the war.
After the capitulation he spent time in British captivity until his release in April 1946. He settled as a self-employed merchant in Leichlingen on the Rhine and in 1953 became a founding board member of the Deutscher Marinebund. Together with Fritz Brustat-Naval he published the memoir Nasses Eichenlaub in 1983, one of the most vivid first-hand accounts of the U-boat war. Reinhard Suhren died of heart failure on 25 August 1984 at the age of 68 in Halstenbek near Hamburg.
Unique and interesting facts include that he was the first watch officer ever to receive the Ritterkreuz, that his older brother Gerd Suhren also held the Knight's Cross as a U-boat engineer, and that he fired more successful torpedoes than any other individual during the conflict, many of them before he even became a commander.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Suhren
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Suhren
https://uboat.net/men/suhren.htm
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34532/Suhren-Reinhard-Johann-Heinz-Paul-Anton.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://rk.balsi.de/
https://www.unithistories.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/ (digitized references including Fellgiebel, Scherzer and Patzwall works)
https://uboat.net/
https://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/
Brustat-Naval, Fritz / Suhren, Reinhard: Nasses Eichenlaub. Als Kommandant und F.d.U. im U-Boot-Krieg, Herford 1983
