Albrecht Achilles was a German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and commander of . He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

 . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Military career

Albrecht Achilles began his naval career with the Reichsmarine

Reichsmarine

The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...

 on 8 April 1934 as a member "Crew 1934" (the incoming class of 1934).. He transferred to the U-boat service in April 1940. For one year, he served as a commander trainee as first and second watch officer on board various U-boats, including three patrols on under the command of Robert-Richard Zapp

Robert-Richard Zapp

Robert-Richard Zapp was a German U-boat commander in World War II. As commander of the Type IXC U-boat , he sank sixteen ships on five patrols, for a total of 106,200 tons of Allied shipping, to become the 27th highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's...

, before taking over command of U-161 from Kapitänleutnant Hans Witt

Hans Witt

Hans-Ludwig Witt was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

.

Whilst commander of U-161, Achilles is credited with the sinking of 15 merchant ships totalling 64842 LT (65,882.7 t). Achilles also sank the United States Lighthouse Service

United States Lighthouse Service

The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 until 1939...

 ship Acacia and damaged the British light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

  on 23 October 1942.

Albrecht Achilles and his entire crew were killed in action

Killed in action

Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...

 when U-161 was sunk northeast of Bahia

Bahia

Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...

 on 27 September 1943 by depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s from a U.S. Navy Martin PBM Mariner (VP-74/P-2).

Dates of rank

• Seekadett on 26 September 1934
• Obermatrose on 1 October 1934
• Oberstabsmatrose on 1 January 1935
• Fähnrich zur See on 1 July 1935
• Oberfähnrich zur See on 1 January 1937
• Leutnant zur See on 16 April 1937
• Oberleutnant zur See on 13 April 1939
• Kapitänleutnant on 14 August 1941
• Korvettenkapitän on 5 April 1945(posthumously)

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award
  Wehrmacht Long Service Award
  The Wehrmacht Long Service Award was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a given years of military service...
  
   4th Class (8 April 1938)
• Iron Cross
  Iron Cross
  The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
  
   (1939)
  • 2nd Class (7 August 1941)
  • 1st Class (5 April 1942)
• U-boat War Badge
  U-boat War Badge
  The U-Boat War Badge was a German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II.-History:The U-boat War Badge was originally instituted during the First World War on February 1, 1918. It was awarded to recognize U-boat crews who had completed three war patrols...
  
   (1939) (7 August 1941)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
  Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
  The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
  
   (16 January 1943) as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-161
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht
  Wehrmachtbericht
  The Wehrmachtbericht was a daily radio report on the Großdeutscher Rundfunk of Nazi Germany, published by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht regarding the military situation on all fronts of World War II....
  
  on 12 March 1942

Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Thursday, 12 March 1942	Bei den Unternehmungen in Amerikanischen Gewässern zeichneten sie die Unterseeboote unter Führung der Kapitänleutnante Achilles und Nico Clausen besonders aus.	Submarines under the commands of Kapitänleutnante Achilles and Nico Clausen Nicolai Clausen Asmus Nicolai Clausen was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War. He is credited with sinking 23 ships for a total of of Allied shipping. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross... distinguished themselves in operations in the American sea.

External links

• uboat.net webpage about Albrecht Archilles