Otto Kretschmer
Encyclopedia
Flotilla Admiral
Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German
U-boat
commander
in the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
, among other awards. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto" both for his successful use of the "silent running
" capability of the U-boats as well and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war, he served in the German Federal Navy and retired in 1970 with the rank of flotilla admiral (commodore).
, Liegnitz. At the age of seventeen he spent eight months living in Exeter
, where he learned to speak English fluently. He joined the Reichsmarine
in April 1930, attaining the rank of seekadett (naval cadet) after completing officer training courses as well as three months aboard the training ship . He then spent about a year serving aboard the light cruiser Emden
. In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the survey vessel
Meteor
for navigation training. In December 1934 he was transferred to another light cruiser, the . Kretschmer remained aboard the Köln until he was transferred to the U-Boat
force in January 1936, where he received extensive officer training and was promoted to oberleutnant zur see.
Kretschmer's first command was the , a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War
; the boat was ordered to patrol an area off the Spanish
coast. U-35 returned to Germany after an uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer took command of , a Type IIB coastal U-Boat.
invasion of Poland
found Kretschmer still in command of U-23, he was soon sent into action along with the rest of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat fleet. His first war patrols ranged across the North Sea
and around the British coast. His initial success came in the Moray Firth
where he attacked and sank the Danish
10,517 ton tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940, using torpedoes. The British admiralty at that time thought that the tanker had struck a mine
as they did not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British
fleet destroyer
off the Pentland Firth
while she was escorting convoy HN-12 from Norway
. U-Boat crews almost always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Darings destruction was rightly seen as a very skillful attack by both Kretschmer and U-23.
In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer was transferred to the newly-completed Type VII B , and in a sense began his legacy. After two months' training and shakedown maneuvers in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action in June 1940. During U-99s first four patrols, Kretschmer commenced attacking convoys at night on the surface, sinking merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo
per target ship; the quote "one torpedo ... one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer around this time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely copied throughout the U-Boat force, although they achieved mixed results.
His most successful patrol occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers (AMC), (18,724 tons), (11,314 tons) and (16,402 tons). Laurentic and Patroclus were attacked on the night of 3/4 November after they responded to distress calls from the 5,376 ton British freighter Casanare, which U-99 had mortally wounded about 250 miles west of Ireland
. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join up with and escort the outbound convoy OB-251. The three AMCs totalled over 46,000 gross tons. These three successes earned Kretschmer the number-one spot on the Aces
list, and was never surpassed. Klaus Bargsten
served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of on 2 June 1942. Siegfried von Forstner
was another of Kretschmer's student officers aboard U-99 who later received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
for sinking 15 ships as commanding officer of .
Kretschmer was meticulous in his conduct towards the crews of torpedoed ships. When attacking lone merchantmen in the days before wolfpack tactics began in earnest, he had been known to hand down bottles of spirits and blankets into lifeboats and give them a course to the nearest land. On one patrol in September 1940, Kretschmer had also recovered a survivor of another torpedo attack who was alone in the Atlantic on a small raft and took him aboard, transferring him to a lifeboat after his next successful attack.
On his last patrol in March 1941, he sank 10 more ships, but these were to be his last victims. On 17 March 1941, during a counterattack by the British escorts of Convoy HX-112
, U-99 was disabled after repeated depth charge
attacks by the destroyers and . Kretschmer surfaced and under fire from the British vessels, scuttled his boat. Three of his men were lost, but Kretschmer and the remainder of U-99s crew were captured. That same day the British escorts scored another success against the Kriegsmarine when the noted U-Boat skipper, Joachim Schepke
, was killed aboard , having being depth charged, rammed and sunk by Vanoc.
Kretschmer's usual standards of conduct were evident during the sinking of his boat; he signaled Walker asking for rescue for his men, taking care to ensure as many left the submarine as possible, and assisted some of his crew towards the rescue nets hung from the British destroyer. Kretschmer's strength was evidently failing in the cold ocean; his own rescue was at the hands of a British sailor who climbed down the nets and plucked him from the water.
Following his capture he spent almost seven years as a POW
(prisoner of war) in the hands of the British and Canadians
. In 1943, the German command tried to rescue him (in Operation Kiebitz
) but that daring plan failed. In December 1947 he was allowed to return to Germany
. Four of those years were spent in Canada at Bowmanville POW camp
.
Like several other surviving German naval veterans, Kretschmer joined the post-World War II German
Navy, the Bundesmarine. He joined the newly-formed service in 1955 and two years later was appointed commanding officer of the 1. Geleitgeschwader (1st Escort Squadron). The next year he was transferred to the position of commander of the Bundesmarines Amphibische Streitkräfte ("amphibious forces"). From 1962 he served as a staff officer in NATO before becoming chief of staff of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP
at Kiel
in May 1965. He retired in September 1970 as a flotilla admiral
.
In later years Kretschmer was often interviewed for television and radio programmes about the Second World War; he appeared in the British 1974 documentary series The World at War. In the mid-1990s he was interviewed for the computer simulation game Aces of the Deep, as one of several former U-boat skippers whose input was excerpted specially for the CD-Rom version of the game.
While on vacation in Bavaria
in the summer of 1998, he died in an accident on a boat on the Danube
, while celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
, the U-boat War Badge
, the Iron Cross 1st Class
, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves
, and the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
. He was mentioned five times in the Wehrmachtbericht
[the daily radio report] (on 3 August 1940, 19 October, 4 November, 17 December and 25 April 1941).
Joined West German Navy in 1955, received promotions to captain and to commodore, retired in 1970.
Flotilla Admiral
Flotilla admiral is the lowest flag rank, a rank above captain, in the modern navies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden. It corresponds to the ranks of commodore or rear admiral ....
Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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 the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
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...
, among other awards. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto" both for his successful use of the "silent running
Silent running (submarine)
Silent running is a stealth mode of operation for naval submarines. The aim is to evade discovery by passive sonar by eliminating superfluous noise: nonessential systems are shut down, the crew is urged to rest and refrain from making any unnecessary sound, and speed is greatly reduced to minimize...
" capability of the U-boats as well and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war, he served in the German Federal Navy and retired in 1970 with the rank of flotilla admiral (commodore).
Prewar career
Otto Kretschmer was born in HeidauNysa, Poland
Nysa is a town in southwestern Poland on the Nysa Kłodzka river with 47,545 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Nysa County. It comprises the urban portion of the surrounding Gmina Nysa, a mixed urban-rural commune with a total population of 60,123 inhabitants...
, Liegnitz. At the age of seventeen he spent eight months living in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, where he learned to speak English fluently. He joined 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...
in April 1930, attaining the rank of seekadett (naval cadet) after completing officer training courses as well as three months aboard the training ship . He then spent about a year serving aboard the light cruiser Emden
German cruiser Emden
The German light cruiser Emden was the only ship of its class. The third cruiser to bear the name Emden was the first new warship built in Germany after World War I....
. In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the survey vessel
Survey vessel
A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for mapping. It is a type of research vessel.-Role:The task of survey vessels is to map the bottom, benthic zone, full water column, and surface for the purpose of:* hydrography* general oceanography...
Meteor
Meteor (1915)
The Meteor was a German survey vessel, that became famous for her survey work in the Atlantic Ocean between 1925 and 1927.- Design and Construction :...
for navigation training. In December 1934 he was transferred to another light cruiser, the . Kretschmer remained aboard the Köln until he was transferred to the 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...
force in January 1936, where he received extensive officer training and was promoted to oberleutnant zur see.
Kretschmer's first command was the , a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
; the boat was ordered to patrol an area off the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
coast. U-35 returned to Germany after an uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer took command of , a Type IIB coastal U-Boat.
World War II
The GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
invasion of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
found Kretschmer still in command of U-23, he was soon sent into action along with the rest of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat fleet. His first war patrols ranged across the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and around the British coast. His initial success came in the Moray Firth
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...
where he attacked and sank the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
10,517 ton tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940, using torpedoes. The British admiralty at that time thought that the tanker had struck a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
as they did not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
fleet destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
off the Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
while she was escorting convoy HN-12 from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. U-Boat crews almost always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Darings destruction was rightly seen as a very skillful attack by both Kretschmer and U-23.
In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer was transferred to the newly-completed Type VII B , and in a sense began his legacy. After two months' training and shakedown maneuvers in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action in June 1940. During U-99s first four patrols, Kretschmer commenced attacking convoys at night on the surface, sinking merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
per target ship; the quote "one torpedo ... one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer around this time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely copied throughout the U-Boat force, although they achieved mixed results.
His most successful patrol occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers (AMC), (18,724 tons), (11,314 tons) and (16,402 tons). Laurentic and Patroclus were attacked on the night of 3/4 November after they responded to distress calls from the 5,376 ton British freighter Casanare, which U-99 had mortally wounded about 250 miles west of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join up with and escort the outbound convoy OB-251. The three AMCs totalled over 46,000 gross tons. These three successes earned Kretschmer the number-one spot on the Aces
Aces Of The Deep
Aces of the Deep is a World War II Submarine simulator game developed and published by Dynamix for MS-DOS in 1994."Aces of the Deep" was the last installment of Dynamix's "Aces" series, which included the flight simulators Red Baron, Aces of the Pacific, and Aces over Europe...
list, and was never surpassed. Klaus Bargsten
Klaus Bargsten
Klaus Bargsten was the captain and sole survivor of sunken U-521. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.-Early life:Bargsten was born on October...
served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of on 2 June 1942. Siegfried von Forstner
Siegfried von Forstner
Korvettenkapitän Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
was another of Kretschmer's student officers aboard U-99 who later received 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...
for sinking 15 ships as commanding officer of .
Kretschmer was meticulous in his conduct towards the crews of torpedoed ships. When attacking lone merchantmen in the days before wolfpack tactics began in earnest, he had been known to hand down bottles of spirits and blankets into lifeboats and give them a course to the nearest land. On one patrol in September 1940, Kretschmer had also recovered a survivor of another torpedo attack who was alone in the Atlantic on a small raft and took him aboard, transferring him to a lifeboat after his next successful attack.
On his last patrol in March 1941, he sank 10 more ships, but these were to be his last victims. On 17 March 1941, during a counterattack by the British escorts of Convoy HX-112
Convoy HX-112
HX 112 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. It was notable in that it saw the loss of U-boats commanded by two of the Kriegsmarine's foremost U-boat aces, U-99 with Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer and U-100 with...
, U-99 was disabled after repeated 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...
attacks by the destroyers and . Kretschmer surfaced and under fire from the British vessels, scuttled his boat. Three of his men were lost, but Kretschmer and the remainder of U-99s crew were captured. That same day the British escorts scored another success against the Kriegsmarine when the noted U-Boat skipper, Joachim Schepke
Joachim Schepke
Lieutenant-Commander Joachim Schepke was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was the seventh recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme...
, was killed aboard , having being depth charged, rammed and sunk by Vanoc.
Kretschmer's usual standards of conduct were evident during the sinking of his boat; he signaled Walker asking for rescue for his men, taking care to ensure as many left the submarine as possible, and assisted some of his crew towards the rescue nets hung from the British destroyer. Kretschmer's strength was evidently failing in the cold ocean; his own rescue was at the hands of a British sailor who climbed down the nets and plucked him from the water.
A prisoner of war and postwar career
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
(prisoner of war) in the hands of the British and Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1943, the German command tried to rescue him (in Operation Kiebitz
Operation Kiebitz
Operation Kiebitz was a failed Kriegsmarine operation during World War II in 1943 to organize an escape of four skilled German U-boat commanders from a Canadian POW camp . Its counterattack by the Royal Canadian Navy, Operation Pointe Maisonnette in Chaleur Bay became a key operation in the Battle...
) but that daring plan failed. In December 1947 he was allowed to return to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Four of those years were spent in Canada at Bowmanville POW camp
Bowmanville POW camp
The Bowmanville POW camp Camp 30 was a Canadian-run POW camp for German soldiers during World War II located in Bowmanville, Ontario.Prisoners Otto Kretschmer and Wolfgang Heyda were the subject of an elaborate escape attempt named Operation Kiebitz....
.
Like several other surviving German naval veterans, Kretschmer joined the post-World War II German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Navy, the Bundesmarine. He joined the newly-formed service in 1955 and two years later was appointed commanding officer of the 1. Geleitgeschwader (1st Escort Squadron). The next year he was transferred to the position of commander of the Bundesmarines Amphibische Streitkräfte ("amphibious forces"). From 1962 he served as a staff officer in NATO before becoming chief of staff of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP
Allied Forces Baltic Approaches
Allied Forces Baltic Approaches was the NATO command with responsibility for the Baltic Sea area. It was in existence from 1962 to 2002.The NATO command Baltic Approaches was created on 8 January 1962, with headquarters in Karup, Denmark...
at Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
in May 1965. He retired in September 1970 as a flotilla admiral
Flotilla Admiral
Flotilla admiral is the lowest flag rank, a rank above captain, in the modern navies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden. It corresponds to the ranks of commodore or rear admiral ....
.
In later years Kretschmer was often interviewed for television and radio programmes about the Second World War; he appeared in the British 1974 documentary series The World at War. In the mid-1990s he was interviewed for the computer simulation game Aces of the Deep, as one of several former U-boat skippers whose input was excerpted specially for the CD-Rom version of the game.
While on vacation in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in the summer of 1998, he died in an accident on a boat on the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, while celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
Achievements
Even though Kretschmer only served for one and a half of the six years of World War II, he was never bettered in terms of tonnage sunk. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd ClassIron 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....
, the 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...
, the Iron Cross 1st Class
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....
, 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 with Oak Leaves
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...
, and the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
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...
. He was mentioned five times 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....
[the daily radio report] (on 3 August 1940, 19 October, 4 November, 17 December and 25 April 1941).
U-23s career in the Black Sea
U-23 participated in an unusual operation by the Kriegsmarine. The boat, along with five others, was transferred overland and by river to the Romanian port of Constanza; from there they attacked Russian ships in the Black Sea. This group, the 30th Flotilla, sank many ships for the loss of three submarines, over two years. However, in August 1944, when Romania left the Axis, the 30th Flotilla was stranded with no way to return to Germany. The submarines were scuttled. S. Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, recently found the final resting place of the three scuttled submarines and visited one of them, U-20.Promotions
- Offiziersanwärter (officer cadet) - 1 April 1930
- Seekadett (naval cadet) - 9 October 1930
- Fähnrich zur see (midshipman) - 1 January 1932
- Oberfähnrich zur see (senior midshipman) - 1 April 1934
- Leutnant zur see (acting sub-lieutenant) - 1 Oct 1934
- Oberleutnant zur see (sub-lieutenant) - 1 June 1936
- Kapitänleutnant (lieutenant) - 1 June 1939
- Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) - 1 March 1941
- Fregattenkapitän (commander) - 1 September 1944
Joined West German Navy in 1955, received promotions to captain and to commodore, retired in 1970.
Awards
- Dienstauszeichnung 4th Class (2 October 1936)
- Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des MemellandesMemel MedalThe Return of Memel Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period, and the last of the series of Occupation Medals.-Description:...
(26 October 1939) - Iron CrossIron CrossThe 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 (17 October 1939)
- 1st Class (17 December 1939)
- U-boat War BadgeU-boat War BadgeThe 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) (9 November 1939) - Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and SwordsKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe 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...
- Knight's Cross on 4 August 1940 as kapitänleutnant and commander of U-99
- 6th Oak Leaves on 4 November 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-99
- 5th Swords on 26 December 1941 as korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) and commander of U-99
- Mentioned five times in the WehrmachtberichtWehrmachtberichtThe 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....