Reinhard Hardegen
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Commander
Reinhard Hardegen (born March 18, 1913) is a German U-boat
Commander who sank 22 ships, amounting to sunk, ranking him as the 24th most successful Commander in World War II
. After the war, he spent a year in British
captivity before running a successful oil company and serving in Bremen's Parliament for over 32 years. An efficient and effective combat Commander, he was never known for being a virulent Nazi
supporter.
, Germany
, Hardegen dreamed of a career in the Kriegsmarine
(German Navy) from an early age. Following his graduation from high school he enrolled in the Kriegsmarine as a Seekadett, sailing around the world in the light cruiser in 1933. In 1935 Hardegen was transferred as a Marineflieger in the Kriegsmarine's air arm. He trained as a naval aircraft observer and, after, as a pilot, and was promoted to Leutnant on 1 October 1936. In early 1939, he crashed his aircraft and was hospitalized for six months. Later that year, Hermann Göring
declared all aircraft in German service as belonging to the Luftwaffe, effectively canceling the Navy Air Arm. Hardegen was then transferred to the Ubootwaffe and began schooling as a U-boat commander.
aboard and, after two war patrols, he was given his own command, the Type IID U-boat
, operating out of Kiel
, on 11 December 1940. The boat was ready for its first patrol shortly before the new year and, after visiting the U-boat base in Bergen
, U-147 was ordered to patrol the convoy routes north of the Hebrides
.
On the second day of the patrol, Hardegen fired a torpedo which failed to detonate against a large merchant ship, before being forced to submerge after mistaking a destroyer for a merchant ship. During the dive, the tower hatch was damaged, forcing U-147 to resurface after a short while to make feverish repairs only a few hundred meters from the destroyer. The gathering darkness, however, saved the boat from being detected. The water leaks had damaged the diesel engines aboard the boat, forcing Hardegen to use his electric motors when, later in the night, he saw another merchant passing. Although slower, it gave the U-boat enough speed to close the distance and launch a torpedo which hit and sank the freighter. After interrogating the crew, Hardegen learned it was the Norwegian steamer Augvald . A few days later, Hardegen again attacked two freighters, only to find his torpedoes missing or failing to detonate. Shortly thereafter, he was ordered back to Kiel.
After completing the patrol, Hardegen was given command of , a Type IXB U-boat
, operating out of Lorient
. Hardegen's first patrol with U-123 started on 16 June 1941, with a course for West African waters, to attack British shipping around Freetown
.
On 20 June, Hardegen sunk the neutral Portuguese
vessel Ganda, mistaking her for a British freighter. Dönitz later ordered all references to this sinking deleted from the Journals of U-123 and the matter received little attention. This was the only of two known alterations of the Kriegstagebuch ordered by Dönitz
, the other being in regard to the sinking of the liner . After receiving depth charge damage, U-123 returned to Lorient, docking on 23 August, with a total score of five ships for .
His next patrol, in October 1941, took him to the North Atlantic. On 20 October he intercepted a convoy and attacked the British Auxiliary cruiser (13,984 tons). Although badly damaged, the cruiser was towed to harbour for repairs. Some of the crew abandoned the cruiser, however, and Hardegen picked up a survivor who was brought back to France as a POW. This led Hardegen to claim the sinking. A day later, Hardegen sighted another convoy, but was forced to submerge by aircraft while shadowing it and lost contact. After weeks of patrolling the area south of Greenland, U-123 returned to Lorient.
On 23 December 1941, U-123 left for the first phase of Drumbeat. Five boats, which was all Dönitz could muster, were sent towards the American coast, to take advantage of the confusion in the Eastern Seaboard
defense networks shortly after the declaration of war. Hardegen was ordered to penetrate the harbour of New York City
but, due to the haste with which the operation had been prepared, he had only a tourist guidebook for navigational help instead of the detailed charts usually given out for such hazardous missions. Following his intrusion into New York, Hardegen was to target merchant shipping off Cape Hatteras
.
On 12 January 1942, Hardegen drew first blood, sinking the British freighter Cyclops . On 14 January, he reached the approaches to New York harbour. Hardegen decided to proceed into the harbour on the surface. The still brightly burning shore lights helped immensely with the navigation through the unknown waters. During the morning hours, U-123 sighted the Norwegian tanker Norness off the coast of Long Island
and sank her, although it took five torpedoes due to malfunctions.
Following this, Hardegen decided to bottom the boat and wait for nightfall before proceeding into the harbour itself. During the night of 15 January, Hardegen entered the harbour, nearly beaching the boat when he mistook shorelight for a light ship. The crew of U-123 were elated when they came within the sight of the city itself, all lights burning brightly, but Hardegen did not linger long, due to the lack of merchant traffic. He did sink the British tanker Coimbra on his way out of the harbour area.
Hardegen then proceeded south along the United States coast, submerging during the day and surfacing at night. Apart from one air attack on 16 January, Hardegen did not experience any resistance from the United States Navy
or Air Force
. During the night of 19 January, Hardegen sank three freighters off Cape Hatteras in shallow waters and close to shore. A couple of hours later, he happened upon five more merchants traveling in a group and attacked them with his last two torpedoes and his 105 mm deck gun, sinking a freighter and claiming a tanker, the Malay as well. Although badly damaged, the Malay, traveling empty, had enough buoyancy to stay afloat and managed to make its way to New York under her own power five days later.
With all torpedoes expended, and the port diesel engine not functioning optimally, Hardegen decided to set course for home. Just before dawn, the Norwegian whaling factory Kosmos II was spotted only 400 meters away. The skipper of Kosmos, Einar Gleditsch, decided to ram U-123, ordering full speed ahead. Hardegen, realizing that the whaler was too close for him to submerge, turned hard to port and ordered full ahead. With its port engine unable to deliver top RPMs
, U-123 only just managed to keep ahead of the tanker, and it took over an hour for Hardegen to gain enough of a lead to have room to manoeuver. This encounter was, ironically, the most dangerous for U-123 on its first trip, telling volumes about the lack of US Navy preparedness.
During the return journey, he spotted and sank the British freighter Culebra on 25 January using the deck gun, but return fire from the freighter damaged the boat. The following night, the Norwegian tanker Pan Norway was attacked and sunk. After the attack, Hardegen ordered a nearby neutral freighter to pick up the survivors, although he had to repeat his order after the Greek captain decided to steam off without picking up all of the crew. This sinking brought the tally for the first patrol to nine ships sunk for a total of over a two week period, although Hardegen also claimed Malay for a total of . The success of Hardegen's Drumbeat prompted Dönitz to radio a congratulating signal on 20 January, "An den Paukenschläger Hardegen. Bravo! Gut gepaukt. Dönitz." (For the drum-beater Hardegen. Well done! Good beating. Dönitz.)
On 23 January, Hardegen received another signal, confirming he had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
(Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for sinking over of enemy shipping. He returned home to Lorient on 9 February, receiving a hero's welcome.
On 26 March, Hardegen attacked the American Q-ship
, mistaking it for a merchant freighter. After torpedoing the ship, Hardegen surfaced to sink her with the deck guns, only to find the Atik trying to ram him and opening fire on him with guns that had been concealed behind false bulwarks. Making a getaway on the surface, U-123 received eight hits and one of the crew members was wounded fatally. Approaching the Atik submerged, Hardegen sank her with another torpedo.
The target for Hardegen's second patrol was along the Florida
coast. He reached the target area in late March, attacking the American tanker Liebre on 1 April with his deck gun. Although the tanker was badly damaged, an approaching patrol craft forced Hardegen to submerge and he had to leave the scene. Liebre was towed to port and was ready to sail again by mid-July. On the night of 8 April, U-123 was positioned off the shores of St. Simons Island, Georgia
and torpedoed and sank two tankers: the SS Oklahoma and the Esso Baton Rouge . The two tankers were sunk in such shallow water, however, that they were re-floated and put into service again. During the night of 9 April, U-123 sank the cold storage motor ship SS Esparta .
On the night of 11 April, U-123 torpedoed and sank the about two miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. The Gulfamerica was on its maiden voyage from Philadelphia to Port Arthur, Texas with 90,000 barrels of fuel oil. After hitting her with a torpedo, Hardegen closed in for the kill with his deck gun. Noting the already large crowds gathering on the beach to watch the spectacle, as well as all the beach houses just beyond the Gulfamerica, Hardegen decided to manoeuver around the tanker and attack from the land side. The move was quite hazardous, as the U-boat was clearly illuminated to any onshore weapons, and the shallow waters forced it to take up station only 250 m from the tanker, which risked return fire from the tanker as well as getting caught in a blaze if the oil spilling out caught fire. The highways leading from Jacksonville were soon thronged with curious people trying to get to the beach to look at the spectacle. After firing for some time with the deck gun, the tanker was ablaze and Hardegen decided to leave. Already planes were overhead trying to locate the submarine by parachute lights, while a destroyer and several smaller patrol boats were closing in.
Forced by an aircraft to crash dive, U-123 found itself on the bottom, only 20 m under the surface, when the destroyer, dropped six depth charges. Taking heavy damage and believing the destroyer would move in for another attack, Hardegen ordered the secret codes and machinery destroyed and the boat abandoned. As the commander, he was to open the tower hatch to allow the crew to escape using the escape gear; however, he was gripped by a paralyzing fear and was unable to proceed with the evacuation. Luckily for him, the Dahlgren, for reasons unknown, failed to drop any more depth charges and, after a short time, moved away, allowing the U-123 to complete emergency repairs and limp towards deeper waters. Hardegen would later tell Michael Gannon, "Only because I was too scared was I not captured."
On the night of 13 April, U-123 attacked the US freighter SS Leslie with its last torpedo and Hardegen's fiftieth torpedo launch. It sank quickly just off Cape Canaveral
. About two hours after this attack, Hardegen shelled the Swedish
motor ship Korsholm under British charter, and sank her within twenty minutes. He did, however, mistake the freighter for a tanker.
At this point in his second patrol, Hardegen claimed ten ships for a total of , whereas in reality he had sunk nine, if counting the two tankers later refloated, for a total of a still respectable . To sum up his patrol, Hardegen chose the lyrical approach, sending the following signal to BdU
.
Setting course for home, Hardegen sighted the freighter SS Alcoa Guide and sank her with fire from the 105mm deck gun, as well as the 37mm and 20mm Flak guns on 16 April. On 23 April, Hardegen received a signal confirming his award of the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross. On 2 May, U-123 docked at Lorient, ending Hardegen's career as an active U-boat commander, although he commanded the boat for a final journey, bringing her back to Kiel for some necessary repairs in May 1942.
Before this, however, he and fellow Oak Leaves winner Erich Topp
were invited to a dinner with Adolf Hitler
. During the dinner, Hardegen caused great embarrassment by sharply criticizing the lack of priorities given to the U-boat war by Der Führer, causing Hitler to go red with anger and Hardegen to receive a reprimand from Chief of Staff Alfred Jodl
, to which Hardegen replied, "The Führer has a right to hear the truth, and I have a duty to speak it."
, before taking up a position in the Torpedowaffenamt (torpedo weapon department), where he oversaw testing and development of new acoustic and wired torpedoes. In his last posting, he served as Battalion Commander in Marine Infanterie Regiment 6 from February 1945 until the end of the war. The unit took part in fierce fighting against the British in the area around Bremen
, and most of the officers were killed. Hardegen stated that his survival was due to his being hospitalized with a severe case of diphtheria
. For the last few days of the war Hardegen served on Dönitz's staff in Flensburg, where he was arrested by British troops.
officer with the same last name, and it took him a year and a half to assemble the evidence to convince the Allied interrogators about his real service branch. He returned home in November 1946, where he started as a businessman, first on a bike and then in a car. In 1952 he started an oil trading company, which was built up to a great success. Hardegen also served as a member of Parliament (Bürgerschaft of Bremen
) for the Christian Democrats
in his hometown of Bremen
for 32 years.
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Reinhard Hardegen (born March 18, 1913) is a German 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 who sank 22 ships, amounting to sunk, ranking him as the 24th most successful Commander 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...
. After the war, he spent a year in 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...
captivity before running a successful oil company and serving in Bremen's Parliament for over 32 years. An efficient and effective combat Commander, he was never known for being a virulent Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
supporter.
Early life
Born in BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, 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...
, Hardegen dreamed of a career in the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
(German Navy) from an early age. Following his graduation from high school he enrolled in the Kriegsmarine as a Seekadett, sailing around the world in the light cruiser in 1933. In 1935 Hardegen was transferred as a Marineflieger in the Kriegsmarine's air arm. He trained as a naval aircraft observer and, after, as a pilot, and was promoted to Leutnant on 1 October 1936. In early 1939, he crashed his aircraft and was hospitalized for six months. Later that year, Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
declared all aircraft in German service as belonging to the Luftwaffe, effectively canceling the Navy Air Arm. Hardegen was then transferred to the Ubootwaffe and began schooling as a U-boat commander.
World War II
Hardegen served as 1.WO (First Watch Officer) under Kapitänleutnant Georg-Wilhelm SchulzGeorg-Wilhelm Schulz
Georg-Wilhelm Schulz was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War. From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in September 1941, he sank 19 ships for a total of 89,885 GRT. For this he received the Knight's Cross, among other commendations.-Early life:Schulz was born on...
aboard and, after two war patrols, he was given his own command, the Type IID U-boat
German Type II submarine
The Type II U-boat was designed by Germany as a coastal U-boat, modeled after the CV-707 submarine, which was designed by the Dutch dummy company NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag and built in 1933 by the...
, operating out of 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...
, on 11 December 1940. The boat was ready for its first patrol shortly before the new year and, after visiting the U-boat base in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, U-147 was ordered to patrol the convoy routes north of the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
.
On the second day of the patrol, Hardegen fired a torpedo which failed to detonate against a large merchant ship, before being forced to submerge after mistaking a destroyer for a merchant ship. During the dive, the tower hatch was damaged, forcing U-147 to resurface after a short while to make feverish repairs only a few hundred meters from the destroyer. The gathering darkness, however, saved the boat from being detected. The water leaks had damaged the diesel engines aboard the boat, forcing Hardegen to use his electric motors when, later in the night, he saw another merchant passing. Although slower, it gave the U-boat enough speed to close the distance and launch a torpedo which hit and sank the freighter. After interrogating the crew, Hardegen learned it was the Norwegian steamer Augvald . A few days later, Hardegen again attacked two freighters, only to find his torpedoes missing or failing to detonate. Shortly thereafter, he was ordered back to Kiel.
After completing the patrol, Hardegen was given command of , a Type IXB U-boat
German Type IX submarine
The Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for...
, operating out of Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
. Hardegen's first patrol with U-123 started on 16 June 1941, with a course for West African waters, to attack British shipping around Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
.
On 20 June, Hardegen sunk the neutral Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
vessel Ganda, mistaking her for a British freighter. Dönitz later ordered all references to this sinking deleted from the Journals of U-123 and the matter received little attention. This was the only of two known alterations of the Kriegstagebuch ordered by Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
, the other being in regard to the sinking of the liner . After receiving depth charge damage, U-123 returned to Lorient, docking on 23 August, with a total score of five ships for .
His next patrol, in October 1941, took him to the North Atlantic. On 20 October he intercepted a convoy and attacked the British Auxiliary cruiser (13,984 tons). Although badly damaged, the cruiser was towed to harbour for repairs. Some of the crew abandoned the cruiser, however, and Hardegen picked up a survivor who was brought back to France as a POW. This led Hardegen to claim the sinking. A day later, Hardegen sighted another convoy, but was forced to submerge by aircraft while shadowing it and lost contact. After weeks of patrolling the area south of Greenland, U-123 returned to Lorient.
First Drumbeat patrol
Hardegen's aircrash in 1936 had left him with internal injuries, a bleeding stomach and a shortened leg. He had been classified as unfit for U-boat duty, but the paperwork had not caught up with him until now. Dönitz learned of this, but needed experienced commanders for Operation Drumbeat, the offensive into American waters, and so Hardegen was allowed to go on two more patrols.On 23 December 1941, U-123 left for the first phase of Drumbeat. Five boats, which was all Dönitz could muster, were sent towards the American coast, to take advantage of the confusion in the Eastern Seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
defense networks shortly after the declaration of war. Hardegen was ordered to penetrate the harbour of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
but, due to the haste with which the operation had been prepared, he had only a tourist guidebook for navigational help instead of the detailed charts usually given out for such hazardous missions. Following his intrusion into New York, Hardegen was to target merchant shipping off Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape on the coast of North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the farthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the Atlantic coast of North America...
.
On 12 January 1942, Hardegen drew first blood, sinking the British freighter Cyclops . On 14 January, he reached the approaches to New York harbour. Hardegen decided to proceed into the harbour on the surface. The still brightly burning shore lights helped immensely with the navigation through the unknown waters. During the morning hours, U-123 sighted the Norwegian tanker Norness off the coast of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
and sank her, although it took five torpedoes due to malfunctions.
Following this, Hardegen decided to bottom the boat and wait for nightfall before proceeding into the harbour itself. During the night of 15 January, Hardegen entered the harbour, nearly beaching the boat when he mistook shorelight for a light ship. The crew of U-123 were elated when they came within the sight of the city itself, all lights burning brightly, but Hardegen did not linger long, due to the lack of merchant traffic. He did sink the British tanker Coimbra on his way out of the harbour area.
Hardegen then proceeded south along the United States coast, submerging during the day and surfacing at night. Apart from one air attack on 16 January, Hardegen did not experience any resistance from the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
or Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. During the night of 19 January, Hardegen sank three freighters off Cape Hatteras in shallow waters and close to shore. A couple of hours later, he happened upon five more merchants traveling in a group and attacked them with his last two torpedoes and his 105 mm deck gun, sinking a freighter and claiming a tanker, the Malay as well. Although badly damaged, the Malay, traveling empty, had enough buoyancy to stay afloat and managed to make its way to New York under her own power five days later.
With all torpedoes expended, and the port diesel engine not functioning optimally, Hardegen decided to set course for home. Just before dawn, the Norwegian whaling factory Kosmos II was spotted only 400 meters away. The skipper of Kosmos, Einar Gleditsch, decided to ram U-123, ordering full speed ahead. Hardegen, realizing that the whaler was too close for him to submerge, turned hard to port and ordered full ahead. With its port engine unable to deliver top RPMs
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
, U-123 only just managed to keep ahead of the tanker, and it took over an hour for Hardegen to gain enough of a lead to have room to manoeuver. This encounter was, ironically, the most dangerous for U-123 on its first trip, telling volumes about the lack of US Navy preparedness.
During the return journey, he spotted and sank the British freighter Culebra on 25 January using the deck gun, but return fire from the freighter damaged the boat. The following night, the Norwegian tanker Pan Norway was attacked and sunk. After the attack, Hardegen ordered a nearby neutral freighter to pick up the survivors, although he had to repeat his order after the Greek captain decided to steam off without picking up all of the crew. This sinking brought the tally for the first patrol to nine ships sunk for a total of over a two week period, although Hardegen also claimed Malay for a total of . The success of Hardegen's Drumbeat prompted Dönitz to radio a congratulating signal on 20 January, "An den Paukenschläger Hardegen. Bravo! Gut gepaukt. Dönitz." (For the drum-beater Hardegen. Well done! Good beating. Dönitz.)
On 23 January, Hardegen received another signal, confirming he had been awarded 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...
(Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for sinking over of enemy shipping. He returned home to Lorient on 9 February, receiving a hero's welcome.
Second Drumbeat patrol
On 2 March 1942, Hardegen left for his final patrol, his second to American waters. The first successes were achieved on 22 March when Hardegen sunk the American tanker Muskogee and 24 March, when the British tanker Empire Steel was sunk. The latter attack expended four torpedoes, however, as one malfunctioned and one was fired without having been aimed. The tanker, carrying gasoline, burned fiercely for five hours before sinking and no survivors could be spotted. The somber crew of U-123 nicknamed the night the "Tanker Torch night".On 26 March, Hardegen attacked the American Q-ship
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...
, mistaking it for a merchant freighter. After torpedoing the ship, Hardegen surfaced to sink her with the deck guns, only to find the Atik trying to ram him and opening fire on him with guns that had been concealed behind false bulwarks. Making a getaway on the surface, U-123 received eight hits and one of the crew members was wounded fatally. Approaching the Atik submerged, Hardegen sank her with another torpedo.
The target for Hardegen's second patrol was along the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
coast. He reached the target area in late March, attacking the American tanker Liebre on 1 April with his deck gun. Although the tanker was badly damaged, an approaching patrol craft forced Hardegen to submerge and he had to leave the scene. Liebre was towed to port and was ready to sail again by mid-July. On the night of 8 April, U-123 was positioned off the shores of St. Simons Island, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and torpedoed and sank two tankers: the SS Oklahoma and the Esso Baton Rouge . The two tankers were sunk in such shallow water, however, that they were re-floated and put into service again. During the night of 9 April, U-123 sank the cold storage motor ship SS Esparta .
On the night of 11 April, U-123 torpedoed and sank the about two miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. The Gulfamerica was on its maiden voyage from Philadelphia to Port Arthur, Texas with 90,000 barrels of fuel oil. After hitting her with a torpedo, Hardegen closed in for the kill with his deck gun. Noting the already large crowds gathering on the beach to watch the spectacle, as well as all the beach houses just beyond the Gulfamerica, Hardegen decided to manoeuver around the tanker and attack from the land side. The move was quite hazardous, as the U-boat was clearly illuminated to any onshore weapons, and the shallow waters forced it to take up station only 250 m from the tanker, which risked return fire from the tanker as well as getting caught in a blaze if the oil spilling out caught fire. The highways leading from Jacksonville were soon thronged with curious people trying to get to the beach to look at the spectacle. After firing for some time with the deck gun, the tanker was ablaze and Hardegen decided to leave. Already planes were overhead trying to locate the submarine by parachute lights, while a destroyer and several smaller patrol boats were closing in.
Forced by an aircraft to crash dive, U-123 found itself on the bottom, only 20 m under the surface, when the destroyer, dropped six depth charges. Taking heavy damage and believing the destroyer would move in for another attack, Hardegen ordered the secret codes and machinery destroyed and the boat abandoned. As the commander, he was to open the tower hatch to allow the crew to escape using the escape gear; however, he was gripped by a paralyzing fear and was unable to proceed with the evacuation. Luckily for him, the Dahlgren, for reasons unknown, failed to drop any more depth charges and, after a short time, moved away, allowing the U-123 to complete emergency repairs and limp towards deeper waters. Hardegen would later tell Michael Gannon, "Only because I was too scared was I not captured."
On the night of 13 April, U-123 attacked the US freighter SS Leslie with its last torpedo and Hardegen's fiftieth torpedo launch. It sank quickly just off Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
. About two hours after this attack, Hardegen shelled the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
motor ship Korsholm under British charter, and sank her within twenty minutes. He did, however, mistake the freighter for a tanker.
At this point in his second patrol, Hardegen claimed ten ships for a total of , whereas in reality he had sunk nine, if counting the two tankers later refloated, for a total of a still respectable . To sum up his patrol, Hardegen chose the lyrical approach, sending the following signal to BdU
Befehlshaber der U-Boote
Befehlshaber der U-Boote was the title of the supreme commander of the Kriegsmarines U-boat Arm during World War II. The term also referred to the Command HQ of the U-boat arm itself....
.
Sieben Tankern schlug die letze Stund,
die U-Falle sank träger.
Zwei Frachter liegen mit auf Grund,
Versenkt vom Paukenschläger.
(For seven tankers the last hour has passed
the U-boat Trap sank slower.
Two freighters lie on the bottom too,
sunk by the drum-beater.)
Setting course for home, Hardegen sighted the freighter SS Alcoa Guide and sank her with fire from the 105mm deck gun, as well as the 37mm and 20mm Flak guns on 16 April. On 23 April, Hardegen received a signal confirming his award of the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross. On 2 May, U-123 docked at Lorient, ending Hardegen's career as an active U-boat commander, although he commanded the boat for a final journey, bringing her back to Kiel for some necessary repairs in May 1942.
Before this, however, he and fellow Oak Leaves winner Erich Topp
Erich Topp
Rear Admiral Erich Topp was the third most successful of German U-Boot Experten commanders of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
were invited to a dinner with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. During the dinner, Hardegen caused great embarrassment by sharply criticizing the lack of priorities given to the U-boat war by Der Führer, causing Hitler to go red with anger and Hardegen to receive a reprimand from Chief of Staff Alfred Jodl
Alfred Jodl
Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German military commander, attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command during World War II, acting as deputy to Wilhelm Keitel...
, to which Hardegen replied, "The Führer has a right to hear the truth, and I have a duty to speak it."
Shore duty
On 31 July 1942, Hardegen relinquished command of U-123 and took up duties as an instructor in the 27th U-boat Training Flotilla in Gotenhafen. In March 1943, Kapitänleutnant Hardegen became chief of U-boat training of the torpedo school at Marineschule MürwikNaval Academy Mürwik
The Naval Academy at Mürwik is the main training establishment for all German Navy officers.It is located at Mürwik which is a part of Germany's most northern city, Flensburg. Built on a small hill directly by the coast, it overlooks the Flensburg Fjord...
, before taking up a position in the Torpedowaffenamt (torpedo weapon department), where he oversaw testing and development of new acoustic and wired torpedoes. In his last posting, he served as Battalion Commander in Marine Infanterie Regiment 6 from February 1945 until the end of the war. The unit took part in fierce fighting against the British in the area around Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, and most of the officers were killed. Hardegen stated that his survival was due to his being hospitalized with a severe case of diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
. For the last few days of the war Hardegen served on Dönitz's staff in Flensburg, where he was arrested by British troops.
Later life
After the war Hardegen was mistaken for a SSSchutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
officer with the same last name, and it took him a year and a half to assemble the evidence to convince the Allied interrogators about his real service branch. He returned home in November 1946, where he started as a businessman, first on a bike and then in a car. In 1952 he started an oil trading company, which was built up to a great success. Hardegen also served as a member of Parliament (Bürgerschaft of Bremen
Bürgerschaft of Bremen
The Bremische Bürgerschaft is the state diet of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It currently consists of 83 members from five parties. The current majority is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance '90/The Greens, supporting Mayor and Senate president Jens Böhrnsen...
) for the Christian Democrats
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
in his hometown of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
for 32 years.
Awards
- Dienstauszeichnung 4th Class (1 April 1937)
- Eisernes KreuzIron 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 (18 September 1940)
- 1st Class (23 August 1941)
- Ritterkreuz des Eisernen KreuzesKnight'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...
mit Eichenlaub- Ritterkreuz on 23 January 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-123
- 89th Eichenlaub on 23 April 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-123
- 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) (18 November 1940)- with Diamonds (7 May 1942)
- War Merit CrossWar Merit CrossThe War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
2nd Class (20 April 1944) - Mentioned twice 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....
(24 January 1942 and 14 April 1942)