Siegfried von Forstner
Encyclopedia
Korvettenkapitän Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner (19 September 1910 – 13 October 1943) was a German U-boat
commander during World War II
. 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.
. Their great-grandfather and grandfather had been army officers, and their father was a general, Ernst Freiherr von Forstner (1869–1950), who had won the Pour le Mérite
with cluster as a regimental commander during World War I
. Their uncle George Gunther von Forstner had commanded U-1 and U-28 during World War I
, and another uncle of the Imperial Navy had died in that conflict.
in 1930 and served four years on the German cruiser Nürnberg
following training as an artillery technical officer. Many of his year group were already at sea in submarines when he entered U-boat school in 1940. Von Forstner received training as a student commander aboard U-99 under his Naval School classmate Otto Kretschmer
. After a 5-month tour in U-59, von Forstner assumed command of U-402
. Baron von Forstner carried out eight combat patrols in U-402 sinking 14 merchantmen and one warship and damaging three other ships.
Von Forstner married in Hamburg
in December, 1940, while waiting to take command of U-402. His wife Annamaria made distinctive red pom-poms for the crew of U-402 to wear on their uniform hats. The Baron and Baroness saved their home in Hamburg from burning during August, 1943, air-raids by staying on the roof and extinguishing incendiary bombs.
No ships were sunk during the first U-402 patrol from 26 October 1941 to 9 December 1941. On the second patrol von Forstner damaged the 12000-ton troopship
off the Bay of Biscay on 16 January 1942 but the damaged troopship was able to make repairs in the Azores
.
Von Forstner then made two patrols off the Atlantic coast of the United States. He sank a 4800-ton ship en route and then sank the 5300-ton Russian tanker Ashkabad and the 1000-ton converted yacht USS Cythera (PY-26)
off Cape Hatteras
on 2 May 1942. On the next patrol, U-402 was depth charged by patrol bombers off Cape Hatteras in mid-July and suffered a battery explosion.
Von Forstner received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
for torpedoing twelve ships from convoy SC 107 and convoy SC 118
. Baron von Forstner sank two ships during a submerged daylight attack on convoy SC 129 before U-402 was depth charged and damaged by the corvette Gentian
.
Baron von Forstner shot down an attacking RAF 172 Squadron Vickers Wellington
bomber over the Bay of Biscay following departure for his last patrol on 4 September 1943. U-402 provided flak protection for U-377
when the latter was attacked by a B-24 Liberator
bomber during the battle of Convoy ON 202. A U-boat believed by the Allied Anti-Submarine Assessment Committee to be U-402 was sunk with all hands on 13 October 1943 by a Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo
dropped by TBF Avenger
aircraft from USS Card (CVE-11)
.
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 during 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...
. 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.
Background
Baron von Forstner was the son of an aristocratic Prussian family whose men had served for generations as Army and Navy officers. His younger brother Wolfgang Friedrich (*1916) was also a U-boat commander, and two other brothers (Ernst Richard and Hans Dietrich) were Army officers. Wolfgang was the only brother to survive World War IIWorld 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...
. Their great-grandfather and grandfather had been army officers, and their father was a general, Ernst Freiherr von Forstner (1869–1950), who had won the Pour le Mérite
Pour le Mérite
The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
with cluster as a regimental commander during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Their uncle George Gunther von Forstner had commanded U-1 and U-28 during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and another uncle of the Imperial Navy had died in that conflict.
Career
Baron Siegfried von Forster joined the KriegsmarineKriegsmarine
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...
in 1930 and served four years on the German cruiser Nürnberg
German cruiser Nürnberg
The Nürnberg, was a German light cruiser of the Leipzig class named after the city of Nuremberg. Some sources consider the Leipzig and Nürnberg to be of separate, single ship, classes...
following training as an artillery technical officer. Many of his year group were already at sea in submarines when he entered U-boat school in 1940. Von Forstner received training as a student commander aboard U-99 under his Naval School classmate Otto Kretschmer
Otto Kretschmer
Flotilla Admiral Otto Kretschmer 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...
. After a 5-month tour in U-59, von Forstner assumed command of U-402
German submarine U-402
German submarine U-402 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.U-402 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Siegfried von Forstner carried out eight combat patrols sinking 14 merchantmen and one warship during the Second World War. U-402 also damaged three...
. Baron von Forstner carried out eight combat patrols in U-402 sinking 14 merchantmen and one warship and damaging three other ships.
Von Forstner married in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in December, 1940, while waiting to take command of U-402. His wife Annamaria made distinctive red pom-poms for the crew of U-402 to wear on their uniform hats. The Baron and Baroness saved their home in Hamburg from burning during August, 1943, air-raids by staying on the roof and extinguishing incendiary bombs.
No ships were sunk during the first U-402 patrol from 26 October 1941 to 9 December 1941. On the second patrol von Forstner damaged the 12000-ton troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
off the Bay of Biscay on 16 January 1942 but the damaged troopship was able to make repairs in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
.
Von Forstner then made two patrols off the Atlantic coast of the United States. He sank a 4800-ton ship en route and then sank the 5300-ton Russian tanker Ashkabad and the 1000-ton converted yacht USS Cythera (PY-26)
USS Cythera (PY-26)
The USS Cythera was a US Navy patrol yacht, originally laid down as the civilian yacht Agawa, that saw service in the Atlantic during both World War I and World War II.-World War I:...
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 2 May 1942. On the next patrol, U-402 was depth charged by patrol bombers off Cape Hatteras in mid-July and suffered a battery explosion.
Von Forstner 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 torpedoing twelve ships from convoy SC 107 and convoy SC 118
Convoy SC 118
Convoy SC-118 was the 118th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool.-Prelude:...
. Baron von Forstner sank two ships during a submerged daylight attack on convoy SC 129 before U-402 was depth charged and damaged by the corvette Gentian
HMS Gentian (K90)
HMS Gentian was a Royal Navy Flower-class corvette that served in the Battle of the Atlantic, during World War II.One of the first batch of wartime corvettes laid down, she served most of the time in the Western Approaches, escorting convoys across the North Atlantic with Escort Group B2 and was...
.
Baron von Forstner shot down an attacking RAF 172 Squadron Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
bomber over the Bay of Biscay following departure for his last patrol on 4 September 1943. U-402 provided flak protection for U-377
German submarine U-377
German submarine U-377 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 8 April 1940 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Kiel, launched on 15 August 1941, and commissioned on 2 October 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Köhler.U-377 was...
when the latter was attacked by a B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
bomber during the battle of Convoy ON 202. A U-boat believed by the Allied Anti-Submarine Assessment Committee to be U-402 was sunk with all hands on 13 October 1943 by a Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo
Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo
The Mark 24 Mine was a US air-dropped passive acoustic homing anti-submarine torpedo used during the Second World War against German and Japanese submarines. It entered service in March 1943 and continued in service with the US Navy until 1948...
dropped by TBF Avenger
TBF Avenger
The Grumman TBF Avenger was a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air or naval arms around the world....
aircraft from USS Card (CVE-11)
USS Card (CVE-11)
USS Card was a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier. Her hull was laid down on 27 October 1941 as a C-3 cargo ship but it was acquired from the Maritime Commission while under construction and was converted into an escort carrier.She was launched as AVG 11 on 27 February 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma...
.