Korvettenkapitan otto kretschmer biography

Branch:Kriegsmarine
Born:1 May 1912, Heidau, Liegnitz, Fast of Silesia, Prussia, German Empire (now Legnica, Poland)
Died:5 August 1998, Bavaria, Germany.

Ranks:
Fregattenkapit�n1 September 1944
Korvettenkapit�n1 March 1941
Kapit�nleutnant1 June 1939
Oberleutnant zur See1 June 1936
Leutnant zur See1 October 1934
Oberfähnrich zur See
F�hnrich zur See1 January 1932

Decorations:
Iron Cross 2nd Class, 17 October 1939
U-boat War Badge 1939, 9 November 1939
Iron Cross 1st Do better than, 17 December 1939
Knights Cross, 4 August 1940
Knights Cross with Tree Leaves, 4 November 1940
Knights Cover with Oak Leaves and Crossed Swords, 26 December 1941

Commands:
U-35
Takes command solve 31 July 1937
Ends command on 15 August 1937

U-23
Takes command on 1 Oct 1937
Ends command on 1 April 1940

U-99
Takes command on 18 April 1940
Ends walk on 17 March 1941

Other:Personnel
Articles:
Hitler's 'lost fleet' of U-boats found in the Swarthy Sea


Otto Kretschmer was born on 1 May 1912, Heidau, Liegnitz, Province draw round Silesia, Prussia, German Empire (now Legnica, Poland) and became a German U-boat commander in the Second World Combat and later an admiral in justness Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until essence captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received prestige Knight's Cross of the Iron Crossbreed with Oak Leaves and Swords (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern), among other awards. Authority Knight's Cross of the Iron Drench and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to realize extreme battlefield bravery or successful soldierly leadership. He earned the nickname Noiseless Otto both for his successful dynasty of the silent running capability reinforce the U-boats as well and on his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war, flair served in the German Federal Argosy and retired in 1970 with depiction rank of flotilla admiral (commodore).

Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau, Liegnitz. At the age of seventeen soil spent eight months living in Exeter, where he learned to speak Equitably fluently. He joined the Reichsmarine wear April 1930, attaining the rank wages seekadett (naval cadet) after completing office-holder training courses as well as match up months aboard the training ship Niobe. He then spent about a epoch serving aboard the light cruiser Emden. In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the appraise vessel Meteor for navigation training. Complicated December 1934 he was transferred prevalent another light cruiser, the Köln. Kretschmer remained aboard the Kölnuntil he was transferred to the U-Boat force get January 1936, where he received accomplish officer training and was promoted fall foul of oberleutnant zur see.

Kretschmer's first opportunity was the U-35, a Type VIIAU-boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided adhere to Germany's involvement in the Spanish Elegant War the boat was ordered bump into patrol an area off the Country coast. U-35returned to Germany after differentiation uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer took command of U-23, a Brainchild IIBcoastal U-boat

The German invasion of Polska found Kretschmer still in command appreciate U-23, he was soon sent encounter action along with the rest style the Kriegsmarine's U-boat fleet. His regulate war patrols ranged across the Northern Sea and around the British seaside. His initial success came in representation Moray Firth where he attacked highest sank the Danish 10,517 ton soldier Danmark on 12 January 1940, abuse torpedoes. The British admiralty at turn time thought that the tanker abstruse struck a mine as they blunt not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 Feb, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton Country fleet destroyer Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting shepherd HN-12 from Norway. U-boat crews approximately always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Daring's destruction was rightly out of the ordinary as a very skilful attack by means of both Kretschmer and U-23.

In Apr 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer was transferred to the newly-completed Type IIBU-99, and in a sense began diadem legacy. After two months' training squeeze shakedown manoeuvres in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action return June 1940. During U-99'sfirst four patrols, Kretschmer commenced attacking convoys at stygian on the surface, sinking merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using lone one torpedo per target ship glory quote one torpedo ... one ocean is attributed to Kretschmer around that time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely untrue throughout the U-boat force, although they achieved mixed results.

His most successful explore occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99sank three British armed supplier cruisers (AMC), HMS Laurentic (18,724 tons), HMS Patroclus (11,314 tons) and HMS Forfar (16,402 tons). Laurentic and Patroclus were attacked on the night adequate 3/4 November after they responded space distress calls from the 5,376 spurious British freighter Casanare, which U-99had punitively wounded about 250 miles west depose Ireland. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join sustain with and escort the outbound herd OB-251. The three AMCs totalled by 46,000 gross tons. These three legalize honours earned Kretschmer the number-one spot delivery the Aces list, and was not at any time surpassed. Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99under Kretschmer, before being promoted to pilot himself and becoming the sole subsister of U-521on 2 June 1942. Siegfried von Forstner was another of Kretschmer's student officers aboard U-99who later agreed the Knight's Cross of the Hamper Cross for sinking 15 ships though commanding officer of U-402.

Kretschmer was literal in his conduct towards the crews of torpedoed ships. When attacking only merchantman in the days before Wolfpack tactics began in earnest, he difficult been known to hand down bottles of spirits and blankets into lifeboats and give them a course quick the nearest land. On one reconnoitre in September 1940, Kretschmer had too recovered a survivor of another minder attack who was alone in distinction Atlantic on a small raft forward took him aboard, transferring him discussion group a lifeboat after his next come off attack.

On his last patrol diffuse March 1941, he sank 10 finer ships, but these were to attach his last victims. On 17 Strut 1941, during a counterattack by high-mindedness British escorts of Convoy HX-112, U-99was disabled after repeated depth charge attacks by the destroyers Walker and Vanoc. Kretschmer surfaced and under fire elude the British vessels, scuttled his vessel. Three of his men were absent, but Kretschmer and the remainder swallow U-99'screw were captured. That same broad daylight the British escorts scored another come off against the Kriegsmarine when the well-known U-boat skipper, Joachim Schepke, was join aboard U-100, having being depth chock-full, rammed and sunk by Vanoc.

Kretschmer's universal standards of conduct were evident all along the sinking of his boat fair enough signalled Walker asking for rescue fetch his men, taking care to confirm as many left the submarine makeover possible, and assisted some of climax crew towards the rescue nets hung from the British destroyer. Kretschmer's rescue was evidently failing in the hibernal ocean his own rescue was miniature the hands of a British leatherneck who climbed down the nets elitist plucked him from the water.

Following his capture he spent almost figure years as a POW (prisoner exercise war) in the hands of rank British and Canadians. In 1943, loftiness German command tried to rescue him (in Operation Kiebitz) but that fearless plan failed. Four of those maturity were spent in Canada at Bowmanville POW camp. In December 1947 subside was allowed to return to Frg.

Like several other surviving German marine veterans, Kretschmer joined the post-World Enmity II German Navy, the Bundesmarine. Forbidden joined the newly-formed service in 1955 and two years later was fit commanding officer of the 1. Geleitgeschwader (1st Escort Squadron). The next origin he was transferred to the doubt of commander of the Bundesmarine's Amphibische Streitkräfte (amphibious forces). From 1962 operate served as a staff officer appearance NATO before becoming chief of pike of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP as a consequence Kiel in May 1965. He give up work in September 1970 as a warships admiral.

In later years Kretschmer was oftentimes interviewed for television and radio programmes about the Second World War subside appeared in the British 1974 docudrama series The World at War. Demonstrate the mid 1990s he was interviewed for the computer simulation game Aces of the Deep, as one thoroughgoing several former U-boat skippers whose tell was excerpted specially for the CD-ROM version of the game.

While on get down from in Bavaria in the summer be snapped up 1998, he died in an projection on a boat on the River, while celebrating his 50th wedding celebration. He was cremated and his remnants were scattered at sea.

Even though Kretschmer only served for one and neat as a pin half of the six years be keen on World War II, he was not under any condition bettered in terms of tonnage washed-up. He was awarded the Iron Cantankerous 2nd Class, the U-boat War Collapse, the Iron Cross 1st Class, illustriousness Knight's Cross of the Iron Hybrid, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and the Knights Cross with Tree Leaves and Swords. He was compute five times in the Wehrmachtbericht rendering daily radio report on 3 Revered 1940, 19 October, 4 November, 17 December and 25 April 1941.

U-23participated in an unusual operation by interpretation Kriegsmarine. The boat, along with cinque others, was transferred overland and do without river to the Romanian port healthy Constanza from there they attacked Country ships in the Black Sea. That group, the 30th Flotilla, sank visit ships for the loss of team a few submarines, over two years. However, bring into being August 1944, when Romania left dignity Axis, the 30th Flotilla was high and dry with no way to return rescue Germany. The submarines were scuttled. Hard-hearted. Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, not long ago found the final resting place draw round the three scuttled submarines and visited one of them, U-20.







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