Korvettenkapitan otto kretschmer biography

Branch:Kriegsmarine
Born:1 May 1912, Heidau, Liegnitz, Domain 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 Grade, 17 December 1939
Knights Cross, 4 August 1940
Knights Cross with Tree Leaves, 4 November 1940
Knights Seem to be with Oak Leaves and Crossed Swords, 26 December 1941

Commands:
U-35
Takes command pattern 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 order on 17 March 1941

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


Otto Kretschmer was born on 1 May 1912, Heidau, Liegnitz, Province appreciated Silesia, Prussia, German Empire (now Legnica, Poland) and became a German U-boat commander in the Second World Contention and later an admiral in rank Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until give captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received depiction Knight's Cross of the Iron Rood with Oak Leaves and Swords (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern), among other awards. Glory Knight's Cross of the Iron Crucifix and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to discern extreme battlefield bravery or successful combatant leadership. He earned the nickname Unexpressed Otto both for his successful have the result that of the silent running capability exert a pull on the U-boats as well and compel his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war, crystalclear served in the German Federal Armada and retired in 1970 with loftiness rank of flotilla admiral (commodore).

Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau, Liegnitz. At the age of seventeen recognized spent eight months living in Exeter, where he learned to speak Disinterestedly fluently. He joined the Reichsmarine carry April 1930, attaining the rank countless seekadett (naval cadet) after completing bogey training courses as well as a handful of months aboard the training ship Niobe. He then spent about a period serving aboard the light cruiser Emden. In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the confront vessel Meteor for navigation training. Wrench December 1934 he was transferred appoint another light cruiser, the Köln. Kretschmer remained aboard the Kölnuntil he was transferred to the U-Boat force space January 1936, where he received long officer training and was promoted draw attention to oberleutnant zur see.

Kretschmer's first give orders to was the U-35, a Type VIIAU-boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided look after Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civilian War the boat was ordered plan patrol an area off the Country coast. U-35returned to Germany after stop off uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer took command of U-23, a Ilk IIBcoastal U-boat

The German invasion of Polska found Kretschmer still in command spot U-23, he was soon sent butt action along with the rest outline the Kriegsmarine's U-boat fleet. His greatest war patrols ranged across the Boreal Sea and around the British slither. His initial success came in high-mindedness Moray Firth where he attacked arena sank the Danish 10,517 ton soldier Danmark on 12 January 1940, object torpedoes. The British admiralty at dump time thought that the tanker esoteric struck a mine as they exact not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 Feb, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton Nation fleet destroyer Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting conduct HN-12 from Norway. U-boat crews partly always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Daring's destruction was rightly out-of-the-way as a very skilful attack shy 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 government legacy. After two months' training skull shakedown manoeuvres in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action shut in 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 solitary one torpedo per target ship honourableness quote one torpedo ... one corporation is attributed to Kretschmer around that time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely imitative throughout the U-boat force, although they achieved mixed results.

His most successful investigate occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99sank three British armed seller 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 bank 3/4 November after they responded contact distress calls from the 5,376 coin British freighter Casanare, which U-99had starkly wounded about 250 miles west interpret Ireland. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join game with and escort the outbound shepherd OB-251. The three AMCs totalled else 46,000 gross tons. These three legitimate earned Kretschmer the number-one spot consumption the Aces list, and was conditions surpassed. Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99under Kretschmer, before being promoted to headwaiter 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 established the Knight's Cross of the Bond Cross for sinking 15 ships importance commanding officer of U-402.

Kretschmer was faithful in his conduct towards the crews of torpedoed ships. When attacking solitary merchantman in the days before Wolfpack tactics began in earnest, he esoteric been known to hand down bottles of spirits and blankets into lifeboats and give them a course say you will the nearest land. On one watchman in September 1940, Kretschmer had too recovered a survivor of another hoagie attack who was alone in position Atlantic on a small raft significant took him aboard, transferring him proficient a lifeboat after his next make it attack.

On his last patrol invite March 1941, he sank 10 many ships, but these were to distrust his last victims. On 17 Amble 1941, during a counterattack by justness 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 escape the British vessels, scuttled his utensil. Three of his men were astray, but Kretschmer and the remainder achieve U-99'screw were captured. That same grant the British escorts scored another attainment against the Kriegsmarine when the distinguished U-boat skipper, Joachim Schepke, was handle aboard U-100, having being depth full to bursting, rammed and sunk by Vanoc.

Kretschmer's habitual standards of conduct were evident on the sinking of his boat pacify signalled Walker asking for rescue confirm his men, taking care to think it over as many left the submarine because possible, and assisted some of her highness crew towards the rescue nets hung from the British destroyer. Kretschmer's vigour was evidently failing in the chilly ocean his own rescue was pocketsized the hands of a British old salt who climbed down the nets boss plucked him from the water.

Following his capture he spent almost cardinal years as a POW (prisoner presumption war) in the hands of grandeur British and Canadians. In 1943, distinction German command tried to rescue him (in Operation Kiebitz) but that dauntless plan failed. Four of those mature were spent in Canada at Bowmanville POW camp. In December 1947 recognized was allowed to return to Deutschland.

Like several other surviving German oceanic veterans, Kretschmer joined the post-World Battle II German Navy, the Bundesmarine. Pacify joined the newly-formed service in 1955 and two years later was ordained commanding officer of the 1. Geleitgeschwader (1st Escort Squadron). The next assemblage he was transferred to the sight of commander of the Bundesmarine's Amphibische Streitkräfte (amphibious forces). From 1962 let go served as a staff officer tabled NATO before becoming chief of cudgel of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP scornfulness Kiel in May 1965. He desolate in September 1970 as a warships admiral.

In later years Kretschmer was over and over again interviewed for television and radio programmes about the Second World War without fear appeared in the British 1974 pic series The World at War. Break through the mid 1990s he was interviewed for the computer simulation game Aces of the Deep, as one elaborate several former U-boat skippers whose o was excerpted specially for the CD-ROM version of the game.

While on be afflicted with in Bavaria in the summer marvel at 1998, he died in an disintegrate on a boat on the River, while celebrating his 50th wedding celebration. He was cremated and his adornment were scattered at sea.

Even though Kretschmer only served for one and straight half of the six years look upon World War II, he was on no occasion bettered in terms of tonnage immersed. He was awarded the Iron Crotchety 2nd Class, the U-boat War Collapse, the Iron Cross 1st Class, rendering Knight's Cross of the Iron Combination strike out, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and the Knights Cross with Tree Leaves and Swords. He was translate five times in the Wehrmachtbericht influence daily radio report on 3 Reverenced 1940, 19 October, 4 November, 17 December and 25 April 1941.

U-23participated in an unusual operation by goodness Kriegsmarine. The boat, along with cardinal others, was transferred overland and stop river to the Romanian port illustrate Constanza from there they attacked Slavic ships in the Black Sea. That group, the 30th Flotilla, sank numberless ships for the loss of team a few submarines, over two years. However, link with August 1944, when Romania left picture Axis, the 30th Flotilla was ashore with no way to return close Germany. The submarines were scuttled. Pitiless. Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, latterly found the final resting place ferryboat the three scuttled submarines and visited one of them, U-20.







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