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Otto Kretschmer
1 May 1912(1912-05-01) – 5 August 1998 (aged 86)

Nickname Otto der Schweigsame (Silent Otto)
Place of birth Heidau, Liegnitz
Place of death Bavaria
Allegiance Germany
Service/branch Naval flag of Nazi Germany Kriegsmarine
Naval flag of West Germany German Federal Navy
Years of service 1930-1947 — 1955-1970
Rank Flottillenadmiral
Unit 2. Unterseebootsflottille
1. Unterseebootsflottille
7. Unterseebootsflottille
Commands held U-35, 1937-07-31 – 1937-08-15
U-23, 1937-10-01 – 1940-04-01
U-99, 1940-04-18 – 1941-03-17
Awards Iron Cross 1st Class
U-boat War Badge
Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Commodore Otto Kretschmer (May 1, 1912 - August 5, 1998) was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War, and was the most successful Ace of the Deep. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Legnica (Liegnitz is a City on the Kaczawa river in Lower Silesia in south-western Poland. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Kriegsmarine (English "War navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945 during the Nazi regime superseding the The German Navy ( Deutsche Marine ( is the Navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces Flotilla Admiral is the lowest flag rank a rank above Captain, in the modern navies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany and 2 Unterseebootsflottille (also known as Unterseebootsflottille Saltzwedel) was the second operational U-boat unit in the German Kriegsmarine 7 Unterseebootsflottille (also known as Unterseebootsflottille Wegener) was the seventh operational U-boat combat unit in the German Kriegsmarine For other meanings please see Iron Cross (disambiguation The Iron Cross ( was a Military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia The U-Boat War Badge (U-Boots-Kriegsabzeichen was an German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ( German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Ritterkreuz) was a grade of the Iron Cross Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers Commander is a Military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The List of U-boat aces -sometimes known as the Aces of the Deep - were the ten German U-Boat commanders during World War II who sank the From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships for a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, among other commendations. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ( German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Ritterkreuz) was a grade of the Iron Cross He earned the nickname "Silent Otto" both for his successful use of the "silent running" capability of the U-boats as well as for his reluctance to make radio broadcasts during patrols.

Contents

Biography

Prewar career

Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau, Liegnitz. Legnica (Liegnitz is a City on the Kaczawa river in Lower Silesia in south-western Poland. At the age of seventeen he spent eight months living in Exeter, where he learned to speak English fluently. Exeter ( (IPA ˈeksɪtər is a city, district and County town of Devon, England. He joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1930, and attained the rank of Seekadett after completing officer training courses as well as three months' aboard the training ship Niobe. The Kriegsmarine (English "War navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945 during the Nazi regime superseding the For the fish called midshipman see Midshipman fish. The rank of midshipman is one of the oldest ranks still in existence Later he spent about a year serving about the light cruiser Emden and in December 1934 was transferred to a posting aboard the light cruiser Köln. Commanding Officers KzS Richard Foerster - 15 October 1925 - 23 September 1928 FK / KzS Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière - 23 September 1928 Combat history Köln patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War. 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. Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Kretschmer's first command was the U-35, a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937. This promotion coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War, and U-35 was ordered to patrol the Spanish coast. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. U-35 returned to Germany after an uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer left the U-35 and took command of U-23, a Type IIB coastal U-Boat.

World War II

The German invasion of Poland found Kretschmer still in command of U-23, and he was soon sent into action along with the rest of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat fleet. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland His first war patrols ranged across the North Sea and around the British coast. Kretschmer's first success came in Moray Firth where he attacked and sunk the Danish 10,517 ton tanker Danmark on January 12, 1940 using torpedoes. The Moray Firth ( Scottish Gaelic: An Cuan Moireach or Linne Mhoireibh) is a roughly triangular Inlet (or Firth) of the North The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The British admiralty at that time thought that the tanker had struck a mine as they did not locate any U-boat in the area. A month later on 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British fleet destroyer HMS Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting convoy HN-12 from Norway. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy Construction Ordered in the 1930 Programme at a cost of £225536 Daring was laid down at John I Thornycroft 's yard at Woolston, The Pentland Firth ( Scottish Gaelic: An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait which is actually more of a Strait than a Firth, separates U-Boat crews almost always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so the Daring's destruction was rightly seen as a very skillful attack by both Kretschmer and the U-23.

In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer left the U-23 and was transferred to the newly-completed Type VIIB U-99, and in a sense started his legacy. After two months' training and shakedown maneuvers in German waters, U-99 went into action in June 1940. During the first four patrols of the U-99, Kretschmer started attacking convoys at night on the surface, taking down merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo per target ship in order to save ammunition, and the quote "One torpedo . The modern torpedo (historically called an automotive automobile locomotive or fish torpedo is a self-propelled explosive Projectile weapon launched above or below . . one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer from around this time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely copied throughout the U-Boat force, although they achieved mixed results in practice.

His most successful patrol occurred in November-December 1940. During that patrol, Kretschmer and U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers, HMS Laurentic (18,724 tons), HMS Patroclus (11,314 tons) and HMS Forfar (16,402 tons). Armed Merchantmen has come to mean merchant ships equipped with guns usually for defensive purposes either by design or after the fact Sinking At 1002 pm on November 3 1940 Type VII U-boat U-99 under the command of Otto Kretschmer encountered three large ships on an eastward course See also List of shipwrecks in 1940 Laurentic and Patroclus were sunk 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. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Forfar was sunk a month later on 2 December while steaming to join up with and escort outbound convoy OB-251. Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Put together, 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. The List of U-boat aces -sometimes known as the Aces of the Deep - were the ten German U-Boat commanders during World War II who sank the Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of U-521 on June 2, 1942. Klaus Bargsten ( October 31 1911 – August 13 2000) was the captain and sole survivor of sunken U-521. Unterseeboot 521, also known as U-521, was a German U-Boat commanded and commissioned by Kapitänleutnant Klaus Bargsten before being Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

On his last patrol in March 1941, he sank 10 more ships, but these were to be Kretschmer's last victims. On March 17, 1941, during a counterattack by British escorts of Convoy HX-112, U-99 was disabled after repeated depth charge attacks by the British destroyers HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc. Events 45 BC - In his last victory Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. HX-112 was a North Atlantic Convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. Depth Charge is a character in the Beast Wars: Transformers universe 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-99's crew were captured by the British. The same day saw the British escorts score another success against the Kriegsmarine: another noted U-Boat skipper, Joachim Schepke, was killed aboard U-100 when that boat was rammed and sunk in heavy fog by Vanoc. Lieutenant Joachim Schepke ( 8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II

A prisoner of war and postwar career

Upon his capture, he spent almost seven years as a P.O.W. in the hands of the British. In 1943 German command tried to rescue him (Operation Kiebitz) but that daring plan failed. 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 In December 1947 he was allowed to return to Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Four of those years he spent in Canada at Bowmanville POW camp. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Bowmanville POW camp Camp 30 was a Canadian-run POW camp for German soldiers during World War II located in Bowmanville Ontario. Like several other surviving German naval veterans, Kretschmer joined the post-WWII German Navy, the Bundesmarine. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The German Navy ( Deutsche Marine ( is the Navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces 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 Bundesmarine's Amphibische Streitkräfte (Amphibious Forces). From 1962 onward he served as a staff officer in NATO before becoming Chief of Staff of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP at Kiel in May 1965. For the city in the United States, see Kiel Wisconsin. For the name see Kiel (name. He retired in September 1970 as a Flotilla Admiral. Flotilla Admiral is the lowest flag rank a rank above Captain, in the modern navies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany and

In later years Kretschmer was often interviewed for television and radio programmes about the Second World War, and appeared in the 1974 documentary series The World at War. The World at War is a 26-episode television documentary series on World War II, including the events leading up to it and following in its wake In the mid-1990s he served as a technical advisor for the computer simulation game Aces of the Deep, and also recorded several interviews specially for the game's bonus features. Aces of the Deep is a World War II U-boat combat simulation game developed and published by Dynamix for MS-DOS in 1994

During a vacation in Bavaria during the summer of 1998, he died in an accident on a boat on the Danube, while celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj

Achievements

Even though Kretschmer only served for one and a half of the six years of WWII, he would never be surpassed in terms of tonnage sunk. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the U-boat War Badge, the Iron Cross 1st Class, the Knight's Cross, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. For other meanings please see Iron Cross (disambiguation The Iron Cross ( was a Military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia The U-Boat War Badge (U-Boots-Kriegsabzeichen was an German war badge that was awarded to U-boat crew members during World War I and World War II For other meanings please see Iron Cross (disambiguation The Iron Cross ( was a Military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ( German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Ritterkreuz) was a grade of the Iron Cross For other meanings please see Iron Cross (disambiguation The Iron Cross ( was a Military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia For other meanings please see Iron Cross (disambiguation The Iron Cross ( was a Military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia

U-23's career in the Black Sea

After Kretschmer left U-23 to assume command of U-99, U-23 was to participate in a highly unusual and daring move by the Kriegsmarine. U-23, along with five other boats, was transferred over land and by river to the Romanian port of Costanza,from where they attacked Russian ships steaming in the Black Sea. This group, called the 30th Flotilla, sank many ships for the loss of three submarines, over two years. In August 1944, however, when Romania left the Axis powers, 30th Flotilla was stranded with no way to return to Germany. The submarines were scuttled. Recently, S. Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, found the resting place of the three scuttled submarines and visited the wreck of one of them, U-20. [1]

References

  1. ^ Telegraph On-line edition, February 4, 2008
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