Type VII submarines. For everyone and about everything

During the First World War, submarines began to be produced with a diesel engine for movement on the surface and an electric engine for movement under water. Even then they were extremely formidable weapons. The German submarine SM UB-110, which cost 3,714,000 marks, however, did not have time to show its power, having lived for only a couple of months.

SM UB-110 of the Type UB III class of coastal torpedo boats was built in the Hamburg docks of Blohm & Voss for the needs of the Kaiserlichmarine and launched on March 23, 1918. Four months later, on July 19, 1918, she was sunk by the British ships HMS Garry, HMS ML 49 and HMS ML 263. 23 crew members were killed. The submarine was later taken ashore to be repaired at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson docks in Wallsend, but the project was not completed and she was sold as scrap.

Perhaps the most unique acquisition of the 20th century in terms of naval weapons were submarines. Before they had time to appear, they gave rise to a lot of fulfilled and unfulfilled hopes. It was believed that new combat weapons would revolutionize the war at sea, leveling the “old values” in the form of armadas of battleships and armored (battle) cruisers; will nullify general battles as the main means of resolving military confrontation at sea. Now, more than 100 years later, it is interesting to evaluate to what extent such bold predictions were confirmed.

In fact, DPs were most effective in the fight against trafficking, where they achieved truly impressive results. From the standpoint of high strategy, this does not contradict the ideas about achieving the main goals in war. “Trade disruption” hits particularly hard on island, highly developed countries that are traditionally and heavily dependent on exports and imports; in addition, the very concept of “supremacy at sea,” which was considered the prerogative of great sea powers and great fleets, is discredited. First of all, we are talking about the confrontation between Germany and England and its allies in the world wars and about the United States against Japan. These largest and most instructive examples formed the basis for an extensive and in-depth analysis, search for patterns, up to the development of motivated views on the use of submarines in the future.

As for the capabilities of submarines against military fleets, their main forces, this section is covered in less detail and leaves many questions.

It is noteworthy that even today this is not some routine scholastic question of naval history or applied sections of the development of the combat use of torpedo weapons (BITO). It is relevant in determining the prospects for the construction and development of the fleet. Increased interest in it is aroused by the objectively existing national aspect of the problem. It is no secret that the Navy, especially in the post-war period, had a clearly visible underwater focus. And this despite the fact that both world wars ended with the official defeat of the idea of ​​submarine warfare. After the First World War - with the introduction of the convoy system and Asdikom, in the Second - the introduction of radar and aircraft. In general, following this logic, betting on submarines in the future seemed pointless. Nevertheless, we did it, just as the Germans did before us in World War II. There are still ongoing debates about the legality of such a step and the actual appearance of the Navy during the Cold War: how justified was such a step in the current conditions? The question is not simple, still awaiting its competent researcher.

The most “subtle” point in objective analysis, and therefore in the formation of a specific answer, is the lack of support from combat experience. Fortunately for humanity and inconvenient for specialists, there has been no opportunity to rely on one for 67 years. We are talking about an axiom: only practice is the criterion of truth, in military affairs, in any case. That is why the experience of the 1982 Falklands crisis between Great Britain and Argentina is considered so valuable and unique. But it only strengthens the belief that, no matter how far submarines have gone in their development - right up to equipping them with nuclear power, space communications and navigation, advanced electronics and nuclear weapons - they could not completely free themselves from the load of peculiarities inherent in this type of force and restrictions. The Falklands “underwater experience” turned out to be doubly interesting. This is the experience of combat operations against enemy surface ships (NS). However, we will stick to the chronology and start with the participation of submarines in world wars.

Submarines as a branch of the navy are just over 100 years old. The beginning of widespread combat use and their intensive development dates back to the period of the First World War. Overall this debut can be considered successful. About 600 submarines (372 of them were German submarines, but the Germans also lost the most - 178 submarines), then in service with the warring parties, sent to the bottom more than 55 large warships and hundreds of destroyers with a total displacement of more than 1 million tons and 19 million b.r.t. (gross register ton is a unit of volume equal to 2.83 cubic meters, not currently used) merchant tonnage. The Germans turned out to be the most numerous and productive, chalking up more than 5,860 sunk ships with a total displacement of 13.2 million b.p.t. trade tonnage. The blow mainly fell on English trade and was extremely effective.

The record of sunk tonnage will be repeated, but not surpassed, during the Second World War and, characteristically, by a much larger number of submarines. But the personal record belonging to the German commander Arnaud de la Perriere is more than 440 thousand b.r.t. – not achieved by anyone. The best submariner of the Second World War, also German, Otto Kretschmer, will leave the arena with a score of 244 thousand b.r.t. and 44 sunk ships in the spring of 1941.

If we look at the effectiveness of submarines against the enemy navy, the successes are much more modest even where such actions were specifically planned. This is difficult to reconcile with the hopes and expectations from the first resounding successes of Otto Weddigen, who already in the first days of the war on the primitive U-9 sank three armored cruisers in just over an hour. Other high-profile achievements of German submariners in terms of defeating large enemy tanks are also known, but that will come later. In the meantime, the “mobilization” of almost all available (about 20 units) submarines to comb the North Sea, supposedly infested with dreadnoughts, did not bring any results. Having learned about the operation in advance, the British removed all valuable oil and gas from the North Sea.

The participation of submarines in the Battle of Jutland, on which great hopes were pinned - after all, by 1916, submarines had already gradually managed to prove themselves - was generally discouraging. They didn't even find anyone there. The main forces of the fleets turned around and fought in the greatest naval battle in history without even being noticed. True, the death of the British Minister of War Field Marshal Lord Kitchener on the cruiser Hampshire, which was blown up by mines, is considered an indirect success of the submarine, but this is nothing more than a consoling “bonus”.

Strictly speaking, the goals in the fight against trade were also unachieved. The blockade of England, hastily declared by the German leadership at the beginning of the war, was not achieved, because it was not backed up by real forces. Then followed a series of bans due to the international scandal over the Lusitania, the accompanying declines in submarine warfare, and a return to the principle of prize law. The belated announcement of unlimited submarine warfare in 1917 did not help either: the enemy had time to prepare.

However, let’s return to unfulfilled hopes regarding the fight between submarines and NK. It should be noted that in the interwar period (1918-1939) there was no shortage of analysis, researchers and theories on this subject, more profound and interested than in Germany. If in all the variety of reasons and explanations we single out the main ones and discard the particular, biased and secondary ones, which, by the way, are widely used at the “school-cadet” level, the bottom line is that the actions of the German fleet in the First World War were based on the absence of a corresponding to its tasks and material strategy level.

For once, Germany, with a huge effort of all its strength, managed to build the world's second fleet. Combined with a recognized best army, this gave rise to hopes of occupying a dominant position in Europe, and not only in it. Moreover, such serious military preparations, according to the laws of strategy, are irreversible. But the military-political leadership and naval command of Germany did not have the appropriate strategic guidelines regarding the war at sea. This is recognized primarily by their own specialist researchers. Proceeding from the general to the specific, it is appropriate to extend this problem to the submarine fleet, then a very young branch of the force. In this, apparently, we have to look for the main reason for the failure of the German submarine fleet to achieve its goals in the war.

One can also see in this quite profound general operational-strategic consequences. Let's not forget that the British Grand Fleet was almost a third stronger than the German High Seas Fleet, and entering a general battle with such a balance of forces was at least reckless. Based on this, the idea of ​​the German naval command was to first weaken the Grand Fleet by luring the British into the sea with part of their forces and catching them there with superior forces, equalizing the forces for a future general battle. After Admiral Hugo von Pohl missed such a unique opportunity on December 14, 1914, hopes of equalizing forces centered primarily on the success of submarines. 200 of more than 5,000 transports were lost to mines (1.5 million tons) laid by submarines.

As for other reasons, it is customary to say: the Germans entered World War II with a strategy and a well-developed system for training and using submarine forces. Compared to the Second, the First World War, without exaggeration, was a battle of talented, daring and enterprising single submariners. This is understandable, the young branch of the force had few experienced specialists, the submarines had limited tactical and technical characteristics before the war. The fleet command itself lacked clear and distinct views on the use of submarines. Young submarine commanders with their modest captain-lieutenant stripes and sometimes valuable proposals against the backdrop of brilliant and venerable flagships and ship commanders of the High Seas Fleet were simply lost. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main decisions on the conduct of underwater warfare were made without taking into account and deep knowledge of the peculiarities of using submarines. Throughout the war, submarines remained a thing in themselves for naval operators and high command.

German submarine fleet during World War II

In this article you will learn:

The submarine fleet of the Third Reich has its own interesting history.

Germany's defeat in the war of 1914-1918 brought it a ban on the construction of submarines, but after Adolf Hitler came to power, it radically changed the arms situation in Germany.

Creation of the Navy

In 1935, Germany signed a naval agreement with Great Britain, which resulted in the submarines being recognized as obsolete weapons, and thus Germany receiving permission to build them.

All submarines were subordinate to the Kriegsmarine - the Navy of the Third Reich.

Karl Demitz

In the summer of the same 1935, the Fuhrer appointed Karl Dönitz as commander of all submarines of the Reich; he held this post until 1943, when he was appointed commander-in-chief of the German Navy. In 1939, Dönitz received the rank of rear admiral.

He personally developed and planned many operations. A year later, in September, Karl becomes vice-admiral, and after another year and a half he receives the rank of admiral, at the same time he receives the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

It is he who owns most of the strategic developments and ideas used during submarine wars. Dönitz created a new supercaste, the “unsinkable Pinocchios,” from his subordinate submariners, and he himself received the nickname “Papa Carlo.” All submariners underwent intensive training and knew the capabilities of their submarine thoroughly.

Dönitz's submarine combat tactics were so talented that they received the nickname "wolf packs" from the enemy. The tactics of the “wolf packs” were as follows: the submarines lined up in such a way that one of the submarines could detect the approach of an enemy convoy. Having found the enemy, the submarine transmitted an encrypted message to the center, and then it continued its journey in a surface position parallel to the enemy, but quite far behind him. The remaining submarines were centered on the enemy convoy, and they surrounded it like a pack of wolves and attacked, taking advantage of their numerical superiority. Such hunts were usually carried out in the dark.

Construction

The German Navy had 31 combat and training submarine fleets. Each of the flotillas had a clearly organized structure. The number of submarines included in a particular flotilla could vary. Submarines were often withdrawn from one unit and assigned to another. During combat trips to sea, command was occupied by one of the commanders of the submarine fleet task force, and in cases of very important operations, the commander of the submarine fleet, Befelshaber der Unterseebote, took control.

Throughout the war, Germany built and fully equipped 1,153 submarines. During the war, fifteen submarines were seized from the enemy, they were introduced into the “wolf pack”. Turkish and five Dutch submarines took part in the battles, two Norwegian, three Dutch and one French and one English were training, four Italian were transport and one Italian submarine was docked.

As a rule, the main targets of Dönitz's submarines were enemy transport ships, which were responsible for providing the troops with everything they needed. During a meeting with an enemy ship, the main principle of the “wolf pack” was in effect - to destroy more ships than the enemy could build. Such tactics bore fruit from the first days of the war across vast expanses of water from Antarctica to South Africa.

Requirements

The basis of the Nazi submarine fleet were submarines of the 1,2,7,9,14,23 series. At the end of the 30s, Germany mainly built submarines of three series.

The main requirement for the first submarines was the use of submarines in coastal waters, such were the second class submarines, they were easy to maintain, well maneuverable and could dive in a few seconds, but their drawback was a small ammunition load, so they were discontinued in 1941.

During the battle in the Atlantic, the seventh series of submarines was used, the development of which was originally carried out by Finland; they were considered the most reliable, since they were equipped with snorkels - a device thanks to which the battery could be charged under water. In total, more than seven hundred of them were built. Submarines of the ninth series were used for combat in the ocean, since they had a long range and could even sail into the Pacific Ocean without refueling.

Complexes

The construction of a huge submarine flotilla implied the construction of a complex of defense structures. It was planned to build powerful concrete bunkers with fortification structures for minesweepers and torpedo boats, with firing points and shelters for artillery. Special shelters were also built in Hamburg and Kiel at their naval bases. After the fall of Norway, Belgium and Holland, Germany received additional military bases.

So for their submarines the Nazis created bases in Norwegian Bergen and Trondheim and French Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux.

In Bremen, Germany, a plant was installed for the production of series 11 submarines; it was installed in the middle of a huge bunker near the Weser River. Several bases for submarines were provided to the Germans by the Japanese allies, a base in Penang and on the Malay Peninsula, and an additional center for the repair of German submarines was equipped in the Indonesian Jakarta and the Japanese Kobe.

Armament

The main weapons of Dönitz's submarines were torpedoes and mines, the effectiveness of which was constantly increasing. The submarines were also equipped with 88 mm or 105 mm caliber artillery guns, and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns could also be installed. However, starting from 1943, the artillery guns were gradually removed, since the effectiveness of the deck guns decreased significantly, but the danger of an air attack, on the contrary, forced the power of anti-aircraft weapons to be strengthened. To effectively conduct underwater combat, German engineers were able to develop a radar radiation detector, which made it possible to avoid British radar stations. Already at the end of the war, the Germans began to equip their submarines with a large number of batteries, which allowed them to reach speeds of up to seventeen knots, but the end of the war did not allow them to rearm the fleet.

Fighting

Submarines took part in combat operations in 1939-1945 in 68 operations. During this time, 149 enemy warships were sunk by submarines, including two battleships, three aircraft carriers, five cruisers, eleven destroyers and many other ships, with a total tonnage of 14,879,472 gross register tons.

Sinking of the Coreages

The Wolfpack's first major victory was the sinking of the USS Coreages. This happened in September 1939, the aircraft carrier was sunk by the submarine U-29 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Shewhart. After the aircraft carrier was sunk, the submarine was pursued by accompanying destroyers for four hours, but U-29 was able to escape with almost no damage.

Destruction of Royal Oak

The next brilliant victory was the destruction of the Battleship Royal Oak. This happened after the submarine U-47 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Gunther Prien penetrated the English naval base at Scala Flow. After this raid, the British fleet had to be relocated to another location for six months.

Victory over Ark Royal

Another resounding victory of Dönitz's submarines was the torpedoing of the Ark Royal aircraft carrier. In November 1941, the submarines U-81 and U-205, located near Gibraltar, were ordered to attack British ships returning from Malta. During the attack, the Ark Royal aircraft carrier was hit; at first the British hoped that they would be able to tow the stricken aircraft carrier, but this was not possible, and the Ark Royal sank.

From the beginning of 1942, German submariners began to conduct military operations in US territorial waters. The cities of the United States were not dark even at night, cargo ships and tankers moved without military escort, so the number of destroyed American ships was calculated by the supply of torpedoes on the submarine, so the submarine U-552 sank seven American ships in one exit.

Legendary submariners

The most successful submariners of the Third Reich were Otto Kretschmer and Captain Wolfgang Lüth, who managed to sink 47 ships each with a tonnage of over 220 thousand tons. The most effective was the submarine U-48, whose crew sank 51 ships, with a tonnage of about 305 thousand tons. The submarine U-196, under the command of Eitel-Friedrich Kentrath, spent 225 days at sea for the longest time.

Equipment

To communicate with submarines, radiograms encrypted on a special Enigma encryption machine were used. Great Britain made every possible effort to obtain this device, since there was no other way to decipher the texts, but as soon as the opportunity arose to steal such a machine from a captured submarine, the Germans first destroyed the device and all encryption documents. However, they still succeeded after capturing U-110 and U-505, and a number of encrypted documents also fell into their hands. U-110 was attacked by British depth charges in May 1941, as a result of the damage the submarine was forced to surface, the Germans planned to escape from the submarine and sink it, but they did not have time to sink it, so the boat was captured by the British, and Enigma fell into their hands. and magazines with codes and maps of minefields. In order to keep the secret of the Enigma capture, the entire surviving crew of submariners was rescued from the water, and the boat itself was soon sunk. The resulting ciphers allowed the British to be aware of German radio messages until 1942, until Enigma was complicated. The capture of encrypted documents on board U-559 helped break this code. She was attacked by British destroyers in 1942 and taken into tow, and a new variation of Enigma was also found there, but the submarine quickly began to sink to the bottom and the encryption machine, along with two British sailors, sank.

Victory

During the war, German submarines were captured many times, some of them were also subsequently put into service with the enemy fleet, such as the U-57, which became the British submarine Graf, which carried out combat operations in 1942-1944. The Germans lost several of their submarines due to defects in the design of the submarines themselves. So the submarine U-377 sank to the bottom in 1944 due to the explosion of its own circulating torpedo; the details of the sinking are not known, since the entire crew also died.

Fuhrer's convoy

In the service of Dönitz, there was also another division of submarines, called the “Fuhrer Convoy”. The secret group included thirty-five submarines. The British believed that these submarines were intended to transport minerals from South America. However, it remains a mystery why at the end of the war, when the submarine fleet was almost completely destroyed, Dönitz did not withdraw more than one submarine from the Fuhrer Convoy.

There are versions that these submarines were used to control the secret Nazi Base 211 in Antarctica. However, two of the convoy's submarines were discovered after the war near Argentina, whose captains claimed to be carrying unknown secret cargo and two secret passengers to South America. Some of the submarines of this “ghost convoy” were never discovered after the war, and there were almost no mentions of them in military documents, these are U-465, U-209. In total, historians talk about the fate of only 9 out of 35 submarines - U-534, U-530, U-977, U-234, U-209, U-465, U-590, U-662, U863.

Sunset

The beginning of the end for German submarines was 1943, when the first failures of Dönitz’s submariners began. The first failures were due to the improvement of the Allied radar, the next blow to Hitler’s submarines was the growing industrial power of the United States, they managed to build ships faster than the Germans sank them. Even the installation of the latest torpedoes on the 13 series submarines could not tip the scales in favor of the Nazis. During the war, Germany lost almost 80% of its submariners; at the end of the war, only seven thousand were alive.

However, Dönitz's submarines fought for Germany until the last day. Dönitz himself became Hitler's successor, later arrested and sentenced to ten years.

English admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham said: “It takes the fleet three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to create a tradition." The German fleet, the enemy of the British at sea during both world wars, was very young and did not have that much time, but German sailors tried to create their traditions in an accelerated version - for example, using the continuity of generations. A striking example of such a dynasty is the family of Admiral General Otto Schulze.

Otto Schultze was born on May 11, 1884 in Oldenburg (Lower Saxony). His naval career began in 1900, when at the age of 16 Schulze was enlisted in the Kaiserlichmarine as a cadet. Having completed his training and practical training, Schulze received the rank of lieutenant zur see in September 1903 - at that time he served on the armored cruiser Prince Heinrich (SMS Prinz Heinrich). Schulze met the First World War already on board the dreadnought SMS König with the rank of lieutenant commander. In May 1915, tempted by the prospect of service on submarines, Schulze transferred from the battle fleet to the submarine fleet, took courses at the submarine school in Kiel and received command of the training submarine U 4. At the end of the same year, he was appointed commander of the ocean-going submarine under construction. boat U 63, which entered service with the German fleet on March 11, 1916.

Otto Schulze (1884–1966) and his middle son Heinz-Otto Schulze (1915–1943) - it is clear that, in addition to the love of the sea, the father passed on his characteristic appearance to his sons. His father's nickname "The Nose" was inherited by his eldest son, Wolfgang Schulze.

The decision to become a submariner was fateful for Schulze, since service on submarines gave him much more in terms of career and fame than he could have achieved on surface ships. During his command of U 63 (03/11/1916 - 08/27/1917 and 10/15/1917 - 12/24/1917), Schulze achieved impressive successes, sinking the British cruiser HMS Falmouth and 53 ships with a total tonnage of 132,567 tons, and deservedly decorated his uniform with the most prestigious award in Germany - the Prussian Order of Merit (Pour le Mérite).

Among Schulze's victories is the sinking of the ex-liner Transylvania (14,348 tons), which was used by the British Admiralty during the war as a troop transport. On the morning of May 4, 1917, the Transylvania, which was sailing from Marseilles to Alexandria guarded by two Japanese destroyers, was torpedoed by U 63. The first torpedo hit amidships, and ten minutes later Schulze finished it off with a second torpedo. The sinking of the liner was accompanied by a large number of casualties - the Transylvania was overcrowded with people. On that day, in addition to the crew, there were 2,860 soldiers, 200 officers and 60 medical personnel on board. The next day, the Italian coast was littered with the bodies of the dead - U 63 torpedoes caused the death of 412 people.

The British cruiser Falmouth was sunk by U 63 under the command of Otto Schulze on August 20, 1916. Before this, the ship was damaged by another German boat U 66 and was taken into tow. This explains the small number of casualties during the sinking - only 11 sailors died

After leaving the bridge of U 63, Schulze headed the 1st Boat Flotilla based at Pola (Austria-Hungary) until May 1918, combining this position with service on the headquarters of the commander of all submarine forces in the Mediterranean. The submarine ace met the end of the war with the rank of corvette captain, becoming a recipient of many awards from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

In the period between the wars, he held various staff and command positions, continuing to move up the career ladder: in April 1925 - frigate captain, in January 1928 - captain zur see, in April 1931 - rear admiral. At the time of Hitler's rise to power, Schulze was commander of the North Sea Naval Station. The arrival of the Nazis did not affect his career in any way - in October 1934, Schulze became a vice admiral, and two years later he received the rank of full admiral of the fleet. In October 1937, Schulze retired, but with the outbreak of World War II he returned to the fleet, and finally left service on September 30, 1942 with the rank of admiral general. The veteran survived the war safely and died on January 22, 1966 in Hamburg at the age of 81.

The ocean liner Transylvania, sunk by Otto Schulze, was the newest ship launched in 1914.

The underwater ace had a large family. In 1909, he married Magda Raben, with whom six children were born - three girls and three boys. Of the daughters, only the youngest daughter Rosemary was able to overcome the age of two; her two sisters died in infancy. Fate was more favorable to Schulze's sons: Wolfgang, Heinz-Otto and Rudolf, having reached adulthood, followed in their father's footsteps, enlisting in the Navy and becoming submariners. Contrary to Russian fairy tales, in which traditionally “the eldest was smart, the middle one was this and that, the youngest was completely a fool,” the abilities of the sons of Admiral Schulze were distributed quite differently.

Wolfgang Schulze

On October 2, 1942, an American B-18 anti-submarine aircraft spotted a submarine on the surface 15 miles off the coast of French Guiana. The first attack was successful, and the boat, which turned out to be U 512 (type IXC), disappeared under water after the explosion of bombs dropped from the plane, leaving an oil slick on the surface. The place where the submarine lay on the bottom turned out to be shallow, which gave the surviving submariners a chance of salvation - the bow depth gauge showed 42 meters. About 15 people ended up in the bow torpedo compartment, which in such situations could serve as a refuge.

By the beginning of World War II, the main American bomber, the Douglas B-18 Bolo, was outdated and was replaced from bomber units by the four-engine B-17. However, there was also something to do for the B-18 - more than 100 vehicles were equipped with search radars and magnetic anomalous detectors and transferred to anti-submarine service. In this capacity, their service was also short-lived, and the sunk U 512 became one of the Bolo’s few successes.

It was decided to go outside through the torpedo tubes, but there were half as many breathing apparatus as there were people in the compartment. In addition, the room began to fill with chlorine, which was released by the batteries of electric torpedoes. As a result, only one submariner managed to rise to the surface - 24-year-old sailor Franz Machen.

The crew of a B-18 circling over the scene of the sinking noticed the surviving submariner and dropped a life raft. Machen spent ten days on the raft before being picked up by a US Navy ship. During his “solo voyage,” the sailor was attacked by birds, which inflicted significant wounds on him with their beaks, but Machen fought back the aggressors, and two winged predators were caught by him. Having torn the carcasses into pieces and dried them in the sun, the submariner ate bird meat, despite its disgusting taste. On October 12, it was discovered by the American destroyer Ellis. Subsequently, while being interrogated by the US Navy Intelligence Department, Machen gave a description of his deceased commander.

“According to the testimony of the only survivor, the crew of the submarine cruiser U 512 consisted of 49 sailors and officers. Its commander was Lieutenant Commander Wolfgang Schulze, the son of an admiral and a member of the "Nose" Schulze family, which left a significant mark on German naval history. However, Wolfgang Schulze was little comparable to his famous ancestors. He did not enjoy the love and respect of his crew, who considered him a narcissistic, incontinent, incompetent person. Schulze drank heavily on board and punished his men very severely for even the most minor violations of discipline. However, in addition to the loss of morale among the crew due to the constant and excessive tightening of the screws by the boat commander, Schulze’s crew was dissatisfied with his professional skills as a submarine commander. Believing that fate had destined him to become the second Prien, Schulze commanded the boat with extreme recklessness. The rescued submariner stated that during U 512 tests and exercises, Schulze was always inclined to remain on the surface during training attacks from the air, repelling aircraft attacks with anti-aircraft fire, while he could give the order to dive without warning his gunners, who after leaving the boats underwater remained in the water until Schulze surfaced and picked them up.”

Of course, one person's opinion may be too subjective, but if Wolfgang Schultze lived up to the description given to him, then he was very different from his father and brother Heinz-Otto. It is especially worth noting that for Wolfgang this was the first military campaign as a boat commander, in which he managed to sink three ships with a total tonnage of 20,619 tons. It is curious that Wolfgang inherited his father’s nickname, given to him during his service in the navy - “Nose” (German: Nase). The origin of the nickname becomes obvious when looking at the photo - the old underwater ace had a large and expressive nose.

Heinz-Otto Schulze

If the father of the Schultze family could be truly proud of anyone, it was his middle son, Heinz-Otto Schultze. He joined the fleet four years later than the elder Wolfgang, but managed to achieve much greater success, comparable to the achievements of his father.

One of the reasons why this happened is the history of the brothers’ service until they were appointed commanders of combat submarines. Wolfgang, after receiving the rank of lieutenant in 1934, served on shore and on surface ships - before joining the submarine in April 1940, he was an officer for two years on the battlecruiser Gneisenau. After eight months of training and practice, the eldest of the Schulze brothers was appointed commander of the training boat U 17, which he commanded for ten months, after which he received the same position on U 512. Based on the fact that Wolfgang Schulze had practically no combat experience and despised caution , his death in the first campaign is quite natural.

Heinz-Otto Schulze returned from his campaign. To his right is the flotilla commander and submarine ace Robert-Richard Zapp ( Robert-Richard Zapp), 1942

Unlike his older brother, Heinz-Otto Schulze deliberately followed in his father's footsteps and, having become a naval lieutenant in April 1937, immediately chose to serve in submarines. After completing his training in March 1938, he was appointed watch officer on the boat U 31 (type VIIA), on which he met the outbreak of World War II. The boat was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Johannes Habekost, with whom Schulze made four military campaigns. As a result of one of them, the British battleship Nelson was blown up and damaged by mines laid by U 31.

In January 1940, Heinz-Otto Schulze was sent to a course for submarine commanders, after which he commanded training U 4, then became the first commander of U 141, and in April 1941 he took delivery of the brand new “seven” U 432 (type VIIC) from the shipyard. Having received his own boat, Schulze showed an excellent result on his first voyage, sinking four ships totaling 10,778 tons during the battle of the Markgraf boat group with convoy SC-42 on September 9–14, 1941. The commander of the submarine forces, Karl Doenitz, gave the following characterization of the actions of the young commander of U 432: "The commander achieved success in his first campaign by persevering in the attack of the convoy."

Subsequently, Heinz-Otto made six more combat trips on U 432 and only once returned from the sea without the triangular pennants on the periscope with which German submariners celebrated their successes. In July 1942, Dönitz awarded Schulze the Knight's Cross, deeming that he had reached the 100,000-ton mark. This was not entirely true: the personal account of the commander of U 432 was 20 ships sunk for 67,991 tons, two more ships for 15,666 tons were damaged (according to the website http://uboat.net). However, Heitz-Otto was in good standing with the command, he was brave and decisive, and at the same time acted prudently and calmly, for which he was nicknamed “Mask” by his colleagues (German: Maske).

The last moments of U 849 under the bombs of the American "Liberator" from the naval squadron VB-107

Of course, when he was awarded by Doenitz, the fourth cruise of U 432 in February 1942 was also taken into account, with which Schulze confirmed the hope of the commander of the submarine forces that the boats of the VII series could successfully operate off the east coast of the United States together with the submarine cruisers of the IX series without refueling. On that voyage, Schulze spent 55 days at sea, during which time he sank five ships totaling 25,107 tons.

However, despite his obvious talent as a submariner, Admiral Schulze's second son suffered the same fate as his older brother Wolfgang. Having received command of the new submarine cruiser U 849 type IXD2, Otto-Heinz Schulze died along with the boat on his first voyage. On November 25, 1943, the American Liberator put an end to the fate of the boat and its entire crew off the east coast of Africa with its bombs.

Rudolf Schulze

Admiral Schulze's youngest son began serving in the navy after the war began, in December 1939, and not much is known about the details of his career in the Kriegsmarine. In February 1942, Rudolf Schultze was appointed watch officer of the submarine U 608 under the command of Oberleutnant Rolf Struckmeier. On it, he made four military campaigns in the Atlantic with a result of four sunk ships for 35,539 tons.

Rudolf Schulze's former boat U 2540 on display at the Naval Museum in Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany

In August 1943, Rudolf was sent to a training course for submarine commanders and a month later became commander of the training submarine U 61. At the end of 1944, Rudolf was appointed commander of the new “electric boat” XXI series U 2540, which he commanded until the end of the war. It is curious that this boat was sunk on May 4, 1945, but in 1957 it was raised, restored and in 1960 included in the German Navy under the name “Wilhelm Bauer”. In 1984, she was transferred to the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, where she is still used as a museum ship.

Rudolf Schulze was the only one of the brothers to survive the war and died in 2000 at the age of 78.

Other "underwater" dynasties

It is worth noting that the Schulze family is no exception for the German fleet and its submarines - history also knows other dynasties when sons followed in the footsteps of their fathers, replacing them on the bridges of submarines.

Family Albrecht gave two submarine commanders in the First World War. Oberleutnant zur See Werner Albrecht led the underwater minelayer UC 10 on his first trip, which turned out to be his last when on August 21, 1916, the minelayer was torpedoed by the British boat E54. There were no survivors. Kurt Albrecht successively commanded four boats and repeated the fate of his brother - he died on U 32 along with the crew northwest of Malta on May 8, 1918 from depth charges of the British sloop HMS Wallflower.

The surviving sailors from the submarines U 386 and U 406 sunk by the British frigate Spray disembark the ship in Liverpool - for them the war is over.

Two submarine commanders from the younger generation of Albrechts participated in World War II. Rolf Heinrich Fritz Albrecht, commander of the U 386 (type VIIC), achieved no success but managed to survive the war. On 19 February 1944, his boat was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Spey. Part of the boat's crew, including the commander, was captured. The commander of the torpedo carrier U 1062 (type VIIF), Karl Albrecht, was much less fortunate - he died on September 30, 1944 in the Atlantic along with the boat during the passage from Penang, Malay to France. Near Cape Verde, the boat was attacked by depth charges and sank by the American destroyer USS Fessenden.

Family Franz was noted by one submarine commander in the First World War: Lieutenant-Commander Adolf Franz commanded the boats U 47 and U 152, surviving safely until the end of the war. Two more boat commanders took part in World War II - Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Franz, commander of U 27 (type VIIA), and Ludwig Franz, commander of U 362 (type VIIC).

The first of them, within a matter of days after the start of the war, managed to establish himself as an aggressive commander with all the makings of an underwater ace, but luck quickly turned away from Johannes Franz. His boat became the second German submarine sunk in World War II. Having unsuccessfully attacked the British destroyers HMS Forester and HMS Fortune west of Scotland on September 20, 1939, she herself became the prey instead of the hunter. The boat commander and his crew spent the entire war in captivity.

Ludwig Franz is interesting primarily because he was the commander of one of the German boats that became a confirmed victim of the USSR Navy in the Great Patriotic War. The submarine was sunk by depth charges of the Soviet minesweeper T-116 on September 5, 1944 in the Kara Sea along with the entire crew, without having time to achieve any success.

The armored cruiser Dupetit-Thouars was torpedoed by the U 62 boat under the command of Ernst Hashagen on the evening of August 7, 1918 in the Brest area. The ship sank slowly, which made it possible for the crew to leave it in an orderly manner - only 13 sailors died

Surname Hashagen in the First World War was represented by two successful submarine commanders. Hinrich Hermann Hashagen, commander of U 48 and U 22, survived the war, sinking 28 ships for 24,822 tons. Ernst Hashagen, commander of UB 21 and U 62, achieved truly outstanding successes - 53 ships destroyed for 124,535 tons and two warships (the French armored cruiser Dupetit-Thouars and the British sloop Tulip) (HMS Tulip)) and the well-deserved “Blue Max”, as Pour le Mérite was called, around the neck. He left behind a book of memoirs called “U-Boote Westwarts!”

During World War II, Oberleutnant zur See Berthold Hashagen, commander of the submarine cruiser U 846 (type IXC/40), was less fortunate. He died along with the boat and crew in the Bay of Biscay on May 4, 1944 from bombs dropped by the Canadian Wellington.

Family Walter gave the fleet two submarine commanders in World War I. Lieutenant Commander Hans Walther, commander of U 17 and U 52, sank 39 ships for 84,791 tons and three warships - the British light cruiser HMS Nottingham, the French battleship Suffren and the British submarine C34. Since 1917, Hans Walter commanded the famous Flanders submarine flotilla, in which many German submarine aces of the First World War fought, and ended his naval career in the Kriegsmarine with the rank of rear admiral.

The battleship "Suffren" is a victim of a submarine attack by U 52 under the command of Hans Walter on November 26, 1916, off the coast of Portugal. After the explosion of the ammunition, the ship sank in seconds, killing all 648 crew members.

Oberleutnant zur See Franz Walther, commander of UB 21 and UB 75, sank 20 ships (29,918 tons). He died along with the entire crew of the boat UB 75 on December 10, 1917 at a minefield near Scarborough (west coast of Great Britain). Lieutenant zur See Herbert Walther, who commanded the boat U 59 at the end of World War II, did not achieve success, but managed to survive until Germany surrendered.

Concluding the story about family dynasties in the German submarine fleet, I would like to note once again that the fleet is, first of all, not ships, but people. This applies not only to the German fleet, but will also apply to military sailors of other countries.

List of sources and literature

1. Gibson R., Prendergast M. German submarine war 1914–1918. Translated from German – Minsk: “Harvest”, 2002
2. Wynn K. U-Boat Operations of the Second World War. Vol.1–2 – Annopolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998
3. Busch R., Roll H.-J. German U-boat Commanders of World War II – Annopolis: Naval Institute Press, 1999
4. Ritschel H. Kurzfassung Kriegstagesbuecher Deutscher U-Boote 1939–1945. Band 8. Norderstedt
5. Blair S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunters, 1939–1942 – Random House, 1996
6. Blair S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942–1945 – Random House, 1998
7. http://www.uboat.net
8. http://www.uboatarchive.net
9. http://historisches-marinearchiv.de

The submarine fleet of the Kriegsmarine of the Third Reich was created on November 1, 1934 and ceased to exist with the surrender of Germany in World War II. During its relatively short existence (about nine and a half years), the German submarine fleet managed to write itself into military history as the most numerous and deadliest submarine fleet of all times. Thanks to memoirs and films, German submarines, which inspired terror in the captains of sea vessels from the North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope and from the Caribbean Sea to the Strait of Malacca, have long turned into one of the military myths, behind the veil of which real facts often become invisible. Here are some of them.

1. The Kriegsmarine fought with 1,154 submarines built in German shipyards (including the U-A submarine, which was originally built in Germany for the Turkish Navy). Of the 1,154 submarines, 57 submarines were built before the war, and 1,097 were built after September 1, 1939. The average rate of commissioning of German submarines during World War II was 1 new submarine every two days.

Unfinished German submarines of type XXI on slips No. 5 (in the foreground)
and No. 4 (far right) of the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen. In the photo in the second row from left to right:
U-3052, U-3042, U-3048 and U-3056; in the near row from left to right: U-3053, U-3043, U-3049 and U-3057.
On the far right are U-3060 and U-3062
Source: http://waralbum.ru/164992/

2. The Kriegsmarine fought with 21 types of German-built submarines with the following technical characteristics:

Displacement: from 275 tons (type XXII submarines) to 2710 tons (type X-B);

Surface speed: from 9.7 knots (XXII type) to 19.2 knots (IX-D type);

Submerged speed: from 6.9 knots (type II-A) to 17.2 knots (type XXI);

Immersion depth: from 150 meters (type II-A) to 280 meters (type XXI).

The wake of German submarines (Type II-A) at sea during maneuvers, 1939
Source: http://waralbum.ru/149250/

3. The Kriegsmarine included 13 captured submarines, including:

1 English: “Seal” (as part of the Kriegsmarine - U-B);

2 Norwegian: B-5 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UC-1), B-6 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UC-2);

5 Dutch: O-5 (before 1916 - British submarine H-6, in the Kriegsmarine - UD-1), O-12 (in the Kriegsmarine - UD-2), O-25 (in the Kriegsmarine - UD-3 ), O-26 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UD-4), O-27 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UD-5);

1 French: “La Favorite” (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UF-1);

4 Italian: “Alpino Bagnolini” (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-22); "Generale Liuzzi" (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-23); "Comandante Capellini" (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-24); "Luigi Torelli" (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-25).

Kriegsmarine officers inspect the British submarine Seal (HMS Seal, N37),
captured in the Skagerrak Strait
Source: http://waralbum.ru/178129/

4. During World War II, German submarines sank 3,083 merchant ships with a total tonnage of 14,528,570 tons. The most successful Kriegsmarine submarine captain is Otto Kretschmer, who sank 47 ships with a total tonnage of 274,333 tons. The most successful submarine is U-48, which sank 52 ships with a total tonnage of 307,935 tons (launched on 22 April 1939, and on 2 April 1941 received heavy damage and did not participate in hostilities again).

U-48 is the most successful German submarine. She is in the picture
almost halfway to its final result,
as shown by white numbers
on the wheelhouse next to the boat emblem (“Thrice black cat”)
and the personal emblem of the submarine captain Schulze (“White Witch”)
Source: http://forum.worldofwarships.ru

5. During World War II, German submarines sank 2 battleships, 7 aircraft carriers, 9 cruisers and 63 destroyers. The largest of the destroyed ships - the battleship Royal Oak (displacement - 31,200 tons, crew - 994 people) - was sunk by the submarine U-47 at its own base at Scapa Flow on 10/14/1939 (displacement - 1040 tons, crew - 45 people).

Battleship Royal Oak
Source: http://war-at-sea.narod.ru/photo/s4gb75_4_2p.htm

Commander of the German submarine U-47 Lieutenant Commander
Günther Prien (1908–1941) signing autographs
after the sinking of the British battleship Royal Oak
Source: http://waralbum.ru/174940/

6. During World War II, German submarines made 3,587 combat missions. The record holder for the number of military cruises is the submarine U-565, which made 21 trips, during which it sank 6 ships with a total tonnage of 19,053 tons.

German submarine (type VII-B) during a combat campaign
approaches the ship to exchange cargo
Source: http://waralbum.ru/169637/

7. During World War II, 721 German submarines were irretrievably lost. The first lost submarine is the submarine U-27, sunk on September 20, 1939 by the British destroyers Fortune and Forester off the coast of Scotland. The latest loss is the submarine U-287, which was blown up by a mine at the mouth of the Elbe after the formal end of World War II (05/16/1945), returning from its first and only combat campaign.

British destroyer HMS Forester, 1942

Armament

• 5 × 355 mm torpedo tubes
• 1 × 88 mm SK C/35 gun
• 1 × 20 mm C30 anti-aircraft gun
• 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines

Same type ships

24 Type VIIB submarines:
U-45 - U-55
U-73 - U-76
U-83 - U-87
U-99 - U-102

The German Type VIIB submarine U-48 is the most productive Kriegsmarine submarine in World War II. Manufactured at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in 1939, she completed 12 military campaigns, sinking 55 Allied ships with a total displacement of 321,000 tons. In 1941, U-48 was transferred to a training flotilla, where it served until the end of the war. She was scuttled by her crew on May 3, 1945 near Neustadt.

History of creation

Prerequisites for creation

The results of the First World War showed the offensive power of the submarine fleet, which practically “strangled” Great Britain with a naval blockade. Due to attacks by German submarines, the Entente lost 12 million tons of its fleet, not counting 153 warships. Therefore, the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty prohibited the development and construction of submarines in Germany. This circumstance forced the Reichsmarine to look for workarounds to revive its submarine fleet. German shipbuilding companies began to create foreign design bureaus in which designs for new submarines were developed. To implement the ideas being developed, orders were needed, for which the bureaus agreed to set more attractive prices than their competitors. The losses were compensated by the finances of the Reichsmarine. One of the most valuable orders was from Finland, for which they built the small boat Vesikko and the medium Vetehinen, which became the prototype for submarines of the II and VII series.

Design

Description of design

Frame

The submarine U-48, like all boats of the VII series, had a one-and-a-half hull (the light hull was not located along the entire contour of the durable hull). The robust hull was a cylinder with a diameter of 4.7 m in the area of ​​the central post, tapering towards the bow and stern. Also, from the center to the extremities, the thickness of the sheet of the durable body changed (18.5 and 16.0 mm, respectively). The design was designed for operational immersion up to 100-120 m, and it must be taken into account that the safety margin adopted for submarines in the German fleet was a factor of 2.3. In practice, Series VII boats dived to depths of up to 250 m.

The following were welded to the strong hull: bow and stern ends, side bulges, surge tanks, as well as a deck superstructure with a wheelhouse fencing. The space between the strong and light hulls was freely floodable. A ventilation system pipeline was laid under the deck superstructure, storage for the first shots for the deck gun and anti-aircraft gun, a lifeboat, spare torpedoes for the bow apparatus, as well as compressed air cylinders were equipped.

The interior of the boat was divided into six compartments that had different purposes. The compartments were separated from each other by light bulkheads designed for the surface position of the submarine in the event of an accident. The exception was the central post, which also served as a rescue compartment. Its bulkheads were made concave and designed for a pressure of 10 atmospheres. The compartments were numbered from stern to bow to clearly determine the location of various mechanisms and equipment relative to the sides of the ship.

Directly on the bridge there were periscope guides and a stand for the optical fire control device (UZO), used when attacking from the surface, the main compass binnacle and the hatch leading down to the conning tower. On the wall of the cabin on the starboard side there was a slot for a retractable radio direction finder antenna. The rear part of the bridge was open and overlooked the aft platform, which had a fence in the form of handrails.

Power plant and driving performance

The U-48's power plant consisted of two types of engines: diesel engines for surface navigation and electric motors for submerged navigation.

Two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines of the F46 brand from Germaniawerft developed a power of 2800 hp, which made it possible to sail on the surface with a maximum speed of 17.9 knots. When pursuing a convoy, both diesel and electric motors were often used simultaneously, which gave an additional 0.5 knots of speed. The maximum fuel supply was 113.5 tons and provided a 10-knot cruising range of up to 9,700 miles. For fuel combustion, air was supplied to the diesel engines through a pipeline laid to the wheelhouse fence between a strong and light hull, and to remove exhaust gases, each diesel engine was equipped with exhaust pipes.

Underwater propulsion was provided by two AEG GU 460/8-276 electric motors with a total power of 750 hp. The engines were powered by a 27-MAK 800W battery, consisting of 124 cells. The maximum speed under water was 8 knots, the range in the submerged position was 90 miles at 4 knots and 130 miles at 2 knots. The battery was charged from running diesel engines, so the boat had to be on the surface.

The U-48 was submerged by filling ballast tanks with water, and ascent was accomplished by blowing them with compressed air and diesel exhaust gases. The urgent submersion time of the boat was 25-27 seconds with coordinated work of the crew.

Crew and habitability

The U-48 crew consisted of 44 people: 4 officers, 4 petty officers, 36 non-commissioned officers and sailors.

The officer corps included a boat commander, two watch commanders and a chief engineer. The first watch commander performed the functions of the first mate and replaced the commander in the event of his death or injury. In addition, he was responsible for the operation of all combat systems of the submarine and supervised torpedo firing on the surface. The second watch commander was responsible for the lookouts on the bridge and controlled artillery and anti-aircraft fire. He was also responsible for the work of radio operators. The chief mechanic was responsible for controlling the movement of the submarine and the operation of all its non-combat mechanisms. In addition, he was responsible for installing demolition charges when the boat was flooded.

Four foremen performed the functions of navigator, boatswain, diesel operator and electric motor control.

The personnel of non-commissioned officers and sailors were divided into teams according to various specializations: helmsmen, torpedo operators, engine crew, radio operators, acousticians, etc.

The habitability of the U-48, as well as all VII series submarines, was one of the worst compared to submarines of other navies. The internal structure was aimed at maximizing the use of the boat's tonnage for its combat use. In particular, the number of beds barely exceeded half the number of the crew, one of the two available latrines was almost always used as a food storage, the captain's cabin was a corner separated from the passage by an ordinary screen.

It is characteristic that the aft living compartment, where the non-commissioned officers were located, was nicknamed “Potsdamer Platz” because of the constant noise from working diesel engines, conversations and commands at the central post and the running of the crew.

Armament

Mine and torpedo weapons

The U-48's main weapon was torpedoes. The boat was equipped with 4 bow and 1 stern 533-mm torpedo tubes. The supply of torpedoes was 14: 5 in the tubes, 6 in the bow torpedo compartment, 1 in the aft torpedo compartment and 2 outside the pressure hull in special containers. The TA was fired not with compressed air, but with the help of a pneumatic piston, which did not unmask the boat when launching torpedoes.

The U-48 used two types of torpedoes: the steam-gas G7a and the electric G7e. Both torpedoes carried the same warhead weighing 280 kg. The fundamental difference was in the engine. The steam-gas torpedo was driven by compressed air and left a clearly visible bubble trail on the surface. The electric torpedo was driven by a battery and was free of this drawback. In turn, the steam-gas torpedo had better dynamic characteristics. Its maximum range was 5500, 7500 and 12500 m at 44, 40 and 30 knots, respectively. The range of the G7e model was only 5000 m at 30 knots.

Torpedo firing was carried out using a TorpedoVorhalterechner calculating device (SRP) installed in the conning tower. The commander and boatswain entered into the SRP a number of data about the boat and the target being attacked, and within a few seconds the device generated settings for a torpedo shot and transmitted them to the compartments. The torpedo operators entered data into the torpedo, after which the commander fired. In the event of an attack from the surface, a pedestal of surface sighting optics UZO (UberwasserZielOptik) mounted on the bridge of the boat was also used.

The design of the torpedo tubes made it possible to use them for mine laying. The boat could take on board two types of proximity mines: 24 TMC or 36 TMB.

Auxiliary/anti-aircraft artillery

The U-48's artillery armament consisted of an 88 mm SK C35/L45 gun mounted on the deck in front of the wheelhouse fence. First-feed shells were stored under the deck deck; the main ammunition was located in the forward living compartment. The gun's ammunition capacity was 220 shells.

To protect against aircraft, a 20-mm Flak30 anti-aircraft gun was installed on the upper platform of the wheelhouse fence.

Communications, detection, auxiliary equipment

Zeiss binoculars with multiple magnification were used as observation tools on the U-48 when the boat was on the surface or in a positional position. The watch officer's binoculars were also used as part of the UZO during a surface torpedo attack. In a submerged position, commander or anti-aircraft periscopes were used.

To communicate with headquarters and other submarines, radio equipment operating on short, medium and ultra-long waves was used. The main one was shortwave communication, which was provided by the E-437-S receiver, two transmitters, as well as a retractable antenna in the left wing of the bridge fence. The medium-wave equipment intended for communication between boats consisted of an E-381-S receiver, a Spez-2113-S transmitter and a small retractable antenna with a round vibrator in the right wing of the bridge fence. The same antenna played the role of a direction finder.

In addition to optics, the submarine used acoustic equipment and radar to detect the enemy. Noise direction finding was provided by 11 hydrophones installed in the bow of the light hull. Radar reconnaissance was carried out using FuMO 29. The detection range of a large ship was 6-8 km, an aircraft - 15 km, direction determination accuracy - 5°.

The acoustician and radio operator posts were located next to the captain’s “cabin” so that the commander could be the first to receive information about the changed situation at any time.

Service history

Death

Commanders

• 22 April 1939 - 20 May 1940 Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
• 21 May 1940 - 3 September 1940 Korvetten-Kaptain Hans Rudolf Rösing (Knight's Cross)
• 4 September 1940 - 16 December 1940 Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Bleichrodt (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
• 17 December 1940 - 27 July 1941 Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
• August, 1941 - September, 1942 Oberleutnant zur See Siegfried Atzinger
• 26 September 1942 - October 1943 Oberleutnant zur See Diether Todenhagen

see also

Awards

Notes

Literature and sources of information

Image gallery

Kriegsmarine