The Last of the U-boat Commanders
What Tom Brokaw dubbed the "greatest generation" is nearly gone. For many years, the obituaries have daily included at least one WWII vet; soon none will be left. Axis veterans, such as German U-boat commanders, are also passing from the scene.
Because the axis lost, there were naturally fewer survivors among them to begin with. Of the total of 40,000 German submariners who served in WWII, only about 10,000 were still alive when the war ended. Since 1945, their ranks have steadily thinned as they aged. Sharkhunters, the submarine history organization, often announced the death of old veterans, now on "eternal patrol." Some examples:
--Karl Neitzel, who while commanding U-510 torpedoed eight Allied ships in just three hours--a record, set in March 1943--passed away in November 1966, at age 65.
--Otto Kretschmer, the top scoring ace, died on August 5, 1998 at age 86.
--Adolf Cornelius Piening, the very successful commander of U-155, died on May 15, 1984 at age 73.
--Peter Cremer, the well known captain of U-333, passed away on July 5, 1992 at 81.
--Freiherr von Tiesenhausen, who as commander of U-331 sank the British battleship Barham in the Mediterranean in November 1941, began his "eternal patrol" on August 17, 2000, at age 87.
--Hartwig Looks (U-264) who was one of the very few commanders to perform well during the disastrous "Black May" of 1943, sinking two ships from convoy ONs 5, died on October 8, 2005. Looks was 88. He once appeared in the old "World at War" series, telling his story in English.
--Horst von Shroeter, who commanded U-123 in 1943-44, passed away on July 25, 2006, at age 87.
--Paul Siegman, Werner's commanding officer on U-230 in 1943, who in 1945 commanded a new Type XXI boat (which Werner envied, but like the others saw no action) passed away on June 29, 1986, age 73.
--Paul Siegman, Werner's commanding officer on U-230 in 1943, who in 1945 commanded a new Type XXI boat (which Werner envied, but like the others saw no action) passed away on June 29, 1986, age 73.
As of this writing, not all U-boat commanders are deceased. Georg Lassen, the highly successful skipper of U-160, is apparently still alive. Remarkably, so are the two commanders most familiar to American readers:
--Reinhard Hardegan (U-123), whose exploits in American waters in 1942 became the subject of a book, Operation Drumbeat. Born in March 1913, Hardegan by now would be 98.
--Herbert Werner, who wrote about his experiences aboard U-230 and other boats in the best-selling Iron Coffins.
posted by starman at 4:20 AM
12 Comments:
From what I have read, night flying was very useful in spotting the U-boats. Bombs dropped by Allied planes destroyed a large number of those submarines. It is also my understanding that U-boats mde more noise than American submarines. From this, it can be deduced that U-boats were eaier to detect by sonar while submerged.
Neal Robbins
Yes, air power was decisive in the struggle against U-boats. The allies closed the air coverage gap in the mid Atlantic in 1943 and severely harrassed U-boats transiting the Bay of Biscay, to or from French bases such as Lorient.
I just saw on the uboat.net website that Georg Lassen recently passed away at age 96.
February 22, 2016 update. Herbert Werner passed away in April 2013 at age 92. Previously I didn't know that Paul Siegman died long before, in June 1986, at age 73. Reinhard Hardegan, who commanded U-123, is apparently the only surviving U-boat commander at this writing. He's 99.
June 16, 2018 update: I just received word that Reinhard Hardegan passed away, on June 9. The former commander of U-123 lived to the age of 105, but is now deceased. RIP.
I believe Hardegan's death means that all U-boat commanders are now history.
You said it perfectly. All who commanded U-boats have now passed into eternity. They fought a naval war and lost. Reinhard and the others who managed to survive the war, must have felt a sense of relief when the war was over. Shortly before committing suicide, Hitler appointed Admiral Doenitz to be in charge of the Third Reich. After Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun killed themselves, Doenitz issued the order for all German forces to surrender. When Reinhard Hardegan and his crew heard the radio message from Doenitz that said for all U-boats to come to port and surrender, those Germans must have felt relieved. Prior to that, they were worrying that a depth charge from an Allied destroyer or a bomb dropped from a plane would sink the submarine.
Hi Neal, thanks for your comment. :)
With regard to Hardegan, he had already left u-boat service in 1942, due to a medical condition. Even among those still at the front in 1945, they were willing to fight on with better boats such as the type XXI. A number of XXIs had actually just left on patrols when the war ended--they didn't get a chance to achieve anything.
June 16, 2018
Those types of U-boats would have done well if they had been introduced earlier. Of course, with the war ending, they had no choice except to go to port and surrender or scuttle the U-boats near beaches.
I once suggested the Germans should've built the type XXI after March 1941, when loss of their three best aces indicated a need for a better boat, instead of waiting for the disaster of May 1943.
June 17, 2018
I agree; they might have been more successful if the XXI would have been built after March 1941. A similar situation with the air war. Germany had functional jets by 1942. Some of the German air force officers wanted to have jets mass produced and make the Luftwaffe a mainly jet air force. But Hitler refused to go along with that idea.
We can't be sure the type XXI would've made much difference since Blair wrote it was too hamstrung by mechanical defects to be effective. But quality might've been better if production had begun by 1942, before the allied bombing campaign, and material scarcities, had become serious.
January 1, 2019 update;
I just learned that Horst Kessler, who commanded U-704 in 1942-43 and came close to sinking the great liner Queen Elizabeth (then a troop transport) passed away on May 24, 2018, at age 103. RIP.
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