Robert-Richard Zapp

Infobox Military Person
name=Robert-Richard Zapp
born=birth date|1904|4|3|df=y
died=death date and age|1964|7|17|1904|4|3|df=y
placeofbirth=Germersheim
placeofdeath=Kiel


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (to 1945)
branch=navy|Weimar Republic
navy|Nazi Germany
serviceyears=1923-1945
rank=Fregattenkapitän
commands="U-66"
unit=
battles=World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=

Commander Robert-Richard Zapp (3 April 1904 - 17 July 1964) was a German U-boat commander in World War II.

Military Career

Robert-Richard Zapp joined the Reichsmarine in May 1923. Before joining the U-boat service in 1939, he served aboard a minesweeper and later on took command of "251 Marineflak" (Naval anti-aircraf artillery). After initial training, he served on board U-46 for a short while under "Oberleutnant zur See" Engelbert Endrass with whom he participated in the battle against HX 79 in October 1940.

Zapp was posted aboard U-66 in January 1941. "U-66" was one of the boats that participated in the first wave of attacks in Operation Drumbeat. On the first patrol of this operation, he sank five vessels, totaling 33.456 tonnes. On his second patrol off the eastern seaboard of the United States, he was victorious again, sinking six vessels totaling 43.946 tonnes. Zapp was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 23 April 1942.

In June 1942, he was posted ashore to become commander of 3. Unterseebootflottille, based at La Rochelle, France. On 1 January 1945 he was promoted to "Fregattenkapitän". In the last three months of the war, he became commander of the Naval Regiment "Zapp" and defended the U-boat base at La Rochelle until the very end of the war in May 1945. He spent over two years in a French captivity and was released on 7 July 1947.

Awards

* U-boat War Badge (14 May 1941)
* Iron Cross (1939)
** 2nd Class (6 August 1941)
** 1st Class (6 August 1941)
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (23 April 1942)
* Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 27 January 1942 and 7 May 1942

References

* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* Kurowski, Franz. "Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service". Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1995. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
* Range, Clemens (1974). "Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine". Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.

;External link
* [http://uboat.net/men/zapp.htm uboat.net]