Viktor Schütze

Infobox Military Person
name=Viktor Schütze
born=birth date|1906|2|16|df=y
died=dda|1950|9|23|1906|2|16|df=y
placeofbirth=Flensburg
placeofdeath=Frankfurt am Main


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=navy|Weimar Republic
navy|Nazi Germany
serviceyears=1925-1945
rank=Kapitän zur See
commands=U-19, 1936-01-16 – 1937-09-30
U-11, 1938-08-13 – 1939-09-04
U-25, 1939-09-05 – 1940-05-19
U-103, 1940-06-05 – 1941-08-12
2. Unterseebootsflottille
"FdU Ausblidungsflottillen" Gotenhafen
unit=1. Unterseebootsflottille
U-Bootschulflottille
2. Unterseebootsflottille
battles=Battle of the Atlantic
awards=Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub
laterwork=
Captain Viktor Schütze (February 16 1906 - September 23 1950), was a German Kriegsmarine U-boat ace, sinking a total of 35 allied ships totalling 180,053 tons during the Second World War. He is in fifth place on the ten Aces of the Deep.

Biography

Schütze was born in Flensburg, and started his naval career aboard German torpedo boats in April 1925, before transferring to the new U-boat division ten years later in October 1935. There he commanded U-19 for two years, before being relieved to take destroyer training - before returning to the U-boat arm in command of U-11. When war broke out he commanded U-25, with which he sailed on three patrols, mainly in the Bay of Biscay and off the Portuguese coast.

In July 1940 he assumed command over the Type IXC U-103, and commanded for four patrols in North Atlantic and African waters. In December he received the Knight's Cross for his successes. In August 1941 he retired from front service, taking up positions as "Flottillechef" of 2. Unterseebootsflottille. In March 1943 he became the "FdU Ausblidungsflottillen" (Commander of the training flottillas in the Baltic Sea) in Flensburg-Kappeln, in which position he served until the end of the war.

He died in Frankfurt am Main in 1950.

Awards

* Eisernes Kreuz 2. and 1. Klasse
* Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub
** Ritterkreuz (11 Dec 1940)
** mit Eichenlaub (14 Jul 1941)

References

*Franz Kurowski (1995), "Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service". Schiffer Military.
*cite web | title= Uboat.net| work= The Men – Viktor Schütze| url=http://uboat.net/men/schuetze.htm| accessdate=3 April| accessyear=2007