Otto Kretschmer

Otto Kretschmer
Nickname	Otto der Schweigsame (Silent Otto)
Born	1 May 1912(1912-05-01) Heidau, Liegnitz, Province of Silesia, Prussia, German Empire (now Legnica, Poland)
Died	5 August 1998(1998-08-05) (aged 86) Bavaria, Germany
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine  German Federal Navy
Years of service	1930–1945, 1955–1970
Rank	Reichsmarine (1930-1935): Leutnant zur see Kriegsmarine (1935-1945): Fregattenkapitan Bundesmarine (1955-1970): Flottillenadmiral
Unit	2nd U-boat Flotilla 1st U-boat Flotilla 7th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	U-35, 31 July 1937 – 15 August 1937 U-23, 1 October 1937 – 1 April 1940 U-99, 18 April 1940 – 17 March 1941
Awards	Iron Cross 1st Class U-boat War Badge Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Flotilla Admiral Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German U-boat commander in the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern), among other awards. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto" both for his successful use of the "silent running" capability of the U-boats as well and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war, he served in the German Federal Navy and retired in 1970 with the rank of flotilla admiral (commodore).

Biography

Prewar career

Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau, Liegnitz. At the age of seventeen he spent eight months living in Exeter, where he learned to speak English fluently. He joined the Reichsmarine in April 1930, attaining the rank of seekadett (naval cadet) after completing officer training courses as well as three months aboard the training ship Niobe. He then spent about a year serving aboard the light cruiser Emden. In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the survey vessel Meteor for navigation training. In December 1934 he was transferred to another light cruiser, the Köln. 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.

Kretschmer's first command was the U-35, a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War; the boat was ordered to patrol an area off the Spanish coast. U-35 returned to Germany after an uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer 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, he was soon sent into action along with the rest of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat fleet. His first war patrols ranged across the North Sea and around the British coast. His initial success came in the Moray Firth where he attacked and sank the Danish 10,517 ton tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940, using torpedoes. The British admiralty at that time thought that the tanker had struck a mine as they did not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British fleet destroyer Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting convoy HN-12 from Norway. U-Boat crews almost always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Daring's destruction was rightly seen as a very skillful attack by both Kretschmer and U-23.

In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer was transferred to the newly-completed Type VII B U-99, and in a sense began his legacy. After two months' training and shakedown maneuvers in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action in June 1940. During U-99's first four patrols, Kretschmer commenced attacking convoys at night on the surface, sinking merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo per target ship; the quote "one torpedo ... one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer around this time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely copied throughout the U-Boat force, although they achieved mixed results.

His most successful patrol occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers (AMC), HMS Laurentic (18,724 tons), HMS Patroclus (11,314 tons) and HMS Forfar (16,402 tons). Laurentic and Patroclus were attacked 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. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join up with and escort the outbound convoy OB-251. 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. Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of U-521 on 2 June 1942. Siegfried von Forstner was another of Kretschmer's student officers aboard U-99 who later received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for sinking 15 ships as commanding officer of U-402.^[1]

Kretschmer was meticulous in his conduct towards the crews of torpedoed ships. When attacking lone merchantmen in the days before wolfpack tactics began in earnest, he had been known to hand down bottles of spirits and blankets into lifeboats and give them a course to the nearest land. On one patrol in September 1940, Kretschmer had also recovered a survivor of another torpedo attack who was alone in the Atlantic on a small raft and took him aboard, transferring him to a lifeboat after his next successful attack.^[2]

On his last patrol in March 1941, he sank 10 more ships, but these were to be his last victims. On 17 March 1941, during a counterattack by the British escorts of Convoy HX-112, U-99 was disabled after repeated depth charge attacks by the destroyers Joachim Schepke, was killed aboard U-100, having being depth charged, rammed and sunk by Vanoc.

Kretschmer's usual standards of conduct were evident during the sinking of his boat; he signaled Walker asking for rescue for his men, taking care to ensure as many left the submarine as possible, and assisted some of his crew towards the rescue nets hung from the British destroyer. Kretschmer's strength was evidently failing in the cold ocean; his own rescue was at the hands of a British sailor who climbed down the nets and plucked him from the water.^[2]

A prisoner of war and postwar career

Kretschmer with the crew of U-99 celebrating his Knight's Cross award in 1940

Following his capture he spent almost seven years as a POW (prisoner of war) in the hands of the British and Canadians. In 1943, the German command tried to rescue him (in Operation Kiebitz) but that daring plan failed. In December 1947 he was allowed to return to Germany. Four of those years were spent in Canada at Bowmanville POW camp.

Like several other surviving German naval veterans, Kretschmer joined the post-World War II German Navy, the Bundesmarine. 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 he served as a staff officer in NATO before becoming chief of staff of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP at Kiel in May 1965. He retired in September 1970 as a flotilla admiral.

In later years Kretschmer was often interviewed for television and radio programmes about the Second World War; he appeared in the British 1974 documentary series The World at War. In the mid-1990s he was interviewed for the computer simulation game Aces of the Deep, as one of several former U-boat skippers whose input was excerpted specially for the CD-Rom version of the game.

While on vacation in Bavaria in the summer of 1998, he died in an accident on a boat on the Danube, while celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Achievements

Even though Kretschmer only served for one and a half of the six years of World War II, he was never bettered in terms of tonnage sunk. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the U-boat War Badge, the Iron Cross 1st Class, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. He was mentioned five times in the Wehrmachtbericht [the daily radio report] (on 3 August 1940, 19 October, 4 November, 17 December and 25 April 1941).

U-23's career in the Black Sea

U-23 participated in an unusual move by the Kriegsmarine. The boat, along with five others, was transferred overland and by river to the Romanian port of Constanza, from there they attacked Russian ships in the Black Sea. This group, the 30th Flotilla, sank many ships for the loss of three submarines, over two years. However, in August 1944, when Romania left the Axis powers, the 30th Flotilla was stranded with no way to return to Germany. The submarines were scuttled. S. Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, recently found the final resting place of the three scuttled submarines and visited one of them, U-20.^[3]

Promotions

• Offiziersanwärter (officer cadet) - 1 April 1930
• Seekadett (naval cadet) - 9 October 1930
• Fähnrich zur see (midshipman) - 1 January 1932
• Oberfähnrich zur see (senior midshipman) - 1 April 1934
• Leutnant zur see (acting sub-lieutenant) - 1 Oct 1934
• Oberleutnant zur see (sub-lieutenant) - 1 June 1936
• Kapitänleutnant (lieutenant) - 1 June 1939
• Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) - 1 March 1941
• Fregattenkapitän (commander) - 1 September 1944

Joined West German Navy in 1955, received promotions to captain and to commodore, retired in 1970.^[4]

Awards

• Dienstauszeichnung 4th Class (2 October 1936)^[5]
• Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des Memellandes (26 October 1939)^[5]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (17 October 1939)^[5]
  • 1st Class (17 December 1939)^[5]
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (9 November 1939)^[5]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 4 August 1940 as kapitänleutnant and commander of U-99^[6]
  • 6th Oak Leaves on 4 November 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-99^[6]
  • 5th Swords on 26 December 1941 as korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) and commander of U-99^[6]
• Mentioned five times in the Wehrmachtbericht

References in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Saturday, 3 August 1940	Ein Unterseeboot unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Kretschmer hat auf einer Fernfahrt sieben bewaffnete feindliche Handelsschiffe mit 56 118 BRT versenkt, darunter drei in Geleitzügen fahrende Tanker. Damit hat dieses Unterseeboot bisher insgesamt 117 367 BRT feindlichen Handelsschiffsraums und den britischen Zerstörer "Daring" versenkt.[7]	A submarine under the command of Lieutenant Kretschmer has sunk seven armed enemy merchant ships with 56 118 tons on a voyage against the enemy, including three tankers traveling in convoys. This submarine has now totaled 117 367 tons of enemy merchant shipping sunk and the British destroyer "Daring".
Saturday, 19 October 1940	... An diesen Erfolgen ist das unter Führung des Kapitänleutnants Frauenheim stehende Unterseeboot mit zehn Dampfern von 51 000 BRT, das Unterseeboot des Kapitänleutnants Kretschmer mit sieben Dampfern von 45 000 BRT, das Unterseeboot des Kapitänleutnants Moehle mit sieben Dampfern von 44 050 BRT beteiligt.[8]	The submarines led by Lieutenant Frauenheim contributed with ten steamers of 51 000 tons, the submarine of Lieutenant Kretschmer with seven steamers of 45 000 tons, the submarine of Lieutenant Moehle with seven steamers of 44 050 tons, to these successes.
Friday, 25 April 1941	Die von Korvettenkapitän Kretschmer und Kapitänleutnant Schepke geführten Unterseeboote sind von Feindfahrt nicht zurückgekehrt. Beide Boote waren kürzlich unter schwierigsten Bedingungen durchgeführten Vernichtungen von feindlichen Geleitzügen maßgeblich beteiligt und haben hierbei ihre Gesamterfolge beträchtlich erhöht. Korvettenkapitän Kretschmer hat nunmehr neben der Vernichtung von drei feindlichen Zerstörern – davon zwei während seiner letzten Unternehmung – insgesamt 313 611 BRT, darunter die Hilfskreuzer "Laurentic", "Patroklus" und "Forfar", Kapitänleutnant Schepke 233 971 BRT feindlichen Schiffraums versenkt. Die beiden Kommandanten, in Anerkennung ihrer hervorragenden Dienste im Freiheitskampf des deutschen Volkes mit dem Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes ausgezeichnet, haben mit ihren tapferen Besatzungen unvergänglichen Lorbeer errungen. Ein Teil der Besatzung, unter ihnen Korvettenkapitän Kretschmer, geriet in Gefangenschaft.[9]	The submarines under the command of Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer and Lieutenant Schepke have not returned from patrol. Both boats were recently instrumental in destroying enemy convoys under the toughest conditions and have increased their overall successes considerably. Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer now has in addition to the destruction of three enemy destroyers - including two on his last undertaking - sunk a total of 313 611 tons, including the auxiliary cruiser "Laurentic", "Patroclus" and "Forfar". Lieutenant Schepke sunk 233 971 tons of enemy shipping. The two commanders, awarded with the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in recognition of their outstanding services in the freedom struggle of the German people, have won imperishable laurels with their brave crews. Part of the crew, among them Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer, was taken prisoner.

References

Citations

1. ^ Waters, John M. Jr., CAPT USCG (December 1966). Stay Tough. United States Naval Institute Proceedings. p. 99. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Padfield, Peter (1995). War Beneath the Sea: Submarine Conflict 1939-1945. London: John Murray. ISBN 0719551684. 
3. ^ Telegraph On-line edition, February 4, 2008
4. ^ Kretschmer at Uboat.net
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Busch and Röll 2003, p. 42.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Scherzer 2007, p. 474.
7. ^ Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, p. 271
8. ^ Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, p. 335
9. ^ Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, pp. 505–506

Bibliography

• Berger, Florian (2000). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges (in German). Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
• Busch, Rainer & Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945 - Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
• Robertson, Terence. The Golden Horseshoe: The Wartime Career of Otto Kretschmer, U-Boat Ace. London: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhaal Ltd.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939 - 1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Williamson, Gordon and Bujeiro, Ramiro (2004). Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves Recipients 1939-40. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-641-0.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939-1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.

External link

Military of Germany portal

Media related to Otto Kretschmer at Wikimedia Commons

• Otto Kretschmer in the German National Library catalogue (German)
• On line interviews (Realaudio)
• "Uboat.net". The Men – Otto Kretschmer. http://uboat.net/men/kretschmer.htm. Retrieved 25 February 2007. 
• Telegraph On-line edition, February 4, 2008

Persondata
Name	Kretschmer, Otto
Alternative names
Short description	German World War II U-boat commander
Date of birth	1 May 1912
Place of birth	Heidau, Liegnitz
Date of death	5 August 1998
Place of death	Bavaria