Joachim Schepke

Infobox Military Person
name= Joachim Schepke
born=birth date|1912|3|8|df=y
died=dda|1941|3|17|1912|3|8|df=y


placeofbirth=Flensburg
placeofdeath= KIA Atlantic Ocean
coord|61|N|12|W|
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=navy|Weimar Republic
navy|Nazi Germany
serviceyears=1930–1941
rank=Kapitänleutnant
commands=
unit=
battles=
awards=Ritterkreuz des Eisernes Kreuz mit Eichenlaub
laterwork=

Lieutenant Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II.

Career

Schepke was the son of a Navy officer, and he joined the Kriegsmarine in 1930. In 1934 he was assigned to the U-boat arm, and in 1938 he commanded "U-3". At the outbreak of World War II he took "U3" to war against Allied shipping. After a short stint commanding "U-19" and serving in a staff position Schepke received the command of "U-100", a Type VIIb boat. After 5 patrols in "U-100" she was heavily damaged on March 17 1941 by depth charges from HMS "Walker" and HMS "Vanoc" while executing an attack on Convoy HX-112. "U-100" was forced to surface and was detected on radar and consequently rammed by "Vanoc". Schepke and 37 crew members perished in the ocean; six crew members were rescued. Schepke was last reported on the bridge of "U-100". When "Vanoc" rammed his boat, he was crushed into his own periscope standards, and he went down with his boat. [Macintyre, Donald "U-boat Killer", (Avon Publications, 1956)]

Joachim Schepke had sunk 37 ships for a total of 155,882 GRT, and damaged 4 more. He was awarded the Knight's cross with Oak Leaves. Schepke, Günther Prien and Otto Kretschmer were friendly rivals in the U-boat service, and were the most famous U-boat commanders in the early years of the war. Schepke was the favourite of these three, because in contrast to Kretschmer he was a convinced Nazi. In February 1941 he made a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast for thousands of Berlin schoolchildren about the U-boat war. After his death the German propaganda ministry held him as an example for the German youth to follow.Fact|date=April 2007

References

* 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.

*Most of the info in this article was translated from the German article on Joachim Schepke

Further reading

[http://www.canonesa.co.uk/ Canonesa, Convoy HX72 & U-100 (U-boat attack) ] at www.canonesa.co.uk