Reinhard Suhren

Infobox Military Person
name=Reinhard Suhren
born=birth date|1916|4|16|df=y
died=death date and age|1984|8|25|1916|4|16|df=y
placeofbirth=Langenschwalbach, Taunus
placeofdeath=Halstenbek, Hamburg


caption=Reinhard Suhren
nickname=Teddy
allegiance=Germany
serviceyears=1935 - 1945
rank=Fregattenkapitän
branch=navy|Nazi Germany
commands=U-564, Apr 3 1942 – Oct 1 1942
unit=1. Unterseebootsflottille, 27. Unterseebootsflottille
battles=
awards=Iron Cross 1st Class
U-boat War Badge
Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
relations=Gerd Suhren
laterwork=
Commander Reinhard "Teddy" Suhren (April 16, 1916 - August 25, 1984) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and younger brother of Korvettenkapitän (Ing.) and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipient Gerd Suhren.

World War II

He began his U-boat career in March 1938 with the usual training and then spent a year as first Watch Officer on "U-48", where he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In April 1941 he took command of "U-564", and in August 1941 he sank the British corvette HMS "Zinnia".

In October 1942 he left the boat and became an instructor. Later he served in the 27. Unterseebootsflottille along with Korvettenkapitän Erich Topp. During the last year of the war the newly appointed Fregattenkapitän Suhren was Commander in Chief of U-boats in Norwegian waters and from September 1944 for the North Sea.

His parents and sister committed suicide in 1945, after failing to escape from the Sudetenland. [Brustal-Naval & Suhren 1999, p. 15-16.]

Awards

* Iron Cross (1939)
** 2nd Class (25 September 1939)
** 1st Class (25 February 1940)
* U-boat War Badge (1939) (21 December 1939)
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
** Knight's Cross (3 November 1940)
** 56. Oak Leaves (31 December 1941)
** 18. Swords (1 September 1942)
* Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 17 February 1945

Quotes

After returning from his last and longest mission, when "U-564" came to the port of Brest, Suhren greeted his friend Hein Uphoff with the words "Hein, Hein, sind die Nazis noch am Ruder?" Literally translating to "Hein, Hein, are the Nazis still at the rudder?" This made news in the entire U-Boat service. [Brustal-Naval & Suhren 1999, p. 123.]

References

* Brustal-Naval, Fritz and Teddy Suhren, Teddy. "Nasses Eichenlaub: als Kommandant und F.d.U. im U-Boot-Krieg". Frankfurt/M; Berlin:Ullstein, 1999. ISBN 3-548-23537-9.
* 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 links

* [http://www.uboat.net/men/suhren.htm uboat.net webpage about Reinhard Suhren]