Hans-Rudolf Rösing

Infobox Military Person
name=Hans-Rudolf Rösing
born=birth date|1905|9|28|df=y
died=dda|2004|12|16|1905|9|28|df=y
placeofbirth=Wilhelmshaven
placeofdeath=Kiel


caption=
nickname=
branch=navy|Weimar Republic
navy|Nazi Germany
navy|West Germany
allegiance=flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (to 1945)
flagicon|West Germany West Germany
serviceyears=1924-1945, 1956-1965
rank=Konteradmiral
commands=U-11, Sep 21 1935 – Oct 1 1937
U-35, Dec 6 1936 – Feb 1937
U-10, Oct 1937 – Aug 1938
U-48, May 21 1940 – Sep 3 1940
unit=2. Unterseebootsflottille
3. Unterseebootsflottille
5. Unterseebootsflottille
7. Unterseebootsflottille
battles=
awards=Iron Cross First Class
Knight's Cross
Bundesverdienstkreuz
relations=
laterwork=

Hans-Rudolf Rösing (September 28 1905 - December 16 2004) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and later served in the Bundesmarine.

Military career

Rösing joined the Reichsmarine in April 1925 as a Seekadett, gaining his commission as Leutnant zur See in October 1928, and surving on the light cruisers "Nymphe" and "Königsberg". Germany was forbidden to oberate submarines under the Treaty of Versailles; and in the early 1930's "Oberleutnant zur See" Rösing was one of a small number of chosen personnel who were detached to foreign navies to gain experience in submarines. After spending two years at the "Unterseebootsabwehrschule", Rösing, recently promoted "Kapitänleutnant", was given his first submarine command when he commissioned the new U-11. After two years in this small Type IIB costal submarine, he took command of U-35, a larger Type VIIA ocean-going boat. In 1937 Rösing was given command of another Type IIB, U-10, and assigned to the Torpedoerprobungskommando, responsible for the testing of new torpedo types. After a year in this post he was appointed commander of 5. Unterseebootsflotille- Flotille Emsmann- at Kiel.

July 1939 saw Rösing promoted to "Korvettenkapitän". Following a short spell of duty on the staff of the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (Dönitz, qv), Rösing was posted to command 7.Unterseebootsflotille at Kiel. This command lasted until 21 May 1940, When he too over the Type VIIB boat U-48 from her highly successful previous commander, Herbert Schultze. In the course of his two war patrols with U-48, Rösing showed himself to be as capable a commander as he was a staff officer, sinking 12 ships totaling over 60,000 tons, and earning himself the U-Boat War Badge, Iron Cross First Class and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Rosing left U-48 in December 1940, and was appointed liaison officer to the Italian submarine force operating out of Bordeaux in occupied France. After some months he was given command of 3. Unterseebootsflotille, but in August 1941 returned to the staff of the Befehlshaber der U-boote. In July 1942, Rösing was appointed as FdU West (Führer der U-boote West), with headquarters in both Paris and Angers; he was responsible for all boats committed to the Battle of the Atlantic, and thus a great majority of the entire U-boat fleet. In February 1943 he was promoted to "Fregattenkapitän", and one mother later to "Kapitän zur See". He remained as FdU West until autumn 1944, when the Allied liberation of France forced the Kriegsmarine to transfer the remaining boats of 2. and 7. U-flotillen to bases in Norway, Denmark, and northern Germany.

After the German surrender in May 1945, Rösing spent about a year in British captivity before being released. He subsequently joint the post-war Navy, and was given command of German naval units operating in the North Sea (Marine-Abschnittskommando Nordsee), and later Military District I, rising tot he rank of Konteradmiral. He retired from active service in 1965, having added to the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Service Cross) to his wartime decorations. He died on 16 December 2004, at the age of 99.

External links

* [http://www.uboat.net/men/roesing.htm uboat.net webpage about Hans-Rudolf Rösing]