Heino von Heimburg

Infobox Military Person
name=Heino von Heimburg


caption=Oberleutnant z. See v. Heimburg with Pour le Mérite, 1917
born=birth date|1889|10|24|df=y
died=Death year and age|1945|1889
placeofbirth=Hanover
placeofdeath=Russian SFSR
nickname=
allegiance=German Empire
Nazi Germany
serviceyears=
rank=Vice Admiral
branch=Kaiserliche Marine
Kriegsmarine
commands=UB-14, Mar 25 1915 – May 31 1916
UC-22, July 1 1916 – Jul 13 1917
UB-68, Oct 5 1917 – Jul 1 1918
U-35, Oct 14 1918 – Nov 11 1918
unit=
battles=Battle of the Atlantic (1914-1918)
awards=Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
Pour le Mérite
relations=
laterwork=

Heino von Heimburg (1889-10-24 - 1945) was a successful and highly decorated German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I and served also as Vice Admiral in the Kriegsmarine during World War II.

World War I

On July 6, 1915, Heimburg, in command of UB-14 with a crew of 14, torpedoed and sank the Italian cruiser Amalfi while operating under the Austrian flag off Venice.

On July 16, Heimburg sailed for the Dardanelles. This was at a time when the range of submarines was very limited, unlike today. To reach Bodrum UB-14 had to be towed a considerable part of the distance by an Austrian destroyer. Even so her engine broke down off Crete and her compass became defective. Despite these problems she arrived safely at Bodrum on July 24. On arrival she recharged the batteries of the UC-14 which had arrived four days earlier with engine problems. A maintenance team then had to travel from Constantinople to carry out necessary repairs to both submarines. At the time this journey was not easy being made partly by train and partly by camel.

On August 12, Heimburg sailed from Bodrum for the known steamer route between Alexandria and the Dardanelles. After leaving Heimburg's first sighting was a fully lit hospital ship seen that evening which was not attacked. On August 13 he first sighted the liner SS Soudan in service as a hospital ship. He then sighted the RMS Royal Edward sailing unescorted for Madras. He fired one torpedo from under a mile away which hit her stern. The Royal Edward sank quickly in position coord|36|13|N|25|51|E|scale:10000000 6 miles west from Kandeliusa in the Aegean Sea. The after deck was awash in three minutes and the ship had sunk with her bows in the air in six minutes. 132 members of her crew died.

The survivors were picked up by the Soudan, two French destroyers and some trawlers. Heimburg and the UB-14 did not stay on to harass the rescue effort, but headed back to Bodrum with some technical problems where she arrived on the morning of the August 15.

Later in August Heimburg and the UB-14 sinks the Australian troopship SS Southland bound for Gallipoli. Approximately thirty men were killed and the remaining troops and crew were rescued by nearby ships. A skeleton crew of volunteers managed to keep the ship afloat and beach it in Moudros harbour.

On September 4, the British submarine HMS E7 became entangled in enemy torpedo nets off Nagara Point in the Dardenelles. All attempts to free the submarine failed. However, they had caught the attention of Heimburg, currently in harbour with UB-14 which was undergoing repairs at nearby Çanakkale. He visited the spot in a small skiff, from which he lowered a small explosive charge. HMS E7 was forced to the surface and her crew scuttled it before they were taken as prisoners of war.

On November 5, Heimburg with UB-14 torpedoed and sank the British submarine HMS E20 and after taking command of UC-22 he also torpedoed and sank the French submarine Ariane on June 19, 1917. On August 11, "Heino von Heimburg" was awarded the Pour le Mérite.

World War II

Heimburg was kidnapped by the Soviets at the end of the Second World War despite being on the naval list as retired. He died in a POW camp near Stalingrad in 1945.

External links

* [http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=78006&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=wolz&start=15 axishistory.com webpage] - Forum about the most decorated soldiers of the Wehrmacht including Heino von Heimburg
* [http://www.raundswarmemorials.org/4946/11526.html?*session*id*key*=*session*id*val* raundswarmemorials.org webpage] - History of RMS Royal Edward
* [http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/henryjameswright.aspx militaryhistoryonline.com] Article mentioning sinking of SS Southland