Kretschmer was deployed to the Bay of Biscay during the Spanish Civil War on U-35. [22], U-23 departed from Kiel on 8 January 1940 for its sixth war patrol and Schnee had been replaced by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen. On February 22, 1941, Kretschmer set off on his final patrol. Here, however, we focus on OTTO KRETSCHMER, the man. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, among other awards. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, among other awards. Kretschmer was guided onto convoy OB-191. In later years, Kretschmer was often interviewed for television and radio programmes - including an appearing in the landmark British 1974 documentary series The World at War. The renaming of the navy was a symbolic gesture, to erase the unpleasant memories of the 1920s and symbolise a new era. Kretschmer docked in Lorient on 21 July. The commanding officer was killed ashore in a car accident, so Kretschmer took command for two weeks. 176 men died. Otto Kretschmer was only in combat from September 1939 until March 1941 but was Germany's highest-scoring U-boat commander, sinking 47 ships totaling 274,333 tons. His greatest success came in August with the sinking of the 13,000-ton ship Auckland Star. The boat was ordered to patrol the Bay of Biscay off the Spanish-French border. The Greatest Submarine Commander of all time was Lothar von Arnaud de la Perrier who sank nearly 200 ships in World War One. He met Adolf Hitler on more than once occasion, even having lunch with the Fhrer. Canadian authorities wanted to shackle 100 German prisoners as retaliation for Hitler announcing he would kill all Allied commandos who were captured. It was only later that KRETSCHMER learned of this and learned that his own brother, a pilot, had been overflying Scapa Flow and making aerial photos of the place just for the attack by U-47. HMS WALKER had drifted several hundred yards from the spot U-99 had disappeared and, still wearing his full set of leathers AND sea boots (filled with water), OTTO made the difficult swim to HMS WALKER only to grab onto the scramble nets as the destroyer was beginning to pick up speed they didnt know he was on the nets! Hitler invited Kretschmer to sit in on a lunch meeting with Hitler and Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet Union's ambassador to the Third Reich. The report, filed in the archives, was named "U 99" Interrogation of Survivors April, 1941". For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, among other awards. OTTO peered over the top of his newspaper and said;Juli is happy. It noted that the destroyers "did not know how to help" and busied themselves firing star shells on a moonlit night. Petersen had served as Kretschmer's helmsman on every war patrol on both U-23 and U-99. Kretschmer waited for the crew to take to the lifeboats before destroying the ship with a torpedo. Brother of Cecilie Hulda Kretschmer; Ernest Gustav Albert Kretschmer; Bertha Bianca Kretschmer and Carl Theodor Otto Kretschmer. He joined the German navy - the Reichsmarine - on April 1, 1930, as an officer candidate. Such were his expertise, he re-joined the navy in 1955. An illegal "Court of Honour" was convened and headed by Kretschmer. As the passengers got into the lifeboats, OTTO noticed a great number of women and children. Ezzel a teljestmnyvel kirdemelte a Tlgyfalombokkal s kardokkal . He clung to the periscope in the hope of being seen through the optics. [28] Kretschmer returned to Wilhelmshaven on 15 January. He continued to serve as Watch Officer of U-35 until 30 September 1937. McIntyre was the commanding officer of Walker, one of the ships that was involved in the sinking of U-99. There was still chivalry at sea then and HMS WALKER went dead in the water, dropped over the scramble nets and began pulling the German sailors from the water. He was the fifth member of the German armed forces to be so honored. This was not OTTO KRETSCHMER! Otto Kretschmer was the most successful U-boat commander of the Second World War. - 1998. augusztus 5.) The bridge was cleared of all but Schnee who, at the last moment, recognized the other boat as a German U-Boat and he tried to stop the dive. He participated in the 2nd officers training course held at the former NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen. [39], Among the victims was the Estonian ship, Merisaar, 2,126GRT. Comes with leather case. A fall caused fatal injuries. The vast majority of Kretschmer's attacks - at least 83 - were launched on the surface. All 33 men aboard died. [24] Following this patrol, he received the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse) on 17 December. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . Prien's reports were picked up by the Luftwaffe which sent Focke-Wulf Fw 200s from I. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 40 (KG4040th Bomber Wing) to attack the convoy. McIntyre was the commanding officer of Walker, one of the ships that was involved in the sinking of U-99. He fired a single torpedo that missed before he lost the ship in thick mist. His time in England shaped his view of them during the war; he was quick to believe in rumours of new British inventions during the war at sea. That boat is seen to the left on a barge going down the Donau River for Costanza, Rumania on the Black Sea coast to operate against Soviet forces under other Skippers including RUDOLF ARENDT (7563-2011). In 1943, the men dug a tunnel out of the camp ahead of an 870-mile journey across Canada to New Brunswick. Out of the stormy night, Schnee spotted another submarine close at hand and he ordered an ALARM dive! At the time, Kretschmer . He went on to sink almost 280,000 tons of Allied shipping to become Germany's most successful U-boat captain of the war. The building was located at number 8 Kensington Palace Gardens. The Norwegian Varild 1,085GRT was sunk east of the Shetland Islands. Chivalry was still at work at this time and former enemies who had been killing each other the previous day could play cards together. [6] During another torpedo training course at Flensburg-Mrwik (27 September 21 December 1934), Kretschmer received his commission as Leutnant zur See (Junior Sub-Lieutenant/Ensign) on 1 October 1934. This was not the case with U-99. Kretschmer attempted to sink the ship with gunfire, but return fire and the appearance of an aircraft forced him to submerge. Later in the war, his ship was torpedoed; before that he nursed a bent-nosed destroyer back to port after ramming a U-boat. From September 1939 until his surrender in March 1941, he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. [29] U-23 returned to port on 29 January. [65] British reports of the action mention a large red glow appearing deep below the surface amid the depth charge explosions. [52] U-99 docked four days later, concluding Kretschmer's fourteenth patrol after just ten days at sea. Kretschmer's thoughts on Hitler and the subsequent conference are not known. Dave Powell. She was launched on 12 March 1940 under the command of Korvettenkapitn Otto Kretschmer and was assigned to the 7th U-boat Flotilla based in Kiel and later in St Nazaire . The ship was accompanied by three other vessels, but she was darkened and the black out aroused Kretschmer's suspicions. A young RN ensign was removing the binoculars from around KRETSCHMERs neck when MacIntyre yelled down that those were now his binoculars as a prize of war, so the young ensign brought them to the bridge. Kretschmer stated that he was unmarried. Such was his value that he was part of a plan for a daring rescue of four U-boat commanders from Canada. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Of his personality and view of the war, it stated: "He gave the impression of being a quiet, deliberate man, and looked more like a student than a U-Boat Captain. Our DVD-56 features OTTO KRETSCHMER and you may get a glimpse of that DVD click here: SCENE 1 SCENE 2 SCENE 3, OTTO KRETSCHMER was with us for several of our Patrols in Germany and also in the USA. [34] His greatest success was the sinking of Auckland Star, a 13,212GRT ship on 28 July followed by another two totalling 12,811GRT on 29 and 31 July. They fought Canadian troops armed with ice hockey sticks, and only surrendered when the guards brought in high-pressure water hoses. This definitive work details his personal story and the political backdrop from his earliest days. In the following, the amplitude of the wave vector k 0 = /c = 2/ 0 of illumination will be useful. [80], On 1 December 1955, Kretschmer joined West Germany's navy, at the time named the Bundesmarine (Federal Navy), holding the rank of Fregattenkapitn (Commander). 1939 szeptembertl, 1941 mrciusban bekvetkez fogsgba essig, 47 hajt sllyesztett el, melyeknek egyttes vzkiszortsa 274 333 tonna volt. 702. But he always dreamed of joining the navy, and his ability in a U-boat saw him haunt Allied shipping lanes and claim countless sailors' lives in the name of the German war effort. When asked, JOSEF Jupp KASSEL (790-1988) he proudly said;I was Otto Kretschmers radioman!. He assumed most of the crew went down with the ship; but there were 159 survivors. [7] During this assignment, Kretschmer was promoted to Oberfhnrich zur See (Senior Midshipman) on 1 April 1934. Kretschmer (right) on U-99 after docking at Lorient on 21 July 1940 Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau ber Niesse in Prussian Silesia (now Hajduki Nyskie, Poland), and was the son of a schoolmaster. On the night of 18/19 October, Berndt escaped from the camp. [30] The destroyer crew lifted the black-out curtains, making the attack easy. [53] Upon reaching port, he was summoned to Berlin to meet Erich Raeder. Husband of Elsie Gertrude Kretschmer. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. A Short Sunderland appeared briefly, and Kretschmer was forced to accomplish the destruction of the ship with torpedoes, submerged. Click on the prints to see their descriptions. [15] Through the remaining Interwar period, Kretschmer developed his own approach to combat, which can be summarized by the phrase "one torpedo, one ship". Only five of the 161-strong crew survived. OTTO and his L.I. [59], On 22 February 1941 U-99 left Lorient for the final time. Her eyes misted up and a smile came to her lips, and then she said; A canal ran along behind the Kretschmer house and here we see Mrs. Kretschmer feeding the ducks with their little Schnauzer Juli. Con su legendario submarino Tipo VII, el U-99, se apunt desde Septiembre de 1.939 hasta Marzo de 1.941, 47 barcos hundidos con un total de 274.333 toneladas. We do not come into port looking like pirates with dirty uniforms, untrimmed beards and with legs hanging over the side. Kretschmer was soon missed and the U-boat surfaced to find him before he succumbed to the cold. [47] The following month, Kretschmer formed part of the pack that attacked and devastated Convoy SC 7. Many thanks to Valeria Basso, Alessio Basso and Francesco Signorino for helping in the retrieval of a few rare archival sources, and for stimulating discussions. [21] He returned to Kiel, rather than Wilhelmshaven, on 16 October. This was the first ever in the history of warfare that a submarine was detected on sound gear, tracked by sound gear, attacked by sound gear and destroyed all by the use of the sound gear. In 1955, MacIntyre returned the Zeiss binoculars to Kretschmer. [9], On 27 August 1941, U-570 was captured by the Royal Navy. [34], 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. [13], He was given interim command of U-35 in August 1937, and this appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War. [50] 51 men died aboard Laurentic, 367 survived. By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. His nickname Silent Otto referred to his ability to remain undetected and his reluctance to provide the regular radio reports required by Dnitz: he had guessed that the Allies had broken German codes. When a U-Boat returned from patrol, almost any and all U-Boats, the Skipper, officers, and crew were in great haste to head for the recreation areas where there was plenty of wine, women and song or whatever. When war broke out, Kretschmer was on U-23, a short-range submarine which could not operate as far as the Atlantic, so had to stay in the North Sea. Correct optics: how the binoculars of the best underwater ace of the Reich became a symbol of relations with Britain #___historydocs Sharkhunters President HARRY COOPER knew OTTO KRETSCHMER better than any other researcher and the two men were good friends. [23] Kretschmer targeted the Danish Scotia, a 2,400GRT on 7 December. However, he was haunted by the image of a lone survivor in a life raft who would surely die if not rescued. They were both sunk within seven hours, during which the U-boat fired ten torpedoes and four rounds from the deck gun, while the vessels returned fire without damaging the U-boat. There were no deaths among the crew. [79], In 1943, the German navy tried to rescue him in Operation Kiebitz but that daring plan (later dramatized in the novel The Bowmanville Break and the film, The McKenzie Break) failed. The ship was loaded with coal, set for Buenos Aires, Argentina. [61] As with the group that eventually sank Kretschmer ten days later, they were experienced and competent. In fact, out of 116 torpedoes fired in action, Kretschmer scored 74 hits (equivalent to a 69.8% success rate). Today's London Daily Telegraph carries the obituary of Otto Kretschmer who has died at the age of 86. After completing his officer training and time on the training ship Niobe he served . [6] Kretschmer was present for gunnery exercises in the North and Baltic Sea. 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