COOPER said that this was one of the warmest compliments he had ever received. On the night of 18/19 October, Berndt escaped from the camp. The Norwegian Varild 1,085GRT was sunk east of the Shetland Islands. The officers were also taken to the prisoner-of-war camp at Grizedale Hall. Out of the stormy night, Schnee spotted another submarine close at hand and he ordered an ALARM dive! [9], In 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. . The ship sank slowly. [20], On 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British fleet destroyer Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting convoy HN12 from Norway. On 1 November 1958, he was transferred to the position of commander of the Bundesmarine's Amphibische Streitkrfte ("amphibious forces"), a position he held until 15 January 1962. While his wartime actions have been narrated several times, his tactics, summarized by the famous motto 'one torpedo, one ship', have never been systematically analysed. U-99 is preparing for her first Feindfahrt (war patrol), taking on supplies. OTTO KRETSCHMER and Sharkhunters President HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE-1983) were close friends, and when COOPER asked him why there were no photos of him with the traditional White Cap, OTTO explained he said;The white hat was not issue, it was tradition but not regulation and I am a Prussian officer. Correct optics: how the binoculars of the best underwater ace of the Reich became a symbol of relations with Britain #___historydocs Prien and Kretschmer cooperated frequently during the course of this patrol, which neither completed. Ezzel a teljestmnyvel kirdemelte a Tlgyfalombokkal s kardokkal . After the war he served in the German Federal Navy, from which he retired in 1970 with the flag rank of commodore. [69] Kretschmer surfaced and, under fire from the British vessels, scuttled his boat. [34] On 21 June, his ninth patrol, his boat was damaged by an Arado Ar 196 floatplane from Scharnhorst in the belief U-99 was a British submarine. He sank another vessel on his fifth patrol to earn the Iron Cross first class, and he notched up further kills as the war progressed. All 33 men aboard died. The British report noted of Kretschmer, "His political views were less extremely Nazi than had been assumed. His whole demeanour was calm and quiet, and he seemed anxious to be friendly; he was also less suspicious of British Officers than was his First Lieutenant. Hitler invited Kretschmer to sit in on a lunch meeting with Hitler and Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet Union's ambassador to the Third Reich. [58], Several of Kretschmer's senior officers left the boat before the final patrol. 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. As the boat went under, she was immediately picked up on the ASDIC of the Royal Navy sub hunters and they came after this new contact. Prien's demise was not disclosed. At the Indienststellung (commissioning) of U-99. [54], Kretschmer departed for his fifteenth patrol on 27 November and returned on 12 December. Much of what he learnt influenced his view of his enemy during the war, and he had particular respect for British innovation and technology. German U-boat commander Otto Kretschmer studied literature at the University of Exeter before becoming a German war hero, Kretschmer spent almost a year at the University of Exeter - known as University College of the South West of England, Seamen abandoning a blazing tanker in an oil painting by John Hamilton. Six months later, on 15 December, he officially became Flottillenadmiral. Three days later he departed for his seventh war patrol. Kretschmer sank one and damaged twowhich he and Prien dispatched the following day. 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. Prien achieved several sinkings, Kretschmer did not; the pair was chased off by destroyers. Incredibly though, this war hero, who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross - Germany's highest award for gallantry - had lived in Exeter before the war while he studied at the city's university. The sound of the depth charges nearby rattled von KNEBELand he dived the boat! OTTO peered over the top of his newspaper and said;Juli is happy. Death: November 08, 1981 (85) Millicent, South Australia, Australia. He sank four ships and damaged three. He demonstrated a cool approach to combat: his mantra one torpedo for one ship proved that the best way for his boat to succeed against a convoy was to remain surfaced as much as possible, penetrating the convoy and using the boats high speed and small silhouette to avoid retaliation. , 4,996GRT, was sunk on 22 February. The attack was conducted with no warning, and consequently all 15 crewmen died. He very nearly drowned as, in the icy water, he no longer had the strength to climb up himself, only for a British sailor to clamber down and rescue him from the ocean. Such were his expertise, he re-joined the navy in 1955. From September 1939 until his surrender in March 1941, he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. The boat went to the yard for repairs and. [63] On 7 March Kretschmer sank two ships from the convoy including the 20,638GRT Terje Viken. OTTO KRETSCHMER indeed, was a fine man! His command ended on 31 March 1969. The air crews sank eight and damaged several more. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: One Torpedo, One Ship: An appraisal of Otto Kretschmers U-boat tactics, 19391941, /doi/full/10.1080/00253359.2021.1898209?needAccess=true. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . It was not this way with, . That day, he was made chief-of-staff of the NATO command COMNAVBALTAP at Kiel, taking command on 15 June. "[73], 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. [53] In December Kretschmer tried to intercept Convoy HX 90 but encountered only stragglers. Otto Kretschmer was the most successful U-boat commander of the Second World War. [18] Kretschmer served in this function until 18 June 1964 when he was appointed chief-of-staff of the Befehlshaber der Seestreitkrfte der Nordsee (German national Commander Naval Forces North Sea). After sinking the Magog, he gave his crew brandy as a reward. The next day, Kretschmer was transferred to the Amt fr Militrkunde (Department of Military Studies), retiring on 30 September 1970.[18]. He spoke English quite well, though he lacked practice. I gratefully acknowledge the help of Marianna Colasuonno for patiently reading the manuscript and providing valuable suggestions throughout the drafting of this paper. Rsing's successor, Hermann Michahelles, was killed in a car accident and Kretschmer assumed command for two weeks. I had to surrender my ship to the British Captain and I had to be in complete uniform.. He was the fifth member of the German armed forces to be so honored. Prepared by Stephen Ames. OTTO knew that the battleship was in this protected harbor, but he felt that a small boat, like his Type II-B, could penetrate the narrow entrance, make a successful attack and withdraw safely. While on vacation in Bavaria in the summer of 1998, after an accident on a boat on the Danube, while celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary, he stumbled and was unconscious, he died two days later, old age 86, on 05-08-1998. [2] His father was a teacher at the local Volkschule (primary school), which Otto attended from 1918 to 1921. Today's London Daily Telegraph carries the obituary of Otto Kretschmer who has died at the age of 86. [9] Kretschmer joined the U-boat service in January 1936. [26] Kretschmer's next success came in the Inganess Bay, Kirkwall, where he attacked and sank the Danish 10,517GRT tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940[27] while she lay at anchor. It noted that the destroyers "did not know how to help" and busied themselves firing star shells on a moonlit night. He had a great sense of humor during one Patrol in Germany, our bus stopped at our little gasthaus and COOPER went inside to check on the rooms. The OKM was established as the supreme command of the navy responsible for all facets of naval warfare. U-99 attacked the armed merchant cruisers HMS Laurentic and HMS Patroclus. Yes, OTTO was a great guy. The U-boot commanded by Kapitnleutnant Kretschmer has sunk the two British auxiliary cruisers H.M.S. Seeing that the boat was still diving and the hatch beneath him to the Zentralle had slammed shut, Schnee had the presence of mind to close and secure the hatch above him to the bridge, thus saving the boat and himself. On 4 October 1939 he sank the coastal ship Glen Farg (876GRT). 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). I am grateful to the late Horst Bredow and Peter Monte at the Deutsches U-Boot-Museum for providing access to the unpublished records of U23 and U99. 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. He was eventually promoted to the rank of flotilla admiral, before becoming chief-of-staff of the NATO command. A prize crew boarded to sail it to Bordeaux. Kretschmer was transferred to the training ship Niobe (1 July 1930 9 October 1930), attaining the rank of Seekadett (cadet) on 9 October 1930 before embarking on a 14-month stay on board the cruiser Emden (10 October 1930 4 January 1932), which took him to the Far East through the Mediterranean and Suez canal. I am sunking. Yep Sunking is the word he used. Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. Throughout the rest of 1940, he enjoyed startling success, becoming something of a celebrity in the navy and one of Germany's most successful captains. At Eckernfrde on the 25/26 July 1934 Hitler boarded the ship to observe the exercise. 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. He was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Cumbria, before being sent to Canada. From September 1939 to March 1941, Germany's Otto Kretschmer terrorised Allied shipping on the high seas. His particularly brazen and risky innovation was to execute these night surface attacks inside the convoy. [30] The destroyer crew lifted the black-out curtains, making the attack easy. Kretschmer was taken to London for interrogation. Dave Powell. Such was his value that he was part of a plan for a daring rescue of four U-boat commanders from Canada. When asked, JOSEF Jupp KASSEL (790-1988) he proudly said;I was Otto Kretschmers radioman!. However, he was haunted by the image of a lone survivor in a life raft who would surely die if not rescued. [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. [21] The next day, he sank Tiberton, 5,225GRT, in the Moray Firth. The first watch is at attention on the foredeck and the second watch is at attention on the after deck. Why? Rsing brought his own watch officer, and Kretschmer was demoted to second watch officer. Only five sailors survived. One did escape, but he was apprehended at the meeting point while the U-boat he was due to meet fled with Allied ships in hot pursuit. Flotilla Admiral Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 - 5 August 1998) was a German U-boat commander in the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. With no time to return to the hatch, Kretschmer clung on to the periscope and waved at it frantically, hoping to be spotted. Petersen had served as Kretschmer's helmsman on every war patrol on both U-23 and U-99. Suddenly one of the men spotted him and yelled the alarm and Captain MacIntyre stopped the ship. [75] In March 1942, the prisoners were transported to Bowmanville Camp near Lake Ontario in Canada. On 3 August 1998, they were on a luxury cruise boat on the Donau (Danube) River celebrating their 50th (Golden) wedding anniversary. He captured the number one German U-boat ace Otto Kretschmer (whose Zeiss binoculars he took and used for the rest of the war); in the same battle, he directed the attack that killed the second-scoring ace Joachim Schepke. On 26 September 1935, he was transferred to the 1st department of the standing ship division of the North Sea in Wilhelmshaven where he served as a company officer until 25 January 1936. 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