[42], Four days later Kretschmer began his eleventh patrol which concluded on 5 August. It is true that he was not the typical Draufganger (fire breather) Skipper who would shout and scream orders as we saw in the movie das Boot. On 1 June 1965, he was promoted to Flottillenadmiral (flotilla admiral/Commodore/Rear Admiral), a rank which he initially held on probation. . Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. OTTO and his L.I. 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. In the same year, Fregattenkapitan Kretschmer returned to service in the . "[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. [50] 51 men died aboard Laurentic, 367 survived. [28] Kretschmer returned to Wilhelmshaven on 15 January. 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. When giving their wartime histories, the normal U-Bootfahrer would tell what boat he rode. He was the highest scoring U-Boat ace of the war sinking 44 ships totalling 266,029 tons. The Emden made stops in Ceylon, the Philippines, China and Japan; then Guam, South Africa, Angola and Spain on the return journey. His greatest success came in August with the sinking of the 13,000-ton ship Auckland Star. Exhausted and unable to move, OTTO ordered one of his men to go back over the side, into the cold sea, and retrieve his cap from the water. Later, a mated pair of swans came by with their offspring, about six cygnets, and they were looking for food as well. [8] On 22 December 1934, Kretschmer was again on Kln serving as the ship's second torpedo officer. The next day, Kretschmer was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse). [18], From 1 March to 31 October 1958, Kretschmer served as Admiralstabsoffizier (Astoofficer of the admiralty staff) with the Fleet Command. BACK TO ADVISORS PAGE. Prien achieved several sinkings, Kretschmer did not; the pair was chased off by destroyers. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. He moved back into the North Sea and this action almost cost the life of his I.W.O., Adalbert Schnee, who later commanded U-201. On seeing the craters of a stick of bombs near Buckingham Palace he was genuinely shocked that an attempt had so obviously been made by his countrymen to bomb the Palace. Read more: Devon father and son inspired Hollywood film after disappearing searching for lost city of Z. "[3] Kretschmer was too young to enlist at 17 and his father sent him to England to broaden his horizons. I obey the rules. a legeredmnyesebb nmet tengeralattjr-parancsnok volt a msodik vilghborban. [77] Kretschmer was senior officer at the camp. Paterson: Kretschmer was the most successful U-boat captain of the Second World War, and the term 'scoring' relates to the total tonnage of shipping that he sank while commander of both U23 and U99. Por todo ello y entre otras, recibi 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. Kretschmer was subsequently awarded the Iron Cross second class. I am sunking. Yep Sunking is the word he used. From September 1939 to March 1941, Germany's Otto Kretschmer terrorised Allied shipping on the high seas. [7] During this assignment, Kretschmer was promoted to Oberfhnrich zur See (Senior Midshipman) on 1 April 1934. Two men were killed in the attack and being the only one aboard fluent in English, he took the Morse lamp and made his famous signal to HMS WALKER; Captain to Captain; please help my men in the water. Pyers Symon. His school report contained the remark: "Kretschmer demonstrated his extraordinary courage in many instances. [53] Upon reaching port, he was summoned to Berlin to meet Erich Raeder. 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. . Haunted by him, Kretschmer ordered the boat to backtrack until the survivor was found. [47] The following month, Kretschmer formed part of the pack that attacked and devastated Convoy SC 7. Kretschmer was taken separately, but his crew had to negotiate the streets of Liverpool and were subjected to missiles thrown by angry civilians; the city had been heavily bombed and was closely linked with the Atlantic war. He was the fifth member of the German armed forces to be so honored. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea. Geleitgeschwader (1st Escort Squadron) which he commanded from 3 January to 15 October 1957. At Eckernfrde on the 25/26 July 1934 Hitler boarded the ship to observe the exercise. After the completion of his submariner training he was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See (senior-sub lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade)[12] on 1 June 1936. 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. [66], On 16 March 1941 Kretschmer attacked Convoy HX 112. Footnote: Otto Kretschmer (May 1, 1912 - August 5, 1998) was the most successful German U-boat commander in the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. [65] British reports of the action mention a large red glow appearing deep below the surface amid the depth charge explosions. In December 1934, he was transferred to the light cruiser Kln, then in January 1936 made the move to the fledgling U-boat service. He commissioned U-99 on 18 April 1940 which was part of the 7th U-boat Flotilla. [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. Later in the war, his ship was torpedoed; before that he nursed a bent-nosed destroyer back to port after ramming a U-boat. [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. Rahmlow and his second-in-command, Bernhard Berndt, were found "guilty of cowardice"; the other two officers were "acquitted". [38] Acts of compassion in submarine warfare were "selective and fickle", one historian wrote when describing Kretschmer's rescue of a lone man in a raft. Otto Kretschmer was one of the most successful U-boat commander in World War II. 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 next day, Kretschmer was transferred to the Amt fr Militrkunde (Department of Military Studies), retiring on 30 September 1970.[18]. [41] A notable failure on the patrol occurred in the interception of HMS Manistee. [43] Following his third war patrol with U-99, Kretschmer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 4 August. He survived the sinking of his submarine but he was not clear yet. [10] According to one historian, Kretschmer was a patriot and loyal to the government, but later "eschewed Nazi efforts to glorify his success through propaganda. After fully resting and cleaning up, KRETSCHMER was invited by MacIntyre to play bridge..with officers of some of the merchant ships that OTTO had just sunk! My family is complete.. Upon the death of Kptlt. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto", both for his successful use of the "silent running" capability of U-boats and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. Although he fought doggedly for Nazi Germany during the war, his affection for Exeter remained with him until his death. Kretschmer stated that he was unmarried.". The Greatest Submarine Commander of all time was Lothar von Arnaud de la Perrier who sank nearly 200 ships in World War One. 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, song or whatever. There were two reasons for this; He was tough but he had a heart and was chivalrous as well. The boat was ordered to patrol the Bay of Biscay off the Spanish-French border. As the passengers got into the lifeboats, OTTO noticed a great number of women and children. Kretschmer was presented with an opportunity to put his "one torpedo, one ship" mantra into practice. We will cover his accomplishments on another page. Rsing's successor, Hermann Michahelles, was killed in a car accident and Kretschmer assumed command for two weeks. Dave Powell. On 4 October 1939 he sank the coastal ship Glen Farg (876GRT). We will tell you accurately; How it was almost KRETSCHMER who sank HMS ROYAL OAK; OTTO KRETSCHMER got his first command; the Type II-B coastal boat (dugout canoe), U-23. Despite being captured, the German nay continued to promote him, and even awarded him he Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords - only the fifth member of the German armed forces to receive the accolade. Otto had 4 siblings: Cecilie Hulda and 3 other siblings. At the time, Kretschmer was president of the Deutscher Marinebund, a member club of the International Maritime Confederation. OTTO KRETSCHMER indeed, was a fine man! 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. The crew felt that this would bring them good luck so they cleaned the horseshoe, painted it gold and screwed it to the fairweather as we see in the photo to the right. She had been married before, to a doctor who was killed in action with the Afrika Korps. 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. He admitted that he had become weary of the war some time ago, and latterly had got no satisfaction from sinking ship after ship. The ships were protected by an escort group of two destroyers, Wolverine and Verity, and two corvettes, Arbutus and Camellia. Shortly after he surrendered, OTTO KRETSCHMER fell asleep in an overstuffed chair in the Captains cabin on HMS WALKER. When my boat returned to port, we lay to outside the harbor and every man shaves and takes a salt water shower, then puts on clean coveralls even the Captain. Joachim Schepke arrived in U-100 and sank seven. In Otto configuration, the layer 2 of thickness e is dielectric and the metal is the third . [23] Kretschmer targeted the Danish Scotia, a 2,400GRT on 7 December. 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. ; otherwise, remain on the surface, This page was last edited on 6 December 2022, at 20:17. 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. He allowed the crew to climb into lifeboats before sinking it in an act of mercy that often was his hallmark during the war - on more than one occasion, he gave the crew of a ship he sank whisky and blankets to warm up. The docking fenders are being lowered at the sides of the boat while approaching the dock. [29] U-23 returned to port on 29 January. A fall caused fatal injuries. [9] Kretschmer's first operational experience on a submarine was as a lieutenant on the U-35 in 1937 as first watch officer under the command of Klaus Ewerth and then Hans-Rudolf Rsing. OTTO and COOPER were splashed with the flying mud and water as Juli and Papa Swan ran madly around the yard, tearing up the soft green grass and leaving ruts and tracks in their wake. He joined the German navy - the Reichsmarine - on April 1, 1930, as an officer candidate. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. 19 men were killed in the sinking; only two were saved. Its commander, Hugo Frster, was repatriated to Germany and committed suicide before the end of the war. Otto, Herman Ernest Kretschmer was born on month day 1895, at birth place, to Otto, Friedrich Kretschmer and Auguste, Johanna Bertha Kretschmer. [20] Another neutral Scandinavian ship was sunk. 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. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes . As U-99 returns from an early Feindfahrt, we see that the crew is neatly arranged (photo left) on the deck and there is no White Cap on the Skipper. The first watch is at attention on the foredeck and the second watch is at attention on the after deck. In fact, out of 116 torpedoes fired in action, Kretschmer scored 74 hits (equivalent to a 69.8% success rate). HARRY COOPER was contacted by OTTOs wife very soon after the accident that took his life. Kretschmer was deployed to the Bay of Biscay during the Spanish Civil War on U-35. [6] Kretschmer was present for gunnery exercises in the North and Baltic Sea. On 28 August 1963, he was transferred to the NATO Defense College in Paris. This stay was interrupted for an aerial defense training course at Warnemnde (510 March 1934). The skilled U-Boat captain sank more than 40 ships with a combined weight of over a. Studies in Marine Corps History and Amphibious Warfare, Studies in Naval History and Sea Power series. On 3 August 1998, they were on a luxury cruise boat on the Donau (Danube) River celebrating their 50th (Golden) wedding anniversary. Schnee had the con and OTTO was in his bunk. They provided clothes and alcohol, then transferred him to a lifeboat at the first opportunity. [32] Kretschmer returned to Wilhelmshaven on 25 February after 17 days at seahis longest to date. From September 1939 to March 1941, Germany's Otto Kretschmer terrorised Allied shipping on the high seas. Nazi Admiral Otto Kretschmer was responsible for the sinking of 47 vessels in the space of just 18 months His short but prolific spell on German U-boats accounted for the sinking of 273,043 tons. Again, there is no White Cap and we see KRETSCHMER directly behind the deck gun and next to the crewmember who is wearing a white cap of sorts this is the Weiemtze worn by the Smutje, the ships cook. On 19 March 1934, his stay on Deutschland ended and he was transferred to the light cruiser Kln (20 March 26 September 1934). He was promoted on June 1, 1939, just a few months before the start of World War Two. Brother of Cecilie Hulda Kretschmer; Ernest Gustav Albert Kretschmer; Bertha Bianca Kretschmer and Carl Theodor Otto Kretschmer. [31] 157 of the Daring crew were killed, including Commander Sydney Cooper. [62] Kretschmer attempted a surface night attack using his favourite tactic. I had to surrender my ship to the British Captain and I had to be in complete uniform.. Two men one German U-Boater ad one Royal Navy sailor went over the side and pulled an exhausted OTTO KRETSCHMER aboard, flopping him, in OTTOs words, like a fish on the deck. In a rush of roiling water that must have looked like a surfacing submarine, Papa Swan came roaring out of the water heading right at Juli who decided that it was time to leave but with about six feet of wingspan flailing about and huge clawed feet ripping chunks of OTTOs grass up, Papa Swan was hot after Juli all the while making a tremendous hissing sound. [35] U-99's first patrol ended in Wilhelmshaven on 25 June. [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. 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. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. His brother was later killed in action. 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