Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

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Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-3483-05, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock.jpg
Erich Topp (left) and Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock after a war patrol
Nickname(s) Recke
Born (1911-12-11)11 December 1911
Bremen
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Bremen
Allegiance  Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch  Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Years of service 1931–45
Rank Fregattenkapitän
Unit SSS Horst Wessel
cruiser Karlsruhe
7th U-boat Flotilla
9th U-boat Flotilla
11th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held U-8
(14 October 1939–30 November 1939)
U-5
(5 December 1939–11 August 1940)
U-96
(14 September 1940–1 April 1942)
9th U-boat Flotilla
(1 April 1942–2 September 1944)
U-256
(2 September 1944–18 October 1944)
11th U-boat Flotilla
(December 1944–May 1945)
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Iron Cross 1st Class
U-boat War Badge
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Other work Captain in the merchant fleet

Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (11 December 1911 – 18 April 1986) was a German naval officer and submarine commander during World War II. He was sixth among the top ten Aces of the Deep during the Second Battle of the Atlantic against the Allies, in terms of tonnage of merchant ships sunk. He commanded four U-boats, and his most notable and successful tour was commanding the U-96 a Type VIIC U-boat, which gained widespread recognition when one of its patrols was documented and publicized by an accompanying war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) for his achievements as a U-boat commander. The story of the U-96 was eventually made into a mini-series and film called Das Boot, in which he was portrayed by Jürgen Prochnow.

Biography

Lehmann-Willenbrock was born on 11 December 1911 in Bremen, German Empire. He joined the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic in April 1931 as a member "Crew 1931" (the incoming class of 1931), with the rank of Seekadett, serving on a light cruiser and a sailing school ship before he transferred to the U-Boatwaffe in April 1939, five months before World War II began. Upon serving as an executive officer on U-8, he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and took command of U-5 in December 1939. Both U-8 and U-5 were Type II submarines. His first patrol, which lasted 15 days, was along the coast of Norway during Operation Hartmut, the U-boat operation in support of the invasion of Norway. No ships were sunk.

Upon the return of U-5, Lehmann-Willenbrock was transferred to the newly commissioned U-96, a Type VIIC U-boat whose crew underwent three months of training before being put onto active duty. During three patrols under Willenbrock's command, U-96 sank 125,580 tons of enemy shipping. The third patrol alone resulted in seven ships sunk, for 49,490 tons. In 1941 Willenbrock's sinkings with U-96 included three British troop ships: Oropesa (16 January), Almeda Star (17 January) and Anselm (15 July); each with considerable loss of life. The seventh patrol was the approximate time that Lothar-Günther Buchheim boarded U-96 and documented the boat's successes in his book Das Boot. Willenbrock earned all of his medals during his patrols with U-96.

File:Rogge-Lehmann-Willenbrock-Suhren.jpg
Bernhard Rogge, Lehmann-Willenbrock and Reinhard Suhren receive the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross from Adolf Hitler on 10 January 1942. Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, Hitler's naval adjutant is standing to left.

Lehmann-Willenbrock left U-96 in March 1942 to be promoted to Korvettenkapitän and appointed Flottillenchef of the 9th U-boat Flotilla, stationed in Brest. On September 2, 1944 he assumed command of U-256 and escaped the besieged Brest just a few days before the town's surrender. He reached Bergen, Norway on October 23. In Bergen he was appointed Flottillenchef of the 11th U-boat Flotilla in December, and held the position until the German surrender in Norway on 9 May 1945.

After a year in captivity, Lehmann-Willenbrock returned to Germany in May 1946, salvaging ships in the River Rhine. In 1948, he left Germany aboard his ship, Magellan, with three of his friends to Buenos Aires. Here he was skipper on several trade ships. In March 1959 he showed great courage as skipper of the freighter Inga Bastian when he and his crew saved 57 survivors from the burning Brazilian ship Commandante Lyra. After returning to Germany, he served as captain on several merchantmen, and was appointed captain of the German freighter Otto Hahn, the first of only four merchant cargo nuclear ships. Buchheim's book Der Abschied ("The Goodbye") describes one of its voyages, which Buchheim joined as a passenger.

He was decorated in 1974 with the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (Federal Merit Cross on Ribbon). In 1982, Lehmann-Willenbrock accompanied Wolfgang Petersen and the Das Boot cast and crew as an advisor to the film. Afterwards, he returned to his home at Bremen, where he remained until his death.

Summary of career

During his patrols with U-96, Lehmann-Willenbrock was awarded with the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the Iron Cross 1st Class, the U-Boat War Badge, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves for his achievements. He sank 24 ships for 170,237 gross register tons (GRT), damaged two ships for 15,864 GRT and damaged one ship as a total loss for 8,888 GRT.

Date Ship Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)
Convoy Fate[1] Location Deaths
11 December 1940 Rotorua  United Kingdom 10,890 HX-92 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
22
11 December 1940 Towa  Netherlands 5,419 HX-92 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
18
12 December 1940 Macedonier  Belgium 5,227 HX-92 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
4
12 December 1940 Stureholm  Sweden 4,575 HX-92 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
32
14 December 1940 Empire Razorbill  United Kingdom 5,118 OB-257 Damaged Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
0
14 December 1940 Western Prince  United Kingdom 10,926 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
14
18 December 1940 Pendrecht  Netherlands 10,746 OB-259 Damaged Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
0
16 January 1941 Oropesa  United Kingdom 14,118 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
106
17 January 1941 Almeda Star  United Kingdom 14,936 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
360
13 February 1941 Arthur F. Corwin  United Kingdom 10,516 HX-106 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
46
13 February 1941 Clea  United Kingdom 7,987 HX-106 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
59
18 February 1941 Black Osprey  United Kingdom 5,589 HX-107 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
25
22 February 1941 Scottish Standard  United Kingdom 6,999 OB-287 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
5
23 February 1941 Anglo-Peruvian  United Kingdom 5,457 OB-288 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
29
24 February 1941 Linaria  United Kingdom 3,385 OB-288 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
34
24 February 1941 Sirikishna  United Kingdom 5,458 OB-288 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
43
28 April 1941 Caledonia  Norway 9,892 HX-121 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
12
28 April 1941 Oilfield  United Kingdom 8,516 HX-121 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
47
28 April 1941 Port Hardy  United Kingdom 8,897 HX-121 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
1
19 May 1941 Empire Ridge  United Kingdom 2,922 HG-61 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
31
5 July 1941 Anselm  United Kingdom 5,954 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
254
31 October 1941 Bennekom  Netherlands 5,998 OS-10 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
8
19 February 1942 Empire Seal  United Kingdom 7,965 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
1
20 February 1942 Lake Osweya  United States 2,398 Scuttled Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
39
22 February 1942 Kars  United Kingdom 8,888 HX-175 Total Loss Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
50
22 February 1942 Torungen  Norway 1,948 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
19
9 March 1942 Tyr  Norway 4,265 Sunk Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
13

Awards

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording Direct English translation
Saturday, 14 December 1940 Ein Unterseeboot unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock hat auf seiner Fahrt gegen den Feind insgesamt 40 900 BRT versenkt. Ein Teilergebnis seiner Unternehmung war schon vorher bekanntgegeben.[8] A submarine under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock sunk on its patrol against the enemy a total of 40,900 GRT. A partial result of its undertaking was announced earlier.
Tuesday, 25 February 1941 An dem großen Erfolg der Unterseebootswaffe ist das Boot des Kapitänleutnants Lehmann-Willenbrock mit 55 600 BRT hervorragend beteiligt. Kapitänleutnants Lehmann-Willenbrock hat damit in kurzer Zeit 125 580 BRT feindlichen Handelsschiffsraums vernichtet.[9] The boat Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock has prominently contributed 55,600 GRT to the success of the submarine arm. Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock thus has destroyed 125,580 GRT of enemy merchant ship in the shortest period of time.
Monday, 20 May 1941 Ein Unterseeboot unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock versenkte aus Geleitzügen britische Tankschiffe mit insgesamt 33 000 BRT.[10] A submarine under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock sunk from convoys British tankers totalling 33,000 GRT.

References

Citations

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Busch & Röll 2003, p. 110.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Thomas 1998, p. 18.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Scherzer 2007, p. 499.
  5. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 287.
  6. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 56.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Busch & Röll 2003, p. 111.
  8. Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, p. 381.
  9. Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, p. 431.
  10. Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, p. 534.

Bibliography

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External links

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Military offices
Preceded by
Kapitänleutnant Jürgen Oesten
Commander of the 9th U-boat Flotilla
May 1942 – September 1944
Succeeded by
disbanded
Preceded by
Fregattenkapitän Hans Cohausz
Commander of the 11th U-boat Flotilla
December 1944 – May 1945
Succeeded by
disbanded