Otto Ites
Otto Ites | |
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Otto Ites
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Born | Norden |
5 February 1918
Died | 2 February 1982 Norden |
(aged 63)
Allegiance |
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Service/branch | |
Years of service | 1936–45 1956–77 |
Rank |
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Unit |
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Commands held | |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Other work | Dentist |
Otto Christian Ites (5 February 1918 – 2 February 1982) was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later a Konteradmiral with the Bundesmarine. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Contents
Career
Otto Ites, born on 5 February 1918 in Norden in the Province of Hanover a Free State of Prussia, joined the military service of the Kriegsmarine on 3 April 1936.
Ites served as second watch officer on nine war patrols on U-48, the first five patrols under the command of Herbert Schultze, two patrols under Hans-Rudolf Rösing and two patrols under Heinrich Bleichrodt. Promoted to Oberleutnant zur See on 1 October 1940 and he was made first watch officer on U-48. In this position he went on one more patrol (10 November 1940 – 13 March 1941), U-48 now again under the command of Herbert Schultze. He commanded U-146 and U-94, sinking fifteen ships on seven patrols, for a total of 76,882 gross register tons (GRT) tons of Allied shipping. In September 1941 the Pegasus was torpedoed and all the crew managed to scramble into 2 lifeboats. One of the lifeboats was rescued but the other was found empty and upside down. The Captain reported that the Pegasus was torpedoed twice, the first one caused quite a lot of damage and the crew left the ship, but then she was torpedoed again and she sank. On 28 August 1942 U-94 was sunk by depth charges in the Caribbean Sea, in position Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. from a Catalina of VP-92 and by the Canadian corvette Oakville. Ites and 25 of her crew were taken prisoner of war. Ites remained in US captivity at Camp Crossville, Tennessee, until 1 May 1946.
After the war Otto Ites matriculated at the University of Bonn in the winter semester 1946/47. He submitted his dissertation on 20 October 1950 at the medical faculty. Dr. Ites joined the military service of the Bundesmarine and as Fregattenkapitän commanded the destroyer Zerstörer 2 (D171), formerly USS Ringgold (DD-500), from November 1960 until September 1962. His twin brother, Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Ites, commander of U-709, was killed in action on 1 March 1944. U-709 was sunk by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS Thomas, Bostwick and Bronstein north of the Azores at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found..
Summary of career
Ships Attacked
As a U-boat commander of U-146 and U-94 Otto Ites is credited with the sinking of 15 merchant ships for a total of 76,882 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging one further ship of 8,022 GRT.
Date | Name of ship | Flag | Tonnage | Fate |
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28 June 1941 | Pluto | ![]() |
3,496 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
15 September 1941 | Newbury | ![]() |
5,102 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
15 September 1941 | Pegasus | ![]() |
5,762 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
15 September 1941 | Empire Eland | ![]() |
5,613 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
1 October 1941 | San Florentino | ![]() |
12,842 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
24 February 1942 | Empire Hail | ![]() |
7,005 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
9 March 1942 | Cayrǘ | ![]() |
5,152 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
11 March 1942 | Hvoslef | ![]() |
1,630 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
25 March 1942 | Imperial Transport | ![]() |
8,022 | Damaged at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
12 May 1942 | Coclé | ![]() |
5,630 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
13 May 1942 | Tolken | ![]() |
4,471 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
13 May 1942 | Batna | ![]() |
4,399 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
5 June 1942 | Maria de Glória* | ![]() |
320 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
10 June 1942 | Ramsay | ![]() |
4,855 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
10 June 1942 | Empire Clough | ![]() |
6,147 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
11 June 1942 | Pontypridd | ![]() |
4,458 | Sunk at Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
* Sailing vessel
Awards
- Iron Cross (1939)
- U-boat War Badge (1939) (21 December 1939)[1]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 28 March 1942 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-94[2][3]
- Mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht on 30 March 1942 and 18 June 1942
Wehrmachtbericht references
Date | Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording | Direct English translation |
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Monday, 30 March 1942 | Bei den Erfolgen gegen die britisch-amerikanische Handelsschiffahrt im Nordatlantik hat sich das Unterseeboot unter Führung des Oberleutnants zur See Ites besonders ausgezeichnet.[4] | In the success against the Anglo-American merchant shipping in the North Atlantic, the submarine under the leadership of Lieutenant at Sea Ites has particularly distinguished itself. |
Thursday, 18 June 1942 | Die Unterseeboote unter Führung der Kapitänleutnante Mohr, Topp, Witte und von Rosenstiel und des Oberleutnants zur See Ites haben sich bei der Bekämpfung der feindlichen Versorgungsschiffahrt besonders ausgezeichnet.[5] | The submarines under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Mohr, Topp, Witte and von Rosenstiel and Lieutenant at Sea Ites have in the fight against the enemy supply shipping particularly distinguished themselves. |
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2. Unknown parameter
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles> - Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. Unknown parameter
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles> - Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-748-2.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1. Unknown parameter
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ignored (help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles> - Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. Unknown parameter
|trans_title=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles> - Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. Unknown parameter
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External links
- Otto Ites in the German National Library catalogue
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "Otto Ites". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- BBC
Military offices | ||
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Preceded by Fregattenkapitän Günter Kuhnke |
Commander of German destroyer Z-2 (formerly USS Ringgold) December 1960 – September 1962 |
Succeeded by Fregattenkapitän Paul Brasack |
Preceded by Konteradmiral Günter Luther |
Chief of the Navy Office 1 April 1975 – 30 September 1977 |
Succeeded by Konteradmiral Horst Geffers |
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing German-language text
- Articles with Geo
- Pages with citations using unsupported parameters
- CS1 maint: unrecognized language
- 1918 births
- 1982 deaths
- Kriegsmarine personnel
- Bundesmarine admirals
- U-boat commanders
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Military personnel referenced in the Wehrmachtbericht
- University of Bonn alumni
- Counter admirals of the German Navy