Gerd Suhren

Gerd Suhren
File:Gerd Suhren.jpg Gerd Suhren
Born	(1914-05-16)16 May 1914 Tafaigata, Samoa
Died	Bonn
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Korvettenkapitän (Ing.)
Unit	cruiser Karlsruhe Schleswig-Holstein aviso Grille U-21, U-31, U-37, U-2511
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	Reinhard Suhren

Gerd Suhren (16 May 1914, in Tafaigata, Samoa – 6 May 1991 in Bonn), was a German U-boat engineer (Ingenieur - Ing.) in World War II and older brother of Fregattenkapitän and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords recipient Reinhard Suhren.

Career

Suhren joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1933. Since April 1937 he served in the U-boat force and got a solid pre-war training. In September 1939 he was chief engineer (Leitender Ingenieur abbreviated LI) on U-37 and in the next year he rode 8 patrols on this boat. During this time he served under the command of Werner Hartmann, Victor Oehrn and Nicolai Clausen. He was the first engineering officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Gerd Suhren left U-37 in October 1940 and became a training officer in the 25th flotilla. Later he served in several staff positions.

In September 1944 he became once more the Leitender Ingenieur on the new commissioned type XXI U-boat under the command of Adalbert Schnee. He took part in the patrol, that U-2511 rode in May 1945. After the war Gerd Suhren served for more than 2 years in the German Mine Sweeping Administration. His parents and sister committed suicide in 1945, after failure to escape from the Sudetenland.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (8 November 1939)
  • 1st Class (28 February 1940)
• U-boat War Badge 1939 (8 November 1939)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 October 1940 as Oberleutnant (Ing.) and chief engineer on U-37

References

Bibliography

• Brustal-Naval, Fritz and Suhren, Teddy (1999). Nasses Eichenlaub: als Kommandant und F.d.U. im U-Boot-Krieg. Frankfurt/M; Berlin:Ullstein. ISBN 3-548-23537-9.
• 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. CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• 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. CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-748-2.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1.
• 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. CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

External links

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "Gerd Suhren". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 25 January 2011.