Hans-Hartwig Trojer

Hans-Hartwig Trojer
Born	(1916-01-22)22 January 1916 Birthähn, Siebenbürgen
Died	North Atlantic south of Ireland
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1936–43
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Commands held	U-3 U-221
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hans-Hartwig Trojer (22 January 1916 – 27 September 1943) was a German U-Boat commander in World War II. 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.

Naval career

He joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1936 and was a member of the Olympia crew. Because he had been born in Transylvania, he was nicknamed Count Dracula by his comrades. In 1938 he joined the U-boat service, and spent his first two years as watch officer on the U-34 and U-67.

After completing his commander training, Trojer was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See and took command of the U-3. In March 1942 he was assigned to command the new Type VIIc boat U-221. He sank six ships for a total of 29,682 gross register tons (GRT) on his first patrol and he and his crew earned a mention in the Wehrmachtbericht for this. On his third patrol he was informed by a radio message that he had received the Knights cross. On 1 April 1943 he received a promotion to Kapitänleutnant.

Hans-Hartwig Trojer was killed when U-221 was sunk with all hands by a British Halifax bomber south of Ireland on 27 September 1943.

Awards

• U-boat War Badge (1939) (12 November 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (7 February 1940)
  • 1st Class (5 August 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-221
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 14 October 1942

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Wednesday, 14 October 1942	Bei den Geleitzugkämpfen im Nordatlantik hat sich das Unterseeboot des Oberleutnants zur See Trojer besonders ausgezeichnet, das aus einem Geleitzug acht Schiffe mit 47 000 BRT herausschoß.	In the convoy battles in the North Atlantic, the submarine of First Lieutenant at Sea Trojer was particularly successful, which shot out of a convoy eight vessels with 47,000 GRT.

References

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. CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). 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)
• 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. CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

External links

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "Hans-Hartwig Trojer". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 April 2015.