Heinrich Schonder

Heinrich Schonder
Born	(1910-07-23)23 July 1910 Erfurt
Died	Atlantic Ocean
Buried
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1935–43
Rank	Korvettenkapitän (posthumous)
Unit	Schleswig-Holstein torpedo boat Falke U-9
Commands held	U-58 U-77 U-200
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Heinrich Schonder (23 July 1910 – 28 June 1943) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and 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.

U-200 was sunk by two depth charges on her first patrol with all hands lost on 24 June 1943 in the North Atlantic southwest of Iceland by a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber of No. 120 Squadron.

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (5 April 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (1 October 1939)
  • 1st Class (23 July 1940)
• Medaglia di bronzo al Valore Militare (25 March 1942)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (1 December 1939)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 August 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-77

Ships attacked

During his career Heinrich Schonder sank 14 merchant ships for 28,333 GRT, sank one warship of 1,050 GRT, damaged one merchant ship of 155 GRT and one warship of 1,690 GRT.

Date	U-boat	Name of Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
18 July 1940	U-58	Gyda	Norway	1,591	Sunk at
4 August 1940	U-58	Pindos	Greece	4,360	Sunk at
8 October 1940	U-58	Confield	United Kingdom	4,956	Sunk at
13 June 1941	U-77	Tresillian	United Kingdom	4,743	Sunk at
22 June 1941	U-77	Arakaka	United Kingdom	2,379	Sunk at
25 June 1941	U-77	Anna Bulgaris	Greece	4,603	Sunk at
15 December 1941	U-77	SS Empire Barracuda	United Kingdom	4,972	Sunk at
12 January 1942	U-77	HMS Kimberley	Royal Navy	1,690	Damaged at
12 June 1942	U-77	HMS Grove	Royal Navy	1,050	Sunk at
22 July 1942	U-77	Vassiliki	Greece	140	Sunk at
24 July 1942	U-77	Toufic El Rahman	Syria	30	Sunk at
30 July 1942	U-77	Fany	Egypt	43	Sunk
1 August 1942	U-77	St. Simon	Egypt	100	Sunk at
6 August 1942	U-77	Adnan	Egypt	155	Damaged
6 August 1942	U-77	Ezzet	Egypt	158	Sunk
10 August 1942	U-77	Kharouf	Mandatory Palestine	158	Sunk at
16 August 1942	U-77	Daniel	Mandatory Palestine	100	Sunk at

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) [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. "Heinrich Schonder". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 April 2015.