Jürgen Oesten

Jürgen Oesten
Born	(1913-10-24)24 October 1913 Grunewald, Berlin, Germany
Died	Hamburg, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Korvettenkapitän
Unit	SSS Gorch Fock Karlsruhe Admiral Graf Spee U-20
Commands held	U-61 U-106 U-861
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Jürgen Oesten (24 October 1913 – 5 August 2010) was a Korvettenkapitän in the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded the U-boats U-61 and U-106, and then served as a staff officer before returning to command U-861. He sank nineteen ships for a total of 101,744 gross register tons (GRT), and damaged four others for 51,668 GRT to become number 29 on the list of the highest scoring U-Boat aces of World War II.

Career

Born in Grunewald, Berlin, Oesten joined the Reichsmarine in April 1933. After serving aboard the cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and Karlsruhe he transferred to the U-boat arm in May 1937, and was appointed watch officer of U-20.

World War II

U-61

In August 1939 Oesten commissioned U-61, sailing on nine patrols, and sinking five ships.

U-106

Taking command of U-106 in September 1940, he sailed on three patrols sinking another ten ships. On 20 March 1941 during an attack on convoy SL-68 he damaged the British battleship HMS Malaya.

9th Flotilla

In October 1941 Oesten became the first commander of the 9th U-boat Flotilla based in Brest, France. In March 1942 he joined the staff of FdU Nordmeer directing the U-boat war in the Norwegian Sea.

U-861

In September 1943 Oesten returned to active duty in U-861, sailing first to Brazilian waters where he sank another two ships and then around the Cape of Good Hope to join the Monsun Gruppe of U-boats operating in the Indian Ocean. He sank another two ships, bringing his career total to 19 ships sunk, totalling 101,744 GRT, and four ships damaged (51,668 GRT), before reaching Penang on 23 September 1944. U-861 left Soerabaya, Dutch East Indies, in January 1945 carrying a cargo of vital materials, but only two torpedoes, and reached Trondheim, Norway, in April, just before the German surrender.

Post War

Oesten was a technical advisor for the 2005 submarine simulator Silent Hunter III.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

As a U-boat commander of U-61, U-106 and U-861 Oesten is credited with the sinking of 18 ships for a total of 100,007 gross register tons (GRT) and one auxiliary warship 1,737 GRT. He further damaged three ships of 20,568 GRT and one warship, the HMS Malaya, of 31,100 metric tons (30,600 long tons; 34,300 short tons).

Date	U-boat	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate
22 December 1939	U-60	Gryfevale	United Kingdom	4,434	Damaged (Mine)
22 January 1940	U-60	Sydfold	Norway	2,434	Sunk at
18 February 1940	U-60	El Sonador	Panama	1,406	Sunk
18 February 1940	U-60	Sangstad	Norway	4,297	Sunk at
10 July 1940	U-60	Alwaki	Netherlands	4,533	Sunk at
16 July 1940	U-60	Scottish Minstrel	United Kingdom	6,998	Sunk at
17 January 1941	U-106	Zealandic	United Kingdom	10,578	Sunk at
29 January 1941	U-106	Sesostris	Egypt	2,962	Sunk at
11 March 1941	U-106	Memnon	United Kingdom	7,506	Sunk at
16 March 1941	U-106	Almkerk	Netherlands	6,810	Sunk at
17 March 1941	U-106	Andalusian	United Kingdom	3,082	Sunk at
17 March 1941	U-106	Tapanoeli	Netherlands	7,034	Sunk at
20 March 1941	U-106	HMS Malaya	Royal Navy	31,100	Damaged at
20 March 1941	U-106	Meekerk	Netherlands	7,995	Damaged at
24 March 1941	U-106	Eastlea	United Kingdom	4,267	Sunk at
30 May 1941	U-106	Silveryew	United Kingdom	6,373	Sunk at
31 May 1941	U-106	Clan Macdougall	United Kingdom	6,843	Sunk at
6 June 1941	U-106	Sacramento Valley	United Kingdom	4,573	Sunk at
20 July 1944	U-861	Vital de Oliveira	Brazil	1,737	Sunk at
24 July 1944	U-861	William Gaston	United States	7,177	Sunk at
20 August 1944	U-861	Berwickshire	United Kingdom	7,464	Sunk at
20 August 1944	U-861	Daronia	United Kingdom	8,139	Damaged at
5 September 1944	U-861	Ioannis Fafalios	Greece	5,670	Sunk at

Awards

• Spanish Cross in bronze without swords (6 June 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (3 December 1939)
  • 1st Class (27 February 1940)
• Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 March 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-106
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 22 March 1941

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Saturday, 22 March 1941	Bei dem Angriff auf den feindlichen Geleitzug an der afrikanischen Westküste haben sich die Unterseeboote unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Oesten und Kapitänleutnant Schewe besonders ausgezeichnet.	In the attack against the enemy convoy on the African West Coast, the submarines under the command of Captain Lieutenant Oesten and Captain Lieutenant Schewe have particularly excellent.

References

Notes

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 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 (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. "Jürgen Oesten". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
• Silent Hunter III dev - Jürgen Oesten interview on YouTube