In doing so, both the effectiveness and limitations of Kretschmers tactics are clarified and put into the context of the Battle of the Atlantic. Prien's demise was not disclosed. Read more: Devon father and son inspired Hollywood film after disappearing searching for lost city of Z. He wants to be a naval officer. In his bunk, OTTO felt the sharp downward angle of the boat and was immediately on his feet as the bridge watch tumbled past him all by Schnee, and now green water was flooding through the open hatch from the Zentralle to the conning tower. [49], In November and December 1940 U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers (AMC), HMS Laurentic, HMS Patroclus and HMSForfar. It was on his third patrol that he sank his first ship, the Glen Farg, a small freighter was carrying pulp and Ferrochrome. [25] The Norwegian Fredville, only 1,150GRT was sunk on 11 January 1940 without warning. Sir, do you think that OTTO KRETSCHMER will be with us on this trip? to which OTTO smiled and replied; I think he is already here. at which point the Member nearly fell out of his chair. Kretschmer was taken to London for interrogation. He had to return to port to repair the damage. My ship deserted me!. 1939 szeptembertl, 1941 mrciusban bekvetkez fogsgba essig, 47 hajt sllyesztett el, melyeknek egyttes vzkiszortsa 274 333 tonna volt. [21] The next day, he sank Tiberton, 5,225GRT, in the Moray Firth. Does not come with case. Kretschmer sank one and damaged twowhich he and Prien dispatched the following day. Rahmlow and his second-in-command, Bernhard Berndt, were found "guilty of cowardice"; the other two officers were "acquitted". Petersen had served as Kretschmer's helmsman on every war patrol on both U-23 and U-99. Kretschmer was born in Heidau near Neisse, then in the German Empire on 1 May 1912 to Friedrich Wilhelm Otto and Alice (ne Herbig) Kretschmer. [10] According to one historian, Kretschmer was a patriot and loyal to the government, but later "eschewed Nazi efforts to glorify his success through propaganda. That same day the British escorts scored another success against the Kriegsmarine when the noted U-boat skipper Joachim Schepke was killed aboard U-100, having been depth charged, rammed and sunk by Vanoc. Once secured dockside, the crew poses for a triumphant photo. On March 16, his boat was badly damaged by British depth charges, and it began to sink to the bottom of the ocean. This was not the case with U-99. He sank four ships and damaged three. HMS WALKER had drifted several hundred yards from the spot U-99 had disappeared and, still wearing his full set of leathers AND sea boots (filled with water), OTTO made the difficult swim to HMS WALKER only to grab onto the scramble nets as the destroyer was beginning to pick up speed they didnt know he was on the nets! Later in the war, his ship was torpedoed; before that he nursed a bent-nosed destroyer back to port after ramming a U-boat. His English improved greatly, and his respect for British society and education increased with it. Okay, back to the story of U-23 and HMS ROYAL OAK. Kretschmer then met Hitler at the Reich Chancellery and he repeated his opinions on the war situation. Why his average daily tonnage sinking equaled that of de la Perrier. [50] 51 men died aboard Laurentic, 367 survived. The ship sank slowly. 8x40 model no. Kretschmer stated that he was unmarried. The ship did not reach port. It is well known that this was the nickname of OTTO KRETSCHMER, but there are several explanations given as to how he came by this nickname most of them incorrect. He assumed most of the crew went down with the ship; but there were 159 survivors. He spoke English quite well, though he lacked practice. Something went wrong, please try again later. [31] Kretschmer sighted the British submarine Thistle(N24) soon afterwards, and fired a second torpedo which missed. After completing his officer training and time on the training ship Niobe he served . There were no deaths among the crew. [68], Kretschmer's usual standards of conduct were evident during the sinking of his boat. However, he was haunted by the image of a lone survivor in a life raft who would surely die if not rescued. [9][33] After two months' training and shakedown manoeuvres in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action on 18 June 1940. A single torpedo was fired, then Kretschmer ordered a u-turn and sped away on the surface; the destroyers neither sighted him nor detected him with ASDIC. Its commander, Hugo Frster, was repatriated to Germany and committed suicide before the end of the war. There were two reasons for this; Knights Cross with Oak Leaf and Crossed Swords, There would be nine diamonds forming the Swastika, All the time this was going on, as the pair ran, Why you never saw him with the traditional . Por todo ello y entre otras, recibi He continued to serve as Watch Officer of U-35 until 30 September 1937. On 1 October 1937, Kretschmer took command of U-23. Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 - 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. Comes with leather case and all lens protectors.- 3) Swift Falcon wide angle fully coated optics. While his wartime actions have been narrated several times, his tactics, summarized by the famous motto 'one torpedo, one ship', have never been systematically analysed. The establishment of the Wehrmacht (Nazi German Armed Forces) in 1935 divided the major branches of the armed forces. [34] On 21 June, his ninth patrol, his boat was damaged by an Arado Ar 196 floatplane from Scharnhorst in the belief U-99 was a British submarine. Leather strap partially torn from case.- 2) Tasco 7x35 fully coated 304. He participated in the 2nd officers training course held at the former NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen. Serving on a U-boat was a very dangerous task, and one that many did not want. In addition, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) on 26 December 1941. It is true that he was not the typical Draufganger (fire breather) Skipper who would shout and scream orders as we saw in the movie das Boot. In 1955, MacIntyre returned the Zeiss binoculars to Kretschmer. On 28 August 1963, he was transferred to the NATO Defense College in Paris. [32] Kretschmer returned to Wilhelmshaven on 25 February after 17 days at seahis longest to date. [26] Kretschmer's next success came in the Inganess Bay, Kirkwall, where he attacked and sank the Danish 10,517GRT tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940[27] while she lay at anchor. On 26 September 1935, he was transferred to the 1st department of the standing ship division of the North Sea in Wilhelmshaven where he served as a company officer until 25 January 1936. On 1 June 1965, he was promoted to Flottillenadmiral (flotilla admiral/Commodore/Rear Admiral), a rank which he initially held on probation. Kretschmer was released from captivity on 31 December 1947, and returned to Germany. A British intelligence report on him said: "His political views were less extremely Nazi than had been assumed. unread, Aug 20, 1998, 3:00:00 AM 8/20/98 . He captured the number one German U-boat ace Otto Kretschmer (whose Zeiss binoculars he took and used for the rest of the war); in the same battle, he directed the attack that killed the second-scoring ace Joachim Schepke. Six months later, on 15 December, he officially became Flottillenadmiral. Although he fought doggedly for Nazi Germany during the war, his affection for Exeter remained with him until his death. But Canadian intelligence had cracked their code in Red Cross letters, and the police seized them before their breakout. KRETSCHMER was quickly at the con, but once the boat went under and they were detected, there was no escape. Hitler invited Kretschmer to sit in on a lunch meeting with Hitler and Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet Union's ambassador to the Third Reich. When giving their wartime histories, the normal U-Bootfahrer would tell what boat he rode. Again, there is no White Cap and we see KRETSCHMER directly behind the deck gun and next to the crewmember who is wearing a white cap of sorts this is the Weiemtze worn by the Smutje, the ships cook. While working on the deck gun, the boat suddenly dived. He departed from Wilhelmshaven for his eighth war patrol on 9 February. Kretschmer achieved good results in mathematics and chemistry and passed his Abitur (school-leaving certificate) at 17. 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG. Second World War (1939-1945) Awarded on: November 4th, 1940. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. Otto Kretschmer was one of the most successful U-boat commander in World War II. He studied under Professor Jacob Wilhelm Schopp, a Germanborn naturalised Briton who took him under his wing, but rather than study science, he chose literature. Kretschmer travelled the world as he rose up through the ranks, before joining the U-boat service in 1936. Ezzel a teljestmnyvel kirdemelte a Tlgyfalombokkal s kardokkal . [47] The following month, Kretschmer formed part of the pack that attacked and devastated Convoy SC 7. This definitive work details his personal story and the political backdrop from his earliest days. Miraculously, power was restored and it limped back to the surface. U-99 attacked the armed merchant cruisers HMS Laurentic and HMS Patroclus. Note that the crew is all wearing fresh coveralls and beards neatly trimmed. 12 ships were sunk in total. As the passengers got into the lifeboats, OTTO noticed a great number of women and children. In the Atlantic, Kretschmer became bolder and bolder. Schnee had the con and OTTO was in his bunk. [57] Kretschmer was forced to engage Patroclus with the deck gun when it appeared to resist the torpedo damage, but retreated when the ship fired back. 1) Black Otto Walter no.12.507.- prismen glaser8x40 reflexfreie on right side. Kretschmer was taken separately, but his crew had to negotiate the streets of Liverpool and were subjected to missiles thrown by angry civilians; the city had been heavily bombed and was closely linked with the Atlantic war. During this time, he developed his own theory about submarine warfare. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, "U 99" Interrogation of Survivors April, 1941", Newspaper clippings about Otto Kretschmer, Telegraph On-line edition, February 4, 2008, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_Kretschmer&oldid=1125960308, Efficient lookouts are of prime importance, It is essential not simply to spot the target, but to spot it in good time, Lone ships should be attacked on the surface with gunfire in order to save expensive torpedoes, Survivors should be assisted when possible, Convoys should be attacked in daylight only if it is not feasible to wait for nightfall, Attack at night from the dark side of the convoy, so that the target is silhouetted and the submarine is in shadow, When there is little or no moonlight, attack from the windward side (to avoid a visible white bow-wave when motoring into the wind), Fire one torpedo per target, not fanned salvoes, Once an attack is launched, do not submerge except in circumstances of dire necessity. There, they would meet a German U-boat to take them back to Germany. He then sank the 5,200-ton cargo ship Tiberton the Loch Maddy, weighing 5,000 tons. Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of U-521 on 2 June 1942. Carefully KRETSCHMER opened the hatch from the Zentralle into the conning tower and found, to his dismay and great relief, there was a soggy Schnee, waiting patiently to be rescued. [24] Following this patrol, he received the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse) on 17 December. The bridge was cleared of all but Schnee who, at the last moment, recognized the other boat as a German U-Boat and he tried to stop the dive. Thistle was sunk weeks later by U-4. Kretschmer experienced Unfortunately, his mother died from tetanus after a medical incident, so he returned home to be with his family. 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