Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
Erich Topp (left) and Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock after a war patrol
Nickname(s)	Recke
Born	(1911-12-11)11 December 1911 Bremen
Died	Bremen
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1931–45
Rank	Fregattenkapitän
Unit	SSS Horst Wessel cruiser Karlsruhe 7th U-boat Flotilla 9th U-boat Flotilla 11th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	U-8 (14 October 1939–30 November 1939) U-5 (5 December 1939–11 August 1940) U-96 (14 September 1940–1 April 1942) 9th U-boat Flotilla (1 April 1942–2 September 1944) U-256 (2 September 1944–18 October 1944) 11th U-boat Flotilla (December 1944–May 1945)
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic Operation Hartmut Operation Weserübung Battle for Brest
Awards	Iron Cross 1st Class U-boat War Badge Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Other work	Captain in the merchant fleet

Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (11 December 1911 – 18 April 1986) was a German naval officer and submarine commander during World War II. He was sixth among the top ten Aces of the Deep during the Second Battle of the Atlantic against the Allies, in terms of tonnage of merchant ships sunk. He commanded four U-boats, and his most notable and successful tour was commanding the U-96 a Type VIIC U-boat, which gained widespread recognition when one of its patrols was documented and publicized by an accompanying war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) for his achievements as a U-boat commander. The story of the U-96 was eventually made into a mini-series and film called Das Boot, in which he was portrayed by Jürgen Prochnow.

Biography

Lehmann-Willenbrock was born on 11 December 1911 in Bremen, German Empire. He joined the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic in April 1931 as a member "Crew 1931" (the incoming class of 1931), with the rank of Seekadett, serving on a light cruiser and a sailing school ship before he transferred to the U-Boatwaffe in April 1939, five months before World War II began. Upon serving as an executive officer on U-8, he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and took command of U-5 in December 1939. Both U-8 and U-5 were Type II submarines. His first patrol, which lasted 15 days, was along the coast of Norway during Operation Hartmut, the U-boat operation in support of the invasion of Norway. No ships were sunk.

Upon the return of U-5, Lehmann-Willenbrock was transferred to the newly commissioned U-96, a Type VIIC U-boat whose crew underwent three months of training before being put onto active duty. During three patrols under Willenbrock's command, U-96 sank 125,580 tons of enemy shipping. The third patrol alone resulted in seven ships sunk, for 49,490 tons. In 1941 Willenbrock's sinkings with U-96 included three British troop ships: Oropesa (16 January), Almeda Star (17 January) and Anselm (15 July); each with considerable loss of life. The seventh patrol was the approximate time that Lothar-Günther Buchheim boarded U-96 and documented the boat's successes in his book Das Boot. Willenbrock earned all of his medals during his patrols with U-96.

File:Rogge-Lehmann-Willenbrock-Suhren.jpg

Bernhard Rogge, Lehmann-Willenbrock and Reinhard Suhren receive the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross from Adolf Hitler on 10 January 1942. Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, Hitler's naval adjutant is standing to left.

Lehmann-Willenbrock left U-96 in March 1942 to be promoted to Korvettenkapitän and appointed Flottillenchef of the 9th U-boat Flotilla, stationed in Brest. On September 2, 1944 he assumed command of U-256 and escaped the besieged Brest just a few days before the town's surrender. He reached Bergen, Norway on October 23. In Bergen he was appointed Flottillenchef of the 11th U-boat Flotilla in December, and held the position until the German surrender in Norway on 9 May 1945.

After a year in captivity, Lehmann-Willenbrock returned to Germany in May 1946, salvaging ships in the River Rhine. In 1948, he left Germany aboard his ship, Magellan, with three of his friends to Buenos Aires. Here he was skipper on several trade ships. In March 1959 he showed great courage as skipper of the freighter Inga Bastian when he and his crew saved 57 survivors from the burning Brazilian ship Commandante Lyra. After returning to Germany, he served as captain on several merchantmen, and was appointed captain of the German freighter Otto Hahn, the first of only four merchant cargo nuclear ships. Buchheim's book Der Abschied ("The Goodbye") describes one of its voyages, which Buchheim joined as a passenger.

He was decorated in 1974 with the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (Federal Merit Cross on Ribbon). In 1982, Lehmann-Willenbrock accompanied Wolfgang Petersen and the Das Boot cast and crew as an advisor to the film. Afterwards, he returned to his home at Bremen, where he remained until his death.

Summary of career

During his patrols with U-96, Lehmann-Willenbrock was awarded with the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the Iron Cross 1st Class, the U-Boat War Badge, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves for his achievements. He sank 24 ships for 170,237 gross register tons (GRT), damaged two ships for 15,864 GRT and damaged one ship as a total loss for 8,888 GRT.

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Convoy	Fate	Location	Deaths
11 December 1940	Rotorua	United Kingdom	10,890	HX-92	Sunk		22
11 December 1940	Towa	Netherlands	5,419	HX-92	Sunk		18
12 December 1940	Macedonier	Belgium	5,227	HX-92	Sunk		4
12 December 1940	Stureholm	Sweden	4,575	HX-92	Sunk		32
14 December 1940	Empire Razorbill	United Kingdom	5,118	OB-257	Damaged		0
14 December 1940	Western Prince	United Kingdom	10,926		Sunk		14
18 December 1940	Pendrecht	Netherlands	10,746	OB-259	Damaged		0
16 January 1941	Oropesa	United Kingdom	14,118		Sunk		106
17 January 1941	Almeda Star	United Kingdom	14,936		Sunk		360
13 February 1941	Arthur F. Corwin	United Kingdom	10,516	HX-106	Sunk		46
13 February 1941	Clea	United Kingdom	7,987	HX-106	Sunk		59
18 February 1941	Black Osprey	United Kingdom	5,589	HX-107	Sunk		25
22 February 1941	Scottish Standard	United Kingdom	6,999	OB-287	Sunk		5
23 February 1941	Anglo-Peruvian	United Kingdom	5,457	OB-288	Sunk		29
24 February 1941	Linaria	United Kingdom	3,385	OB-288	Sunk		34
24 February 1941	Sirikishna	United Kingdom	5,458	OB-288	Sunk		43
28 April 1941	Caledonia	Norway	9,892	HX-121	Sunk		12
28 April 1941	Oilfield	United Kingdom	8,516	HX-121	Sunk		47
28 April 1941	Port Hardy	United Kingdom	8,897	HX-121	Sunk		1
19 May 1941	Empire Ridge	United Kingdom	2,922	HG-61	Sunk		31
5 July 1941	Anselm	United Kingdom	5,954		Sunk		254
31 October 1941	Bennekom	Netherlands	5,998	OS-10	Sunk		8
19 February 1942	Empire Seal	United Kingdom	7,965		Sunk		1
20 February 1942	Lake Osweya	United States	2,398		Scuttled		39
22 February 1942	Kars	United Kingdom	8,888	HX-175	Total Loss		50
22 February 1942	Torungen	Norway	1,948		Sunk		19
9 March 1942	Tyr	Norway	4,265		Sunk		13

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class (2 October 1936)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (20 April 1940)
  • 1st Class (31 December 1940)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (2 January 1941)
• Italian Croce di Guerra with Swords (1 November 1941)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 26 February 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-96
  • 51st Oak Leaves on 31 December 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-96
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black (8 May 1942)
• War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (30 January 1944)
• U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (19 October 1944)
• Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (14 December 1940, 25 February 1941 and 20 May 1941)

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Saturday, 14 December 1940	Ein Unterseeboot unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock hat auf seiner Fahrt gegen den Feind insgesamt 40 900 BRT versenkt. Ein Teilergebnis seiner Unternehmung war schon vorher bekanntgegeben.	A submarine under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock sunk on its patrol against the enemy a total of 40,900 GRT. A partial result of its undertaking was announced earlier.
Tuesday, 25 February 1941	An dem großen Erfolg der Unterseebootswaffe ist das Boot des Kapitänleutnants Lehmann-Willenbrock mit 55 600 BRT hervorragend beteiligt. Kapitänleutnants Lehmann-Willenbrock hat damit in kurzer Zeit 125 580 BRT feindlichen Handelsschiffsraums vernichtet.	The boat Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock has prominently contributed 55,600 GRT to the success of the submarine arm. Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock thus has destroyed 125,580 GRT of enemy merchant ship in the shortest period of time.
Monday, 20 May 1941	Ein Unterseeboot unter Führung von Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock versenkte aus Geleitzügen britische Tankschiffe mit insgesamt 33 000 BRT.	A submarine under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Lehmann-Willenbrock sunk from convoys British tankers totalling 33,000 GRT.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Kapitänleutnant Jürgen Oesten	Commander of the 9th U-boat Flotilla May 1942 – September 1944	Succeeded by disbanded
Preceded by Fregattenkapitän Hans Cohausz	Commander of the 11th U-boat Flotilla December 1944 – May 1945	Succeeded by disbanded