GRGR(22) - Silent Otto

[David Morris]

http://uboat.net/men/kretschmer.htm

Otto Kretschmer
Fregattenkapitän (Crew 1930)
Sank 47 ships for a total of 274.386 tons
6 ships damaged for a total of 47.119 tons

[snip]
Especially notable was the sinking of three British Armed M erchant 
Cruisers, Laurentic (18,724 tons), Patroclus (11,314 tons) and Farfor 
(16,402 tons) in November 1940 for a total of more than 46,000 tons. At that 
time Silent Otto became the "tonnage king" among U-boat men, never to be 
dethroned.

On his last patrol he was also very successful and attacked 10 ships. He was 
captured after scuttling U-99 at 0343hrs on 17 March, 1941 (Schepke was lost 
in the same battle) south-east of Iceland in approximate position 61N, 12W 
after depth charge damage inflicted by the British destroyer HMS Walker. 
Kretschmer managed to surface his badly damaged boat and save 40 out of his 
43-man crew (his chief engineer died) before the boat s ank again for the 
last time.

After his capture he spent more than six and a half years in British 
captivity. For more than four years he was held in Canada in Camp 30 (often 
referred to as Camp Bowmanville ), from where he maintained contact with 
BdU. In December 1947 he returned to Germany.

In 1955 Otto Kretschmer joined the Bundesmarine (postwar German navy), in 
1957 becoming commander of the 1. Geleitgeschwader (1st Escort Squadro n). 
In November 1958 he became commander of the Amphibische Streitkräfte 
(Amphibian Forces). Starting in 1962 he served in several staff positions 
before becoming Chief of Staff of the NATO Command COMNAVBALTAP in May 1965, 
a position he held for four years. He retired in September 1970 with a rank 
of Flotillenadmiral.

During a vacation during the summer of 1998 Otto Kretschmer died in hospital 
in Bavaria after an accident.


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