Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
Erich Topp (left) and Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock after a war patrol
Nickname	Recke
Born	(1911-12-11)11 December 1911
Died	18 April 1986(1986-04-18) (aged 74)
Place of birth	Bremen
Place of death	Bremen
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1931–1945
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 Second Battle of the Atlantic Operation Hartmut Operation Weserübung Battle for Brest
Awards	Iron Cross 1st Class U-boat War Badge Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves
Other work	Captain in the merchant fleet

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. 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

Born in Bremen, Lehmann-Willenbrock joined the Reichsmarine in April 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 of the Type II class. His first patrol, which lasted fifteen 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 a three-month training period 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. 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.

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. 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.

Achievements

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 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.

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.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Busch, Hans-Joachim; Röll (2003) (in German). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945]. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2. 
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) (in German). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches]. Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
• 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1. 
• Scherzer, Veit (2007) (in German). 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives]. Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
• (in German) Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 1, 1 September 1939 to 31 December 1941]. München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. 

External links

• • "Uboat.net". The Men – Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. http://uboat.net/men/willenbrock.htm. Retrieved 17 February 2007. 
  • "Lexikon der Wehrmacht". Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/L/LehmannWillenbrockH.htm. Retrieved 14 February 2011.