Robert Gysae

Robert Gysae
File:Robert Gysae.jpg
Born	(1911-01-14)14 January 1911
Died	26 April 1989(1989-04-26) (aged 78)
Place of birth	Berlin-Charlottenburg, German Empire
Place of death	Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine German Navy
Years of service	1931–1945, 1956–1970
Rank	Korvettenkapitän (Kriegsmarine), Flottillenadmiral (Bundesmarine)
Commands held	U-98 U-177 Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1 Marinedivision Nordsee
Battles/wars	Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)
Awards	Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class U-boat War Badge Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves U-boat Front Clasp

Robert Gysae (January 14, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Gysae commanded U-98 and U-177, sinking twenty-five ships on eight patrols, for a total of 146,815 gross register tons (GRT) tons of Allied shipping, to become the fifteenth highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II.

Career

Gysae joined the Reichsmarine in 1931 and served on torpedo boats before transferring to the U-bootwaffe ("U-boat force") in April 1940. In October 1940 he was appointed commander of the Type VIIC U-boat U-98, unusually without serving any time as either 1.WO (1. Wachoffizier, "1st Watch Officer") or Kommandantenschüler ("Commander-in-Training") on any other U-boats. After six patrols in the north Atlantic in command of U-98, in March 1942 he transferred to the Type IXD2 U-boat U-177 for another two patrols, this time operating off South Africa and Portuguese East Africa. He sank a total of 25 ships, including the armed merchant cruiser HMS Salopian.

On 28 November 1942 off the coast of Natal Province, Gysae sank the 6,796 ton British troop ship RMS Nova Scotia with three torpedoes. She was carrying 780 Italians; a mixture of prisoners of war and civilian internees. Gysae rescued two survivors to identify the ship, who turned out to be Italian merchant sailors. Mindful of the Laconia Order issued two months previously, Gysae radioed the BdU, who ordered him to continue his patrol. The BdU notified the Portuguese authorities, who sent the frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque from Lourenço Marques to help. Of 1,052 people from the Nova Scotia only 194 survived: 192 rescued by the frigate and two others in subsequent days. 858 were killed, including 650 Italians.

In January 1944 he became commander of 25th U-boat Flotilla, a training flotilla based at Gotenhafen. In April 1945, during the last month of the war, Gysae commanded the Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1, a naval anti-tank regiment. After the war he served in the Deutscher Minenräumdienst ("German Mine Sweeping Administration") for more than two years. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving for four years as Navy attaché in the United States, and then three years as commander of Marinedivision Nordsee with the rank of Flottillenadmiral before retiring in 1970. He died in 1989 aged 78.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

During his career Gysae sunk 24 commercial ships for 136,266 GRT, one auxiliary warship of 10,549 GRT, and damaged one ship for 2,588 GRT.

Date	Name of Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
U-98
27 March 1941	Koranton	United Kingdom	6,695	Sunk at 59°N 27°W / 59; -27 (Koranton (ship))
4 April 1941	Helle	Norway	2,467	Sunk at 59°06′N 24°12′W
	Welcombe	United Kingdom	5,122	Sunk at 59°09′N 23°40′W
9 April 1941	Prins Willem II	Netherlands	1,304	Sunk at 59°50′N 24°25′W
13 May 1941	HMS Salopian	United Kingdom	10,549	Sunk at 59°04′N 38°15′W
20 May 1941	Rothermere	United Kingdom	5,356	Sunk at 57°48′N 41°36′W
21 May 1941	Marconi	United Kingdom	7,402	Sunk at 58°N 41°W / 58; -41 (Marconi (ship))
9 July 1941	Designer	United Kingdom	5,945	Sunk at 42°59′N 31°40′W
	Inverness	United Kingdom	4,897	Sunk at 42°46′N 32°45′W
16 September 1941	Jedmoor	United Kingdom	4,392	Sunk at 59°N 10°W / 59; -10 (Jedmoor (ship))
15 February 1942	Biela	United Kingdom	5,298	Sunk at 42°55′N 45°40′W
U-177
2 November 1942	Aegeus	Greece	4,538	Sunk at 32°30′S 16°00′E
9 November 1942	Cerion	United Kingdom	2,588	Damaged at 35°58′S 26°37′E
19 November 1942	Scottish Chief	United Kingdom	7,006	Sunk at 30°39′S 34°41′E
20 November 1942	Pierce Butler	United States	7,191	Sunk at 29°40′S 36°35′E
28 November 1942	RMS Nova Scotia	United Kingdom	6,796	Sunk at 28°30′S 33°00′E
30 November 1942	Llandaff Castle	United Kingdom	10,799	Sunk at 27°20′S 33°40′E
7 December 1942	Saronikos	Greece	3,548	Sunk at 24°46′S 35°30′E
12 December 1942	Empire Gull	United Kingdom	6,408	Sunk at 26°15′S 34°40′E
14 December 1942	Sawahloento	Netherlands	3,085	Sunk at 31°02′S 34°00′E
28 May 1943	Agwimonte	United States	6,679	Sunk at 34°57′S 19°33′E
	Storaas	Norway	7,886	Sunk at 34°57′S 19°33′E
6 July 1943	Jasper Park	Canada	7,129	Sunk at 32°52′S 42°15′E
10 July 1943	Alice F. Palmer	United States	7,176	Sunk at 26°30′S 44°20′E
29 July 1943	Cornish City	United Kingdom	4,952	Sunk at 27°20′S 52°10′E
5 August 1943	Efthalia Mari	Greece	4,195	Sunk at 24°21′S 48°55′E

Awards

• Dienstauszeichnung 4th Class (2 October 1936)
• The Return of Sudetenland Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938 (20 December 1939)
• Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (31 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (15 April 1941)
• Italian Knight's Cross of the Order of the Crown (11 March 1941)
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (31 May 1941)
  • with Diamonds
• Croce di Guerra with Swords (25 May 1943)
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black (25 June 1943)
• War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (1 September 1944)
• U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (1 October 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross (31 December 1941) as commander of U-98
  • 250th Oak Leaves (31 May 1943) as commander of U-177
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 23 May 1941
• Legion of Merit (United States of America)
• Cross of Merit 1st Class

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Friday, 23 May 1941	Bei Angriffen gegen den erwähnten feindlichen Geleitzug zeichneten sich die von Kapitänleutnant Wohlfahrt und Kapitänleutnant Gysae geführten Unterseeboote besonders aus.	In attacks against the already mentioned enemy convoy distinguished themselves from the rest the submarines under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Wohlfahrt (sic) and Captain Lieutenant Gysae.

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]. Friedburg, 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. 
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2003) (in German). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe I Abraham – Huppertz [Oak Leaves Bearers 1940 – 1945 Contemporary History in Color I Abraham – Huppertz]. Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 978-3-932381-20-1. 
• 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
• Deutsche Marinesoldaten
• Wehrmacht Lexikon
• Ritterkreuzträger 1939–45