U Boat Captain Prien

He was the first u boat commander to receive the knight s cross of the iron cross and the first member of the kriegsmarine to receive the knight s cross of the iron cross with oak leaves of nazi germany.

U boat captain prien.

Prien is famous for several reasons. To dönitz mind prienchen prien at 31 a seven year veteran of u boats was the ideal skipper for the job. Günther prien joined the reichsmarine in january 1933 after several years in the merchant navy at first as a seaman on full rigger sailing ships. He scored the second u boat kill of the war sinking the british ship bosnia in september 1939.

Günther prien commanding officer u 47. During its career u 47 sank 31 enemy vessels including the british battleship hms royal oak at scapa flow in scotland on 14 october 1939. Korvettenkapitän u 156 werner hartenstein. Günther prien was a german u boat commander during world war ii.

U 380 u boat cap kptlt. Unmarked u boat captains cap. Deutsche u boot kapitäne schirmmütze. It was germany s highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to prien note 1 under prien s command the submarine u 47 was credited with sinking over 30 allied ships totaling about 200 000 gross register tons.

After a year on the light cruiser königsberg he transferred to the u boat force in october 1935. Prien günther born 16 01 1908 in osterfeld was one of three children of a judge. Germany kriegsmarine u boat commander. An accomplished seaman he d won his master s papers in the german merchant marine at 24 but could find no work which compelled him to join the national socialists in 1932 and the kriegsmarine in 1933.

O on the peaceful sunday afternoon of october 1 1939 exactly a month into world war two a small launch motored across the harbor at kiel germany to tie up beside the depot ship weichsel. U boat captains hat very worn. Hartmann patrolling in spanish waters during the civil war. Despite a short career one of the greatest u boat aces of wwii.

Prien joined the handelsflotte german merchant marine in mid 1923 after several years of work and study as a seaman prien passed the required examinations and became the fourth officer on a passenger liner. German submarine u 47 was a vii b type u boat built in 1937 in kiel germany and commissioned in 1938 under capt. Albrecht brandi knights cross winner u 566 hans hornkohl she wolf brunswick tradition badges.