Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 Aug

Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was the most successful German U-boat commander in the Second World War and later an admiral in the Bundesmarine. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern), among other awards. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto" both for his successful use of the "silent running" capability of U-boats as well and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war, he served in the German Federal Navy and retired in 1970 with the rank of Flottillenadmiral (flotilla admiral, equivalent to a US Navy Rear Admiral (lower half) or Commodore (Royal Navy)).

Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Prewar career
1.2 Second World War
1.3 A prisoner of war and postwar career
1.4 Achievements
2 Promotions
2.1 Reichsmarine
2.2 Kriegsmarine
2.3 Bundesmarine
3 Awards
4 Wehrmachtbericht references
5 References
5.1 Citations
5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
Biography[edit]
Prewar career[edit]
Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau, Neisse. At the age of seventeen he spent eight months living in England at Exeter, where he learned to speak English fluently. He joined the Reichsmarine in April 1930, attaining the rank of Seekadett (naval cadet) after completing officer training courses as well as three months aboard the training ship Niobe (1 July 1930 – 9 October 1930). He then spent a little over a year serving aboard the light cruiser Emden (10 October 1930 – 4 January 1932). In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the survey vessel Meteor for navigation training. In December 1934 he was transferred to another light cruiser, the Köln. Kretschmer remained aboard the Köln until he was transferred to the U-Boat force in January 1936, where he received extensive officer training and was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See.

Kretschmer's first command was the U-35, a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War; the boat was ordered to patrol an area off the Spanish coast. U-35 returned to Germany after an uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer took command of U-23, a Type IIB coastal U-Boat.

Second World War[edit]

Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-6787-27, Otto Kretschmer
The German invasion of Poland found Kretschmer still in command of U-23, and he was soon sent into action along with the rest of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat fleet. His first war patrols ranged across the North Sea and around the British coast. His initial success came in the Moray Firth where he attacked and sank the Danish 10,517 ton tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940, using torpedoes. The British admiralty at that time thought that the tanker had struck a mine as they did not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British fleet destroyer Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting convoy HN-12 from Norway. U-Boat crews almost always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Daring's destruction was rightly seen as a very skillful attack by both Kretschmer and U-23.

In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer was transferred to the newly completed Type VII B U-99, and in a sense began his legacy. After two months' training and shakedown maneuvers in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action in June 1940. During U-99's first four patrols, Kretschmer commenced attacking convoys at night on the surface, sinking merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo per target ship; the quote "one torpedo ... one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer around this time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely copied throughout the U-Boat force, although they achieved mixed results.

His most successful patrol occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers (AMC), HMS Laurentic (18,724 tons), HMS Patroclus (11,314 tons) and HMS Forfar (16,402 tons). Laurentic and Patroclus were attacked on the night of 3/4 November after they responded to distress calls from the 5,376 ton British freighter Casanare, which U-99 had mortally wounded about 250 miles west of Ireland. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join up with and escort the outbound convoy OB-251. The three AMCs totalled over 46,000 gross tons. These three successes earned Kretschmer the number-one spot on the Aces list, and was never surpassed. Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of U-521 on 2 June 1942. Siegfried von Forstner was another of Kretschmer's student officers aboard U-99 who later received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for sinking 15 ships as commanding officer of U-402.[1]

Kretschmer w

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

Otto Kretschmer (1 tháng 5, 1912 – 5 tháng 8 năm 1998) là người chỉ huy tàu ngầm U-boat của Đức thành công nhất trong chiến tranh thế giới thứ hai và sau đó một đô đốc trong Bundesmarine. Từ tháng 9 năm 1939 cho đến khi bị bắt tháng 3 năm 1941, ông đã đánh chìm tàu 47, tổng cộng là 274,333 tấn. Đối với điều này, ông đã nhận được một Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross với lá sồi và thanh kiếm (tiếng Đức: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern), trong số các giải thưởng khác. Ông giành được biệt danh "Im lặng Otto" cả cho mình sử dụng khả năng "im lặng chạy" chiếc u-Boat cũng thành công và miễn cưỡng của mình để truyền tải thông điệp phát thanh trong tuần tra. Sau cuộc chiến, ông phục vụ trong Hải quân Liên bang Đức và nghỉ hưu vào năm 1970 với cấp bậc Flottillenadmiral (đội đô đốc, tương đương với các chúng tôi Hải quân chuẩn đô đốc (nửa dưới) hoặc Commodore (Hải quân Hoàng gia)).Nội dung [hide] 1 tiểu sử1.1 với nghề nghiệp1.2 thế chiến thứ hai1.3 một tù binh chiến tranh và sau chiến tranh1.4 những thành tựuChương trình khuyến mãi 22.1 Elsass2.2 Hải quân Đức2.3 Bundesmarine3 giải thưởng4 tài liệu tham khảo Wehrmachtbericht5 tham khảo5.1 chú thích5.2 tài liệu6 liên kết ngoàiTiểu sử [sửa]Với sự nghiệp [sửa]Otto Kretschmer was born in Heidau, Neisse. At the age of seventeen he spent eight months living in England at Exeter, where he learned to speak English fluently. He joined the Reichsmarine in April 1930, attaining the rank of Seekadett (naval cadet) after completing officer training courses as well as three months aboard the training ship Niobe (1 July 1930 – 9 October 1930). He then spent a little over a year serving aboard the light cruiser Emden (10 October 1930 – 4 January 1932). In the second half of 1932 he briefly served on the survey vessel Meteor for navigation training. In December 1934 he was transferred to another light cruiser, the Köln. Kretschmer remained aboard the Köln until he was transferred to the U-Boat force in January 1936, where he received extensive officer training and was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See.Kretschmer's first command was the U-35, a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937. This appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War; the boat was ordered to patrol an area off the Spanish coast. U-35 returned to Germany after an uneventful patrol during which no ships were sunk. In September 1937, Kretschmer took command of U-23, a Type IIB coastal U-Boat.Second World War[edit]Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-6787-27, Otto KretschmerThe German invasion of Poland found Kretschmer still in command of U-23, and he was soon sent into action along with the rest of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat fleet. His first war patrols ranged across the North Sea and around the British coast. His initial success came in the Moray Firth where he attacked and sank the Danish 10,517 ton tanker Danmark on 12 January 1940, using torpedoes. The British admiralty at that time thought that the tanker had struck a mine as they did not suspect there was a U-boat in the area. On 18 February, Kretschmer sank the 1,300 ton British fleet destroyer Daring off the Pentland Firth while she was escorting convoy HN-12 from Norway. U-Boat crews almost always avoided deliberately engaging enemy destroyers, so Daring's destruction was rightly seen as a very skillful attack by both Kretschmer and U-23.In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer was transferred to the newly completed Type VII B U-99, and in a sense began his legacy. After two months' training and shakedown maneuvers in German waters, Kretschmer took the boat into action in June 1940. During U-99's first four patrols, Kretschmer commenced attacking convoys at night on the surface, sinking merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo per target ship; the quote "one torpedo ... one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer around this time. Kretschmer's tactics were widely copied throughout the U-Boat force, although they achieved mixed results.
His most successful patrol occurred in November and December 1940 when U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers (AMC), HMS Laurentic (18,724 tons), HMS Patroclus (11,314 tons) and HMS Forfar (16,402 tons). Laurentic and Patroclus were attacked on the night of 3/4 November after they responded to distress calls from the 5,376 ton British freighter Casanare, which U-99 had mortally wounded about 250 miles west of Ireland. Forfar was sunk on 2 December while steaming to join up with and escort the outbound convoy OB-251. The three AMCs totalled over 46,000 gross tons. These three successes earned Kretschmer the number-one spot on the Aces list, and was never surpassed. Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99 under Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of U-521 on 2 June 1942. Siegfried von Forstner was another of Kretschmer's student officers aboard U-99 who later received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for sinking 15 ships as commanding officer of U-402.[1]

Kretschmer w