Albrecht Brandi
Albrecht Brandi (born June 20, 1914 in Dortmund , † January 6, 1966 in Cologne ) was a German naval officer and submarine commander of the Navy and one of 27 owners of the oak leaves with swords and diamonds for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In total, he sank nine merchant ships with 29,339 GRT as well as two destroyers and a mine cruiser.
Prewar years
Brandi, son of the mining engineer Ernst Brandi , joined the Navy on April 1, 1935 as a sea officer candidate and was assigned to the 2nd Department of the Baltic Sea Ship Mastery in Stralsund . There he received his basic infantry training, which he completed on September 25, 1935 with his appointment as a midshipman . Brandi then completed his on-board training from September 26, 1935 to June 19, 1936 on the sailing training ship Gorch Fock and the light cruiser Karlsruhe . Then he began on June 20, 1936 at the Naval School Mürwik in Flensburg - Mürwik the main course for ensigns. From April 1, 1937 to October 1, 1937, Brandi completed various ensign weapons courses, where he was appointed ensign at sea on July 1, 1937 . On October 2, 1937 he was III. Officer on watch on board the M 125 minesweeper . He held this position until October 1, 1937. On October 2, 1937, he became an officer on watch on the M 1 minesweeper , where he was promoted to senior ensign at sea on January 1, 1938 and to lieutenant at sea on April 1, 1938 .
Second World War
Promotions
- Midshipman on September 25, 1935
- Ensign at sea on July 1, 1936
- Oberfähnrich zur See on January 1, 1938
- Lieutenant at sea on April 1, 1938
- Oberleutnant zur See on October 1, 1939
- Lieutenant on October 1, 1942
- Corvette Captain on June 8, 1944
- Frigate Captain on December 18, 1944
1 patrol with U 552
- December 25, 1941 to January 27, 1942
(as a commanding student)
7 patrols with U 617
- August 29, 1942 to October 7, 1942
(4 ships of 15,079 GRT sunk) - November 2, 1942 to November 28, 1942
- December 21, 1942 to January 17, 1943
(3 ships with 6,996 GRT sunk) - January 27, 1943 to February 13, 1943
(2 ships with 7,264 GRT and 1 cruiser with 2,650 ts sunk) - March 25, 1943 to April 17, 1943
- May 31, 1943 to July 20, 1943
- August 28, 1943 to September 12, 1943
(1 destroyer with 1,050 ts sunk)
1 patrol with U 380
- December 20, 1943 to January 21, 1944
1 patrol with U 967
- April 11, 1944 to May 17, 1944
(1 destroyer with 1,300 ts sunk)
On M 1 , Brandi, under the commandant Hans Bartels, was involved in covering the loss-making operation against the Polish Westerplatte near Danzig during the attack on Poland , and then in the early morning hours of February 24, 1940 in the Doggerbank area, he was also involved in the sinking carried out without prior warning the four Danish fishing trawlers Ejjam (E 92), Gerlis (E 456), Merkator (E 348) and Polaris (E 504) based in Esbjerg by ramming. Bartels reported to his superiors that "for military reasons" no one was rescued by the cutter crews; 16 fishermen from then neutral Denmark lost their lives.
On May 25, 1940, Brandi became the successor of Hans Bartels, in command of the boat and during this time he came into contact with this type of ship for the first time when securing the transfer of submarines from their shipyards. In April 1941, after a previously given refusal, he switched to the submarine weapon. Here he began submarine training at the Mürwik Naval School that same month , which he completed on December 24, 1941.
On December 25, 1941 Brandi became a commanding student on U 552 under the command of Erich Topp , with whom he undertook his first patrol from December 25, 1941 to January 27, 1942. Brandi then left U 552 and was delegated on January 28, 1942 to the building instruction for U 617 , of which he became commander on April 9, 1942. The boat was taken over in Kiel . Already on the subsequent transfer trip to St. Nazaire , the boat was able to sink four enemy ships. In November 1942, meanwhile promoted to captainleutnant on October 1, 1942 , Brandi damaged a destroyer and sank a ship while on another patrol. Due to new orders, he then broke through the Strait of Gibraltar , where he was attacked by a British naval plane and security ships. However, U 617 was able to master this difficult passage undamaged. From November 1942 to September 1943 Brandi was stationed in Toulon and La Spezia in the Mediterranean . During a patrol at the end of 1942, there was an encounter with a British submarine. After three hours of watching each other, Brandi dived and continued his patrol. On his return he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on January 21, 1943.
On the next patrol he sank the British mine cruiser HMS Welshman , which was important for the defense of Malta . For the subsequent sinking of the destroyer HMS Puckeridge , Brandi was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. During the patrol he also sighted the two British aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious and HMS Formidable , but could not attack them because of a poor firing position. On September 11, 1943, his submarine was so badly damaged by British aircraft of the 179th Squadron that Brandi had to give the order to scuttling near the Spanish coast. Brandi's crew reached the coast, partly in rubber dinghies and partly swimming, where they were picked up by Spanish troops and interned in Cádiz . Brandi and his team returned to Germany in November 1943.
In December 1943 Brandi was appointed commander of U 380 , with whom he only ran out on one patrol without success. On March 11, 1944, U 380 was destroyed on Liegekai in Toulon by an air raid by the 15th USAAF. Brandi then took over command of U 967 in April 1944 . After completing two more patrols, where he sank the US destroyer USS Fechteler on May 5, 1944 , he was awarded the Knight's Cross. On June 8, 1944, he was promoted to corvette captain. An illness forced Brandi to take a cure until September 1944, which is why he had to give up command of U 967 .
After his recovery, Brandi was entrusted with the management of the submarine combat units in the Baltic Sea and received the brilliant knight's cross for his achievements. Up until then, the Kriegsmarine provided only two of the 22 Wehrmacht soldiers who had been awarded the diamonds , and the award to Brandi was intended to increase the motivation of the submarine drivers. In January 1945 he became chief of the small combat units of the Kriegsmarine in the Netherlands, where he served from February 3, 1945 as division commander of the 5th K-Division of the small submarines of the "Seal" type with a command post in IJmuiden ( Netherlands ) and at the same time as training commander of training command 300, which was responsible for training the future seal crews. On May 6, 1945 Brandi surrendered with his unit to the Canadian armed forces in IJmuiden. Shortly afterwards he became the commandant of the nearby prisoner of war camp in IJmuiden . In September 1945 he was released from captivity .
post war period
After the war, Brandi completed his journeyman's examination as a bricklayer in order to prepare for his subsequent profession as an architect . He was accepted at the Essen State Building School and in 1950 went into business for himself as an architect. In this role he worked in various countries, including Saudi Arabia . For three years he was chairman of the Association of German Architects in Dortmund . Brandi was involved in the Rotary Club and was chairman of the Westphalia district from 1964 until his death . Brandi died unexpectedly in 1966. At his funeral, representatives of the German Navy and several crew members of the submarines under his command were present.
Awards
- Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class April 1940
- Submarine War Badge (1939) October 8, 1942
- Submarine war badge with diamonds July 1944
-
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds
- Knight's Cross on January 21, 1943
- Oak leaves on April 11, 1943 (224th award)
- Swords on May 19, 1944 (66th award)
- Diamonds on November 24, 1944 (22nd award)
- Mentioned in the Wehrmacht report on April 14, 1943
See also
- List of bearers of oak leaves with swords for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Naval Officer (Germany)
literature
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon from 1939 to May 1945 . Volume 5 from The Submarine War 1939–1945. Verlag ES Mittler & Sohn 2003, ISBN 3-8132-0515-0 , pp. 308-314.
- Franz Kurowski : Albrecht Brandi , in this: Hunters of the Seven Seas. The most famous submarine commanders of World War II. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1998 (2nd edition), pages 367-382. ISBN 3-613-01633-8 . (Biographical, representation of the patrols)
- Died: Albrecht Brandi . In: Der Spiegel . No. 4 , 1966, pp. 90 ( online ).
Web links
- Albrecht Brandi in the database of uboat.net (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 239.
- ↑ a b Bodo Herzog, Günter Schomaekers: Knight of the Deep. Gray wolves. The most successful submarine commanders in the world. 2nd Edition. Verlag Welsermühl, Munich-Wels 1976, ISBN 3-85339-136-2 , pp. 165-170.
- ↑ Hans Bartels: Battle report on the sinking of four Danish fishing boats .
- ^ Sea War February 1940. Württemberg State Library Stuttgart
- ↑ Failure to provide assistance to or shooting of castaways. Württemberg State Library Stuttgart.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Brandi, Albrecht |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German naval officer, most recently frigate captain and submarine commander in World War II |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 20, 1914 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Dortmund |
DATE OF DEATH | January 6, 1966 |
Place of death | Cologne |