Heinrich love

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Heinrich Liebe (born January 29, 1908 in Gotha , † July 27, 1997 in Eisenach ) was a German naval officer and submarine commander in World War II . He sank 32 ships with 181,812 GRT on nine ventures .

Life

Imperial Navy and Wehrmacht

Love came into effect on April 5, 1927 cadets of the Navy , where he for the October 11, 1927 midshipmen was appointed. He completed his first basic infantry training at the 2nd Ship Mastery Department of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund . He then completed his practical on-board training from July 4, 1927 on the sailing training ship Niobe and from November 1, 1927 on the light cruiser Berlin . Here he was appointed Marine Corporal on April 1, 1928 . From March 29, 1929 to March 29, 1930 Liebe graduated from the Mürwik Naval Schoolan ensign training course. Here he was promoted to ensign at sea on April 1, 1929 and then to chief mate on November 1, 1929 . After completing his course, in June 1929 and October 1929 he took part in two navigation instruction drives on the Frauenlob tender and on the survey ship Meteor . From March 30, 1930 to February 9, 1931, Liebe completed a series of ensign training courses , such as the ensign blocking course, ensign communications course, ensign artillery course, the ensign anti-aircraft machine weapons course and another ensign infantry course. After graduation, with effect from June 1, 1931, he was appointed Oberfähnrich zur See , he resumed his on-board training on the liner Schleswig-Holstein , where he was promoted to lieutenant on October 1, 1931 . After a radio course, he came on April 6, 1932 as 2nd radio engineer on the ship of the line Schleswig-Holstein , where he was appointed lieutenant at sea on October 1, 1933 .

On April 1, 1934, Liebe became adjutant in the 1st Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla and in September 1935 switched to submarine weapons. He completed his submarine course from September 30, 1935 to September 30, 1936. On October 1, 1936, while being appointed captain lieutenant, he was in command of the submarine U 2 in the submarine school and instructed new submarines -Driver. On April 22, 1938, he was promoted to commandant of the submarine school in this position. In mid-August 1938 he took part in the building instruction for the submarine U 38 under construction , and was appointed its commander on October 24, 1938.

Second World War

Patrols with U 38

  1. 19 August 1939 to 18 September 1939 (2 ships with 16,698 GRT sunk)
  2. November 14, 1939 to December 16, 1939 (3 ships with 13,629 GRT sunk)
  3. February 26, 1940 to April 5, 1940 (5 ships of 14,309 GRT sunk)
  4. April 8, 1940 to April 27, 1940
  5. June 6, 1940 to July 2, 1940 (6 ships with 30,353 GRT sunk)
  6. August 1, 1940 to September 3, 1940 (2 ships with 12,439 GRT sunk)
  7. September 25, 1940 to October 24, 1940 (4 ships with 30,345 GRT sunk)
  8. December 18, 1940 to January 22, 1941 (2 ships with 16,760 GRT sunk)
  9. April 9, 1941 to June 24, 1941 (8 ships with 47,279 GRT sunk)

After the outbreak of the Second World War, which began with the attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, Liebe, as commander of U 38, was initially entrusted with security trips in the North Atlantic and later in the North Sea on the Norwegian north coast. In this context, Liebe was able to sink five ships on two patrols by the end of 1939. In 1940 he was able to sink another twelve ships on five patrols, for which he was named in the Wehrmacht report on July 5, 1940 . For his continuing successes he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 14, 1940 . In 1941 another two patrols followed, on which Liebe was again able to sink ten ships with 64,039 GRT. For this he was mentioned again twice in the Wehrmacht report and on June 10, 1941, he was honored with the oak leaf knight's cross of the Iron Cross.

After his ninth and last patrol with U 38 , Liebe was relieved of his commanding post in order to work in the naval high command as an advisor to the naval command from July 15, 1941 . He held this position until August 1944. In this position he was promoted to corvette captain on December 1, 1941 . On August 14, 1944 love changed as a consultant in the area of ​​the commander of the submarines , where he worked in the central department. During his service there, Liebe was appointed frigate captain on September 17, 1944 . He then held his position until May 8, 1945.

post war period

From May 8, 1945 to June 30, 1947, Liebe worked as a news group leader for seafarers at the German Hydrographic Institute . After he had refused to join the KVP-See in the GDR, he then worked as a cemetery gardener in his native Gotha.

Awards

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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. 504.
personal data
SURNAME Dear Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and submarine commander in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Gotha
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1997
Place of death Eisenach