Heinz Hirsacker

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Heinz Hirsacker (* 14. August 1914 in Lübeck ; † 24. April 1943 in Kiel ) was German submarine - commander in World War II , who was sentenced to death for alleged cowardice before the enemy.

Military background

Heinz Hirsacker joined the Reichsmarine in 1934 . From August to December 1937 he was the second officer on watch on U 36 .

Second World War

At the beginning of the war he served as first watch officer on the Type IX B boats U 64 and U 124 . On January 9, 1941, he was promoted to lieutenant captain . On May 29, 1941, he took over the Type VII boat U 572 as commander . Hirsacker carried out six patrols with this boat:

  1. September 2, 1941 to October 2, 1941
  2. October 30, 1941 to November 29, 1941
  3. January 7, 1942 to February 10, 1942
  4. March 14, 1942 to May 14, 1942
  5. June 30, 1942 to September 3, 1942
  6. October 12, 1942 to November 22, 1942

During these voyages the crew was at sea for a total of 267 days, during which time the boat sank three ships with 14,813 GRT and damaged one ship with 6,207 GRT. During the voyages, U 572 belonged to several submarine groups:

  • Brandenburg Group (September 15, 1941 - October 1, 1941)
  • Störtebecker Group (November 5, 1941 - November 19, 1941)
  • Group Gödecke (November 19, 1941 - November 26, 1941)
  • Hai Group (July 3, 1942 - July 21, 1942)
  • Battleaxe Group (October 20, 1942 - November 2, 1942)
  • Group Schlagetot (November 9, 1942 - November 16, 1942)

On the third patrol in January 1942, he failed to break through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, which earned him bad reviews from Admiral Karl Dönitz .

On October 20, 1942, U 572 and nine other boats in the battle ax group were placed on the SL 125 convoy . In the days from October 27 to November 1, eight submarines sank twelve ships with 80,000 GRT and damaged seven other ships with 46,750 GRT . U 572 was not involved. The boat was parked to patrol Lisbon. Before Hirsacker even reached his new area of ​​operations, he received orders to attack troop transports of the landing forces of Operation Torch , the Allied landing in Morocco. This happened in the group Schlagetot with nine other boats. Four ships with 43,766 GRT were sunk from two boats and three ships with 19,915 GRT were damaged. Again, U 572 was unsuccessful.

Sentenced to death for "cowardice before the enemy" and suicide

In response to the poor performance of the boat, he was released from his command on December 18. First he was transferred to destroyers Z10 and Z33 , but then charged with “cowardice in front of the enemy” and sentenced to death by shooting. Alongside Oskar Kusch, he was one of two German submarine commanders who were sentenced to death in World War II.

At Hirsacker's request, a friend smuggled a pistol into the naval remand prison in Kiel-Wik, with which he shot himself on April 24, 1943.

Promotions

Awards

literature

  • LG Buchheim among others: U-boat war. Piper, 2001, ISBN 3-492-04042-X . (contains photos from the encounter of U 96 under Lehmann-Willenbrock with U 572 under Hirsacker)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hirsacker, Heinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German submarine commander and victim of the Nazi justice system
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Lübeck
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1943
Place of death Kiel