Herbert Kuppisch

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Herbert Kuppisch (June 1941)

Herbert Otto Kuppisch (born December 10, 1909 in Hamburg , † August 27, 1943 in the Sargasso Sea ) was a highly decorated German naval officer and submarine commander in World War II .

Life

Herbert Kuppisch was one of the few officers who spent almost their entire career in the U-Bootwaffe. He entered the officer's career at a relatively advanced age - nothing is known about his previous career as a team rank. Herbert Kuppisch was in command of U 58 , U 94 , U 516 and U 847 . On his patrols he sank a total of 16 merchant ships with 82,109 GRT.

career

Herbert Kuppisch's military career began in October 1933 as a sea officer candidate in the Reichsmarine. After successfully completing various training courses and ensign courses, he started training on board the light cruiser Königsberg . The submarine school followed in September 1935, where he served as a company officer from January 1, 1936. From September 1936 Kuppisch attended courses at the submarine school and also at the Mürwik naval school in Flensburg - Mürwik . In May 1937 he was an officer on watch on U 2 . But just a few days later he was transferred to U 29 , where he was doing his duty as a second watch officer. Between October 1937 and January 1939 he served in this position on U 9 and U 23 . In February he got his first command on U 58 . On seven patrols with this boat, he sank four ships and laid a minefield off the English coast.

Commander on U 94

In July 1940, Kuppisch took command of U 94 in Kiel . He started the first patrol in November of the same year. In the North Atlantic, U 94 operated against the convoy HX 90 reported by U 101 , which was traveling from Halifax . Kuppisch managed to sink two ships and seriously damage another. The boat then set out for its new base at St. Nazaire , where it arrived on December 31st. After U 94 was overhauled and re-equipped there, it returned to the North Atlantic. During this second patrol, Commander Kuppisch was able to sink three ships. The next patrol took place in April 1941, where he was able to sink a ship of the convoy SC 24 and the Lincoln Ellsworth in the Denmark Strait . The next patrol with U 94 led Kuppisch south of Iceland. The boat was operating there against the convoys ON 318 and HX 126 . Both convoys were tracked down and reported by Commander Kuppisch. In the course of this patrol, Kuppisch was informed that the Knight's Cross had been awarded.

death

After he had sunk three ships from the HX 126 convoy on May 20, 1941, he returned to St. Nazaire. There he gave up command of U 94 . Kuppisch became 3rd Admiralsstabsoffizier in the operations department of the BdU. After he had changed his position in June 1942, he was commanded as an advisor to the naval command in December of the same year . At the end of June 1943, Kuppisch briefly took over command of U 516 , and then from July 1, command of U 847 , which was subordinate to the 12th U-Flotilla. On its first exit, a month later, U 847 had the task of auxiliary tanker. Herbert Kuppisch and his team took care of submarines that were returning to their bases from American and West African waters. After eight submarines could be refueled, U 847 was discovered on August 27 by aircraft belonging to the US escort carrier USS Card . The boat was sunk by a torpedo, with the loss of the entire crew.

Ranks

Awards

In addition to the awards listed below, Herbert Kuppisch was mentioned twice (June 1940 and May 1941) in the Wehrmacht report .

literature

  • R. Busch, HJ Röll "The U-Boat War, Volume 1. The German U-Boat Commanders" , Verlag Mittler & Sohn (Hamburg), 1996 ISBN 3-8132-0509-6
  • R. Busch, HJ Röll "Der U-Boot-Krieg Volume 5. The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon" , Verlag Mittler & Sohn (Hamburg), 2003 ISBN 3-8132-0509-6

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Busch, Röll, Vol. 5, p. 127.
  2. ↑ a b Busch, Röll vol. 1, p. 137
  3. ↑ Busch, Röll, Vol. 5, p. 124.
personal data
SURNAME Kuppisch, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kuppisch, Herbert Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and submarine commander in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH August 27, 1943
Place of death Sargasso lake