Joachim Schepke

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Joachim Schepke (born March 8, 1912 in Flensburg , † March 17, 1941 in the North Atlantic near Iceland ) was a German naval officer and submarine commander in World War II , most recently with the rank of lieutenant captain .

Life

Schepke, son of naval officer Botho Schepke (1881 - before 1950), joined the Reichsmarine on April 1, 1930 ( crew 30 ). On October 1, 1935, he was assigned to submarine training and was given command of U 3 in 1938 , with which he achieved success after the outbreak of war. After a temporary command of U 19 and a brief staff position, Schepke was given command of U 100 , a type VII B boat .

Joachim Schepke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on September 24, 1940 . The difference between the actual and sunk tonnage reported by Lieutenant Schepke is striking. On December 1, the commander of U 100 was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, as the criterion valid at that time - the sinking of 200,000 GRT - was considered to have been met. The Wehrmacht report stated a total tonnage of 233,971 GRT. After comparing the German documents with those of the Allies, Schepke, as the commander, is now assigned the sinking of 36 ships with 155,882 GRT and the damage to four other ships with 17,229 GRT.

On the sixth war patrol U was 100 on March 17, 1941 in the attack on the convoy HX 112 from the British destroyers HMS Walker and HMS VANOC with water bombs heavily damaged and while trying emerged from the night battle withdraw from the pursuing HMS VANOC with radar located, rammed and sunk. Schepke was trapped between the periscope and the bridge and died as a result. Only six men of the U 100 crew survived the sinking of the boat. The loss of the boat and the death of the commander were only announced to the public after Winston Churchill announced Schepke's death in a speech to the House of Commons. From the German side, his death was only confirmed in the Wehrmacht report on April 25, 1941 .

Schepke was a favorite of the propaganda and in 1940 he published the book "U-boat drivers of today", which he illustrated himself. In February 1941, Schepke spoke to thousands of Berlin schoolchildren about the submarine war in the Berlin Sports Palace . According to a British report Schepke and his crew were "during the ten weeks she spent in Germany, almost non-stop used for propaganda purposes." . After his death, Schepke continued to be portrayed by the Propaganda Ministry as a special role model for German youth.

Fonts

  • Joachim Schepke: Today's submarine driver. German publisher, Berlin 1940.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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. 659.
  2. ↑ Janusz Piekałkiewicz : Sea War 1939-1945. Bechtermünz Verlag, ISBN 3-8289-0304-5 , p. 128.
  3. ↑ a b Busch, Röll, p. 71.
  4. ↑ Busch, Röll, p. 74.
  5. ↑ Janusz Piekałkiewicz : Sea War 1939-1945. Bechtermünz Verlag, ISBN 3-8289-0304-5 , p. 128.
  6. ^ Blair, p. 314.
  7. ↑ Janusz Piekałkiewicz : Sea War 1939-1945. Bechtermünz Verlag, ISBN 3-8289-0304-5 , p. 115.
  8. ↑ John Costello, Terry Hughes: Atlantic Battle - The War at Sea 1939-1945. ISBN 3-404-65038-7 , p. 198.
personal data
SURNAME Schepke, Joachim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and submarine commander in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Flensburg
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1941
Place of death North Atlantic near Iceland