Kurt Beitzen
Kurt Beitzen (born May 21, 1885 in Hildesheim , † September 1918 at sea near Orkney ) was a German naval officer and submarine commander in the First World War .
Life
Kurt Beitzen was born in Hildesheim in 1885. He joined the Imperial Navy and took part in the First World War as a naval officer. On October 17, 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant captain. Beitzen was in command of three deep-sea submarines: U 75 (March 26, 1916 to May 1, 1917), U 98 (May 31, 1917 to November 24, 1917) and U 102 (November 26, 1917 to September 1918). Beitzen waged a trade war in the eastern North Atlantic and sank eleven merchant ships of warring powers, but also of neutral states , with a total tonnage of over 15,000 GRT .
On June 5, 1916, the British armored cruiser HMS Hampshire ran west of the Orkney Islands on a mine that had been laid by U 75 under Beitzen's command at the end of May 1916 . The British Minister of War, Lord Kitchener , who was on a diplomatic mission to Russia , was killed in the process - under circumstances that are still unclear .
In 1915, Beitzen received the Iron Cross First Class for his military services and in 1917 the Friedrich August Cross .
In September 1918, Beitzen ran out with U 102 on his last patrol into the waters around the Orkney Islands. It can be assumed that the submarine ran into a mine in the Northern Barrage , an extensive barrier belt around the Orkney and Shetland Islands . The wreck has since been found. It is east of the Orkney Islands.
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Graefelfing: Urbes, 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , p. 57.
- ↑ Memorial plaque for U 102 at the submarine memorial in Möltenort
- ↑ World War 1 Submarines Found by Anglian Sovereign. Archived from the original on November 12, 2009 ; accessed on May 27, 2016 .
- ↑ wrecksite.eu: U-102
Web links
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Beitzen, Kurt |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German naval officer |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 21, 1885 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Hildesheim |
DATE OF DEATH | September 1918 |
Place of death | at sea near Orkney |