Kurt Beitzen

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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

  1. ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Graefelfing: Urbes, 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , p. 57.
  2. ↑ Memorial plaque for U 102 at the submarine memorial in Möltenort
  3. ↑ World War 1 Submarines Found by Anglian Sovereign. Archived from the original on November 12, 2009 ; accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  4. ↑ wrecksite.eu: U-102

Web links

personal data
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