Otto Ites

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto Christian Ites (born February 5, 1918 in Norden , † February 2, 1982 ibid), was a German naval officer , most recently rear admiral in the German Navy .

Life

Navy

Ites' parents were the high school teacher Harmannus Ites (1874–1971) and Mathilde, geb. Swart (1889–1961), daughter of the farmer Otto Christian Swart, owner of Groß-Langhaus, Westermarsch . Otto Ites' twin brother Rudolf Ites (February 5, 1918– March 1, 1944) was like his brother in the Navy , most recently as commander of U 709 in the rank of first lieutenant at sea . He went down on March 1, 1944 with his submarine sunk by three American destroyers north of the Azores with the entire crew.

On April 3, 1936, Otto Ites joined the Navy at the age of 18 and, after completing his training, served on the torpedo boats Kondor and Albatros . He was on 10 September 1936 midshipman , on 1 May 1937 ensign , on 1 July 1938 Midshipman and 1 October 1938 Ensign promoted.

On October 3, 1938, he was posted to the submarine school, where he completed a U-course. He was then used as the second officer on watch on U 48 . On this boat took Ites at nine patrols in part: five under Herbert Schultze and two under Hans-Rudolf Rösing and Heinrich Bleichrodt . On October 1, 1940, he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea and went - now as first officer on watch - with U 48 on another patrol from November 10, 1940 to March 13, 1941 again under the command of Herbert Schultze. Ites then completed his commanders training course and then took command of U 146 on March 31, 1941 .

Patrols

U 146

  1. June 17, 1941 to July 14, 1941 (1 ship with 3,496 GRT sunk)
  2. July 26, 1941 to August 11, 1941

U 94

  1. September 2, 1941 to October 15, 1941 (4 ships with 29,319 GRT sunk)
  2. January 12, 1942 to January 30, 1942
  3. February 12, 1942 to April 2, 1942 (4 ships with 21,809 GRT sunk)
  4. May 4, 1942 to June 23, 1942 (7 ships with 30,280 GRT sunk)
  5. August 3, 1942 to August 28, 1942

With this boat he was able to sink a ship with 3,496 GRT on two patrols from April 7, 1941 to August 26, 1941. On August 29, 1941, he took over the much larger U 94 from Herbert Kuppisch as commander . Ites undertook a total of five patrols with this boat and sank a total of 15 ships with 81,408 GRT. Ites was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on March 28, 1942 for his success .

On August 28, 1942, U 94 was bombed in the Caribbean Sea east of Kingston (Jamaica) by a Catalina flying boat of the US Navy Squadron VP-92, and then by the Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville at position 17 ° 40 ′  N , 74 ° 30 ′  W in the marine grid square EC 1613 sunk by rams. There were 19 dead and 26 survivors, including Ites, who was then taken prisoner by the United States on May 1, 1946 .

After the Second World War

On his return to Germany, Ites enrolled in winter semester 1946/47 at the University of Bonn to dentistry to study. Ites received his doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine on October 20, 1950. He then worked as a dentist for a few years, but joined the German Navy in 1956 with the rank of frigate captain . In 1958 he became a consultant in the naval command .

In 1960 he commissioned destroyer 2 (formerly USS Ringgold ) as the second destroyer taken over from the USA as part of the construction of the German Navy and led it until 1962.

After promotions to captain at sea (1964) and flotilla admiral (1971), during this time (October 1968 to March 1971) he was commander of the naval location school in Bremerhaven , he became admiral naval training in the naval office , which he took over as head of office in April 1975 . In the same year he was promoted to rear admiral. In 1977 Ites retired from this position. He died in 1982 in his hometown Norden.

Awards

literature

Others

Ites was mentioned by name twice in the Wehrmacht report: on March 30, 1942 and on June 18, 1942.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The grave of Otto Ites on the website www.grabsteine-ostfriesland.de; accessed on September 17, 2015
  2. ↑ a b c The grave of Harmannus Ites on the website www.grabsteine-ostfriesland.de; accessed on September 17, 2015
  3. ^ Photo by Rudolf Ites on denkmalprojekt.org
  4. ↑ Information on Rudolf Ites at ubootarchiv.de
  5. ↑ Information on U-709 at ubootarchiv.de
  6. ^ Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Jäger 1939-1942 , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X , p. 404
predecessor Office successor
Günter Luther Head of the Naval Office
1975–1977 		Horst Geffers
personal data
SURNAME Ites, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ites, Otto Christian (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH north
DATE OF DEATH 2nd February 1982
Place of death north