Reinhold Saltzwedel

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Reinhold Saltzwedel (born November 23, 1889 in Rosenberg , Upper Silesia , † December 2, 1917 at sea in the English Channel ) was a German naval officer (first lieutenant in the sea ) and submarine commander in the First World War .

Life

Reinhold Saltzwedel was born on November 23, 1889 in Rosenberg in Upper Silesia as the son of a pastor . He joined the Imperial Navy and was a lieutenant at sea on board the ship of the line Kaiser at the outbreak of the First World War . Here he was promoted to lieutenant at sea on September 19, 1914.

In May 1915 he enlisted in the submarine school and was then transferred to the submarine flotilla Flanders in Zeebrugge , where he took command of UB 10 on January 13, 1916 (until June 18, 1916). This was followed by commands on UC 10 (June 14 to 26, 1916), UC 11 (August 12 to 20, 1916), UC 21 (September 15, 1916 to June 9, 1917), UC 71 (June 10 to June 13 , 1916) September 1917) and finally UB 81 (from August 18, 1917). On his second patrol with this boat, Saltzwedel died with 28 men of his crew on December 2nd when UB 81 ran into a mine and sank.

Saltzwedel and his crew sank 111 allied merchant ships with a total of 170,526 GRT on 22 patrols , including the successful British submarine trap HMS Dunraven (3,117 GRT) and the hospital ship HMHS Donegal (1,885 GRT). This made him one of the most successful German submarine commanders of the First World War. Reinhold Saltzwedel was a bearer of the Iron Cross II and I class and, since August 20, 1917, of the order Pour le Mérite .

The 2nd submarine flotilla of the German Navy in Wilhelmshaven , founded in 1936, was named "Saltzwedel" in his honor. A swimming pier, the Saltzwedelbrücke, at the Kiel naval base is named after him.

literature

  • Hans Steen: U-Bootfallen im Kampf ( In memory of the heroic fight and death of Oberleutnant zur See Reinhold Saltzwedel ), Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart, 1939
  • Reinhold Saltzwedel: The cold-blooded submarine trap , in: Werner von Langsdorff (Hrsg.): U-Boats am Feind. Forty-five German submarine drivers report , Gütersloh 1941 (11th edition) (on the battle with the Q-ship Dunraven )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Saltzwedel, Reinhold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer (first lieutenant in the sea) and submarine commander in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Rosenberg , Upper Silesia
DATE OF DEATH December 2, 1917
Place of death at sea English Channel