Robert Gysae

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Robert Karl Friedrich Gysae (born January 4, 1911 in Berlin-Charlottenburg , † April 26, 1989 in Wilhelmshaven ) was a German naval officer , most recently a flotilla admiral of the German Navy . During the Second World War he was a submarine commander, where he succeeded in sinking 25 ships with 146,815 GRT during eight patrols .

Life

Imperial Navy

Gysae joined the Reichsmarine on April 8, 1931 as a sea officer candidate. There he was assigned to the 2nd ship master division of the Baltic Sea and received his first infantry basic training in Stralsund . He completed his practical on-board training on June 30, 1931 on the sailing training ship Niobe ; He continued this from October 17, 1931 on the light cruiser Karlsruhe . There Gysae received his appointment as sea ​​cadet on April 1, 1932 and his promotion to ensign at sea on January 1, 1933. On January 5, 1933, he began an ensign infantry course at the 2nd ship master division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund March 1933 the one-year ensign course at the Naval School Mürwik . During this time, Gysae was promoted to chief mate on July 1, 1933 . Subsequently he completed the ensign blocking course in Kiel-Wik from March 29, 1934 . As early as April 26, 1934, Gysae attended an ensign artillery course at the same facility and then, from July 1, 1934, the ensign torpedo course. From August 23, 1934, an ensign anti-aircraft machine weapons course at the coastal artillery school in Wilhelmshaven followed. He then attended the ensign intelligence course in Flensburg - Mürwik from September 8, 1934, and the ensign underwater defense course at the submarine defense school in Kiel from September 25, 1934. On October 2, 1934, Gysae resumed his practical on-board training and spent it on the ship of the line Hessen and, from November 12, 1934, on the ironclad Admiral Scheer . Here Gysae was appointed Oberfähnrich zur See with effect from January 1, 1935 and then on April 1, 1935 as a lieutenant at sea .

Navy

On June 19, 1935, Gysae began an officer training course at the ship artillery school in Kiel-Wik and was then assigned to the 2nd torpedo boat flotilla from September 26, 1935. There he was deployed on the torpedo boats Albatros and Leopard , where he acted as an officer on watch (AO). From December 2, 1935, Gysae attended a course for signal officers at the Flensburg-Mürwik news school and returned to the 2nd torpedo boat flotilla on December 8, 1935. Here he was used alternately on the torpedo boats Albatros and Leopard as a second officer on watch. With effect from January 1, 1937, Gysae received his promotion to first lieutenant at sea . In this function he changed from September 6, 1937 to the fleet command staff and became a flag lieutenant on the staff of Admiral Rolf Carls . He held this position until October 24, 1938. In the meantime, Gysae completed another course for signal officers. Gysae received his first command on October 25, 1938. He became the commander of the T-107 torpedo boat .

Second World War

Shortly before the end of the attack on Poland , Gysae was promoted to captainleutnant with effect from October 1, 1939 and appointed to the flotilla commander of the torpedo boat flotilla with effect from October 31, 1939. In the spring of 1940, Gysae switched to the submarine weapon and was made available to the commander of the submarines from April 1, 1940 . During this time he attended various submarine courses and from September 16 took part in a building instruction for U 98 . After its commissioning on October 12, 1940, Gysae became its first commandant.

On his first patrol, which took him to the North Atlantic from March 13 to April 11, 1941 , his boat was able to sink four ships of 15,588 GRT. His second patrol began on May 1 and ended on May 28, 1941. U 98 was again able to sink three ships of 23,307 GRT. For these services Gysae was named on May 23, 1941 in the Wehrmacht report . The third patrol lasted from June 25 to July 23, 1941 and ended with the sinking of two ships with 10,842 GRT. His fourth patrol from August 30 to September 27, 1941 led Gysae again to the North Atlantic, where U 98 was able to sink a ship with 4,392 GRT. The fifth patrol, from October 29 to November 29, 1941, was unsuccessful. On November 23, 1941, Gysae was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his achievements to date. His sixth and last patrol with U 98 began on January 18 and lasted until February 27, 1942. On February 15, 1942, the British steamer Biela (5,298 GRT) was torpedoed and sunk. On March 24, 1942 Gysae handed over the command of U 98 to Corvette Captain Wilhelm Schulze and took over his previous boat U 177 .

With U 177 Gysae took part in two patrols. Its first took place from September 17, 1942 to January 22, 1943. U 177 was able to sink eight ships with 49,371 GRT under Gysae. The largest of the sunk ships was the British steamer Llandaff Castle (10,799 GRT), which Gysae sank with four torpedoes off the coast of Mozambique on November 30, 1942 .

Gysae quickly sank the British Royal Mail Ship Nova Scotia (6,796 GRT) off the coast of Natal province with three torpedoes on November 28th . The ship carried 1,052 people, including more than 750 Italian prisoners of war or " enemy aliens ". Gysae rescued two civilian Italian sailors, but the BdU ordered him to obey the Laconia order and continue patrol with U 177 . U 177 had to leave hundreds of people in the water. Portugal was asked for help through the BdU, so the Portuguese Navy Marinha Portuguesa sent the Sloop Afonso de Albuquerque from Lourenço Marques of Mozambique. The sloop arrived in the next few days, and on November 29th and 30th, only 192 survivors could be rescued.

His second and last patrol with U 177 lasted from April 1 to October 1, 1943. Six ships with 38,017 GRT were sunk in the Indian Ocean on this voyage . On May 21, 1943 Gysae was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with the Oak Leaves for his achievements in ship combat. On July 1, 1943, he was promoted to corvette captain . After the second patrol with U 177 , he handed over command to Corvette Captain Heinz Buchholz. From October 17, 1943 to January 4, 1944 Gysae was kept available before he was flotilla commander of the 25th submarine flotilla on January 5, 1944 . He held this position until the spring of 1945. In April 1945 he became the commander of the hastily deployed Marine Armored Hunting Regiment 1 , with which he capitulated on May 8, 1945 in Eiderstedt .

Gysae was interned until the end of May 1945, but was reactivated on June 1, 1945 as head of the personnel department of the German Mine Clearance Service for the Baltic Sea, based in Kiel- Friedrichsort . With the dissolution of the mine clearance service in December 1947, Gysae left it.

armed forces

On July 1, 1956, Gysae joined the Bundeswehr and became head of the protocol and attaché department of the Bundeswehr headquarters . In this capacity he was promoted to frigate captain on December 12, 1956 . From February 1 to September 30, 1960 he was commander of the Naval Training Battalion 4 in Brake . With effect from October 1, 1960 Gysae was appointed captain of the sea and on the same day assigned to the German embassy in Washington as a naval attaché . He worked there until October 31, 1964. He then returned to Germany and worked from November 1, 1964 to January 31, 1967 as a consultant (head of department) in the sub-department of leadership of the naval command staff in the Federal Ministry of Defense . On February 1, 1967, Gysae was assigned to the North Sea Marine Division, and on April 1, 1967, he was appointed commander. A few days later, on April 14, 1967, he was promoted to Flotilla Admiral. On March 31, 1970, Gysae was retired.

Awards

literature

  • Manfred Dörr: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon 1939–1945 Volume I, letters A – K, pp. 102–104

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Guðmundur Helgason: Nova Scotia ( English ) In: uboat.net . Guðmundur Helgason. 1995-2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b Alex Colao: Anniversary of Nova Scotia - Alessandro Cerrato ( Italian and English ) In: Alex Colao Blog . November 28, 2011. Accessed March 31, 2013.
  3. ^ Leon Bezuidenhout: Pieter Snyman, Springbok-soldier 1940-43 ( English ), translated from Afrikaans by JC Hough & MJ Conradie. March 2008, pp. 11-15.
  4. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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. 356.
personal data
SURNAME Gysae, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gysae, Robert Karl Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer, most recently fleet admiral of the German Navy
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin-Charlottenburg
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1989
Place of death Wilhelmshaven