Waldemar Kophamel

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Waldemar Kophamel (* 16th August 1880 in Grudziadz , West Prussia ; † 4. November 1934 in Ploen ) was a German naval officer and submarine commander in the First World War .

Life

Kophamel joined the Imperial Navy on April 12, 1898 and began his basic military training under Frigate Captain Ehrlich on the training ship Stosch . The training trip led to Norway, Scotland, the Mediterranean, North Africa, Spain and the Canary Islands. Between 1900 and 1901 Kophamel took part in special courses on the subject of artillery and torpedo use. He also received infantry training.

The first deployment of Kophamel, who was promoted to lieutenant in the sea in September 1901 , took place between 1901 and 1902 on the ironclad Elector Friedrich Wilhelm . In 1902 Kophamel was transferred to the II. Torpedo Department in Wilhelmshaven under Corvette Captain Franz von Hipper and received his first command with the torpedo boat S 3 . After a transfer to the II. Torpedo Boat Flotilla under Corvette Captain Leberecht Maaß , further assignments followed in changing positions on torpedo boats. In 1904 , Kophamel , who had meanwhile been promoted to lieutenant at sea , served in the Wilhelmshaven naval inspection. In 1905 Kophamel sailed on the small cruisers Niobe and Thetis . The missions led to East Africa.

In 1906 Kophamel took part in the test drives of the first submarine of the Imperial Navy U 1 under Lieutenant Boehm-Bezing. Between 1907 and 1910, Kophamel was again used in the naval inspection and gained further experience with the new submarine weapon on the U 2 and U 9 . Kophamel achieved the rank of lieutenant captain in 1908.

In 1910 he was deployed on the large liner Westphalia under the sea captain Paul Behncke . The Westfalen was the flagship of the 1st Squadron under Vice Admiral Hugo von Pohl .

From 1911 to 1913 Kophamel attended the Naval Academy in Kiel . Then he served until October 1914 as 2nd Admiral Staff Officer ( Asto ) with the 1st Squadron on the large-line ship Ostfriesland under Captain Engelhardt. At this time the Ostfriesland was the flagship of the squadron under Vice Admiral Wilhelm von Lans .

First World War

After the war began, Kophamel was transferred to the submarine weapon in October 1914 and was given command of U 35 on November 3, which , under his command and that of his successor Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, became the most successful submarine in war history . Kophamel retained command of U 35 until November 17, 1915. During this time, the boat was used in the North Sea and the Mediterranean and sank 35 ships with a total of 89,192 GRT on eight patrols.

After being promoted to corvette captain , Kophamel took command of the U-Flotilla Pola on November 18, 1915 , which was stationed in Pola and Cattaro . Under Kophamel's command there were 14 fleet, six UB and 14 UC boats, which sank a total of 746 commercial vehicles with 1,809,884 GRT and 12 warships with a total of 67,577 t between November 1915 and June 1917  .

From July 21, 1917 to December 26, 1917, Kophamel took command of the submarine cruiser U 151 in Kiel. On one mission, 12 enemy ships with a total of 29,048 GRT were sunk.

On December 29, 1917, Waldemar Kophamel was awarded the Order of Pour le Mérite as the 7th submarine commander .

In March of the last year of the war he was given command of the U-cruiser U 140 , which he held until the end of the war in November 1918. Seven enemy units with a total of 30,612 GRT were sunk on a patrol.

On a total of ten patrols commanded by Waldemar Kophamel, a total of 54 ships with a total of 148,852 GRT of ship space were sunk.

After the end of the war

In 1920 Kophamel was in command of the small cruiser Strasbourg . He was demobilized on August 31, 1920, giving him the character of a frigate captain .

Waldemar Kophamel died on November 4, 1934 in Plön.

Honors

On May 15, 1939, the submarine escort ship Waldemar Kophamel of the Kriegsmarine was launched . The ship was used in World War II and sunk on December 18, 1944 in Gotenhafen by British aerial bombs .

Awards

literature

  • Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906-1966 . Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen, 1999, ISBN 3-86070-036-7

Individual evidence

  1. The flotilla was formed on November 18, 1915 from the previous German U-Flotilla Pola, which was set up on July 1, 1915, renamed the U-Flotilla Mediterranean in June 1917 and finally on January 1, 1918 as the I. Sub-Flotilla Mediterranean (in Pola ) and II. Sub-Flotilla Mediterranean (in Cattaro ) split.
  2. a b c d e f g Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for 1918 , Ed .: Marine-Kabinett , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1918, p. 24