Favorite Sub Commander

[Collin Dougherty]

So,
pretty easy question.
There have been many Submarine Hero's throughought time.
Who is your favorite?
(Nation? Ships sunk/Damaged? Tonnage?)
My sig sais it all

[frau kaleun]

In no particular order:

Kretschmer
Topp
Cremer

Altho this is probably because I've read enough about them or by them to be suitably impressed with regard to their achievements and character.

I would H. Lehmann-Willenbrock but I know my opinion of him is mostly a result of his semi-fictional portrayal in Das Boot so it really doesn't count.

[Jimbuna]

Kretschmer....went to see where he was imprisoned(or what was left of it) in England last September.

[Raptor1]

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, not necessarily for the massive amount of ships and tonnage he sank (194 for 453,716 GRT), but for being so successful despite being in primitive WWI boats and doing so while following the prize rules of the time.

[nikimcbee]

Mush Morton:rock:!
Dick O'Kane

Prien
Hardegen
Kretschmer

[nikimcbee]

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, not necessarily for the massive amount of ships and tonnage he sank (194 for 453,716 GRT), but for being so successful despite being in primitive WWI boats and doing so while restricted by prize rules.

Good Choice:salute:
For WWI, I'll say Weddigen

http://www.steelnavy.com/images/2004December/AboukirOttoWeddigenDL.JPG

[Feuer Frei!]

Otto Kretschmer, without a doubt:
In all, he sank 56 ships to become the tonnage king of the German U-Boat service, with a total tonnage of 313,611 tons. This was a remarkable achievement considering that he only spent 18 months at sea in WW2.
Awarded The Knight's Cross on the 4th. of August 1940, Oak Leaves added on the 4th. of November 1940, and Swords added on the 26th. of December 1941.
http://i53.tinypic.com/fa65a8.jpg


My second favourite is:
Wolfgang Luth.
Over his time at sea, he sank 221,981 tons of shipping made up from the 47 ships he sent to the bottom.
He came to a tragic end when Admiral Donitz sent him off to the Naval Academy in Flensburg-Murwik to take over command there, he was mistakenly shot by a sentry there, to die on the 14th. of May in 1945.
He was given a State funeral two days later, the only U-Boat Captain to be honoured that way.
Awards:
The Knight's Cross on the 24th. of October 1940, Oak Leaves added on the 13th. of November 1942, Swords added on the 15th. of April 1943, and the final accolade, Diamonds added on the 9th. of August 1943. Wolfgang was one of two U-Boat commanders to gain the Diamonds award to his Knight's Cross.
http://i54.tinypic.com/2a5hi8h.jpg

Both Legends, i salute you :salute::up:

[Collin Dougherty]

U-99 right?
Why wasent he imprisoned?
He continued to serve after WWII right?
And even before?

[mookiemookie]

Hardegen, Kretschmer, O'Kane, Kossler, Lueth to an extent, and Cremer.

[Feuer Frei!]

I would H. Lehmann-Willenbrock but I know my opinion of him is mostly a result of his semi-fictional portrayal in Das Boot so it really doesn't count.

Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
Captain of U-96, sailing out of Kiel for his first patrol on the 5th. of December that year, Heinrich sank five ships, and put a torpedo into the British 10,746 ton ship Pendrecht. On the following patrol, over two days, the 16th. and 17th. of January in 1941, U-96 sank two British ships, Oropesa and Almeda Star, both of whom were 14,000 ton vessels. All up, this Captain, and his command, sank 25 ships with a total tonnage of 183,253 tons.
He was certainly considered an Ace :up:

[Collin Dougherty]

All Very Good :D
The only reason I like prein So much is because he was original, the old breed.
The "First" of the aces I guess you could say.

[nikimcbee]

Luth is an interesting guy, you should read his bio.:know:

Oh, how could I forget Mr. Topp.:oops: I have an interview tape of him. Pretty interesting stuff.

[Feuer Frei!]

U-99 right?
Why wasent he imprisoned?
He continued to serve after WWII right?
And even before?
His boat U-99 was attacked and damaged by two British destroyers, HMS Vanoc and HMS Walker. He was unable to submerge, the U-Boat was scuttled, and along with all his crew he was taken prisoner.
His first command was U-35 a Type VIIA U-Boat, in 1937.
He spent almost 7 years as a POW. In 1943 Germany attempted to rescue him, which failed.
He was allowed to return to Germany in 1947.
He joined the BundesMarine in 1955.

[Collin Dougherty]

I like Hardagen Because he was an anti-nazi (Im a communist what do you expect :p)
Who served for germany, and not for hitler.
How brave

[nikimcbee]

His boat U-99 was attacked and damaged by two British destroyers, HMS Vanoc and HMS Walker. He was unable to submerge, the U-Boat was scuttled, and along with all his crew he was taken prisoner.
Yeah, he was lucky. Prien and Schepke were lost around the same time period.

[frau kaleun]

U-99 right?
Why wasent he imprisoned?
He continued to serve after WWII right?
And even before?

Kretschmer commanded U-99 for almost a year, from April 1940 until he and most of his crew were captured in March 1941 (from late 1937 until April 1940 he'd been in command of U-23).

He was indeed imprisoned, serving out the remainder of the war as a British POW in England and then Canada. He was not allowed to return to Germany a free man until late in 1947 and joined the post-war German navy in the mid-1950s. He retired as a Flotillenadmiral. :DL

[nikimcbee]

I like Hardagen Because he was an anti-nazi (Im a communist what do you expect :p)
Who served for germany, and not for hitler.
How brave

Luth was a true believer. I'd be interested to know if he knew about the Holocaust?

[Collin Dougherty]

Yeah, he was lucky. Prien and Schepke were lost around the same time period.
Same month even

[Raptor1]

For WWI, I'll say Weddigen


Otto Weddigen would be my second choice, he was involved in some of the most successful submarine actions in the war. His boat was also sunk in quite a peculiar manner.

[nikimcbee]

Kretschmer commanded U-99 for almost a year, from April 1940 until he and most of his crew were captured in March 1941 (from late 1937 until April 1940 he'd been in command of U-23).

He was indeed imprisoned, serving out the remainder of the war as a British POW in England and then Canada. He was not allowed to return to Germany a free man until late in 1947 and joined the post-war German navy in the mid-1950s. He retired as a Flotillenadmiral. :DL

It's funny, coz, there was this girl in highschool who had the same last name (Kretschmer), so I always bugged her if she was related to him. She had never heard of him and no, not related.:cry:

[Collin Dougherty]

For WWI i would say Walther Forstman.

[nikimcbee]

Otto Weddigen would be my second choice, he was involved in some of the most successful submarine actions in the war. His boat was also sunk in quite a peculiar manner.

Anybody that sailed in those early U-boats and survived is okay in my book.

[Collin Dougherty]

Anybody that sailed in those early U-boats and survived is okay in my book.
I completly agree

[nikimcbee]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_W._Morton

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/DudleyMushMorton.jpg/250px-DudleyMushMorton.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DudleyMushMorton.jpg)

[Collin Dougherty]

Bah, I still like Prien the most :up:

[TLAM Strike]

Three I've always admired
Commander Chester M. "Whitey" Mack
Captain Second Rank Igor Anatolievich Britanov
Rear Admiral Eugene Bennett Fluckey (not just for his WWII service, his post war service was also exemplary)

[razark]

Howard Gilmore (http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/gilmore-h-w.htm)
http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/Gilmore-H-W-215a.jpg

And toss in Morton and his XO O'Kane.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Morton_and_OKane_1943.jpg/220px-Morton_and_OKane_1943.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière
Gets my vote as well. Among his many exploits was surviving hiding under a freighter he had torpedoed, only to have it sink on top of him. Pure luck, that escape was.

Otto Kretschmer, without a doubt:
In all, he sank 56 ships to become the tonnage king of the German U-Boat service, with a total tonnage of 313,611 tons.
Only for World War 2.

[Penguin]

Mine is definetely Reinhard "Teddy" Suhren. I've read some stuff about him and think he was a cool and honourable guy, he stayed "Mensch" during hard times. Other ex-crewmembers of him confirm the truth about his book.
He served as 1.WO on U48, the most successfull u-bot in WW2, later became the youngest guy in the rank of a Korvettenkapitän.
http://www.uboat.net/men/suhren.htm

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/9158/teddya.jpg



I like Hardagen Because he was an anti-nazi (Im a communist what do you expect :p)
Who served for germany, and not for hitler.
How brave

There were quite a few who saw their country first, not the Nazi ideology, but you might want to check out the fate of Oskar Kusch.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1203587&postcount=1
http://www.ijnhonline.org/volume1_number1_Apr02/article_rust_kusch_uboat.doc.htm

I don't know if Buchheim got his inspiration of the 1.WO from the officer who ratted on him, Ulrich Abel, but Kusch's fate didn't become public untill recent years.
Abel died 3 weeks before Kusch was executed, sometimes karma is a bitch. I feel compassion only for the others who were on his boat.

[MaddogK]

+1 for Gunther
:arrgh!:

[Bilge_Rat]

my favorite has always been "Moon" Chapple who charged into Lingayen Gulf with an ancient S-boat and took on the Japanese invasion fleet all by himself, sinking a transport in the process.

[Oberon]

http://can-esc.com/media/photos/2010/05/05/WernerLottGrandeLigne1944.png

Werner Lott
Kaleu of U-35 from 1937 until her loss in 1939.
Not the most successful, or perhaps daring, but a true gentleman.
When you look at U-35s war patrol, you see incidents such as that of the Arlita, Lord Minto and Nancy Hague where U-35 sunk both the Arlita and the Lord Minto with gunfire but spared the Nancy Hague so that she could take the crew of the two sunken trawlers home.
The Alvis, a fishing trawler, was spared when U-35 realised that the thirteen man crew would never have made it to land with the available lifeboat, in return the crew of the Alvis warned U-35 that the Ark Royal was in the area.
Then came her most famous moment, the Greek steamer Diamantis. A 4490 ton vessel which U-35 encountered in bad weather. They warned the steamer that they were going to sink her and took the crew of 28 onto the Uboat as the weather was too rough for lifeboats.
U-35 then sailed to Ireland and put the Greek crew ashore in Dingle Bay, with Walter Kalabuch rowing the Greeks ashore several at a time. It was a violation of Irish neutrality but the captain and crew of U-35 were humans first, sailors of the Reich second.
Alas, her next patrol was her last, but her crew were all saved.

http://www.nvmu.ru/images/admin01/Britanov2300CherkashinDueljPereskopov.jpg
Captain Second Rank Igor Anatolievich Britanov
Commander of K-219
Anyone who has read Hostile Waters will know that Captain Britanov was another man who put his crew before his orders. After K-219 had her incident, Britanov tried in vain to save her, but when poison gas started leaking through the compartments, and with four crewmen already dead (including Sergei Preminin, a young 19 year old hero who sacrificed his life to manually drop the reactor rods, thus stopping K-219s runaway reactor.) Britanov ordered the evacuation of K-219. Moscow judged that Britanov was giving up too easily and ordered the political officer to take command and put the crew back on the boat, but before he could do K-219 sunk, cause unknown but it's widely accepted that Britanov deliberately scuttled her.
Britanov returned home and was charged with negligence, treason and sabotage, thankfully before he could be sentenced, the Soviet defence ministers changed and the charges were dropped.
His judgment, bravery and courage to defy Moscow remain unacknowledged by the Russian government to this date. Rutger Hauer does a good portrayal of Britanov in Hostile Waters, although the events of the film differ from reality (K-219 did not collide with an American sub)
He had a plate fixed in the control room of K-219, "Submarine life is not a service, but a religion." Needless to say the zampolit was not amused but he was just one man in a crew that was very loyal to Britanov.

[Growler]

Howard Gilmore (http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/gilmore-h-w.htm)
http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/Gilmore-H-W-215a.jpg


Same here, for obvious reasons. Share the same birthday, too, though his predates mine.

[UnderseaLcpl]

For the daring capture of a German submarine, instinctively knowing how to operate and use it effectively in combat, securing the Enigma machine, single-handedly turning the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic, and simultaneously doing more damage to the war contributions of our allies in the eyes of the American moviegoing public than even the Germans could, I hereby nominate........
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o264/charlie143james/a-hole.jpg

...........this jerk.

[ReFaN]

Der Alte, of course!

http://www.moviemarket.com/library/photos/190/190405.jpg


:salute:

[nikimcbee]

my favorite has always been "Moon" Chapple who charged into Lingayen Gulf with an ancient S-boat and took on the Japanese invasion fleet all by himself, sinking a transport in the process.

On my list.:salute: That's one of my favorite sub stories.

[Hakahura]

Not to forget...

Commander Wreford-Brown RN

Commander of HMS Conqueror 1982

[Jimbuna]

For the daring capture of a German submarine, instinctively knowing how to operate and use it effectively in combat, securing the Enigma machine, single-handedly turning the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic, and simultaneously doing more damage to the war contributions of our allies in the eyes of the American moviegoing public than even the Germans could, I hereby nominate........
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o264/charlie143james/a-hole.jpg

...........this jerk.

Nice one James :DL

[joea]

Yea yea, Otto, Gunter, Dick and Mush were great but what about this dude?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Launders

Only sub commander (AFAIK :03:) that tracked and sank another sub, while both were underwater.

Or what about this dude:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Lunin

a good commander in a very underperforming submarine force (the Soviet navy in WWII) whose personnel mostly served as infantry managed a difficult though probably unsuccessful attack on the Tirpitz and managed to sink 17 German vessels in the North.

[TLAM Strike]

Only sub commander (AFAIK :03:) that tracked and sank another sub, while both were underwater.

I wonder if the Baton Rouge/Sierra collision (http://www.lostsubs.com/SSN-689.htm) counts?

Both were so badly damaged that they had to be decommissioned.

[Takeda Shingen]

I'll take ol' Ajax. An illustration that all leaders are subject to fallibility.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQHyciyglQWAx_ZTOsJPkXe9k1r69He-x8Iz7FCj0mTq9h-j28CCQ&t=1