U-Boat Captain personalities

[predavolk]

I'm reading E. P. Hoyt's U-Baots, a Pictorial History, and one fresh angle for me is the discussion of the personalities of the captains and crew. One particular angle is how the non-Nazi early members were more humble and less elitist (surprise!) than many of the later pro-Nazi members. And Prien was considered a total jerk, with 2/3 of his enlisted men signing a petition to change commands based on his propensity to hand out post-cruise jail time as a regular punishment.

It was also neat for Donitz to use the publicity of Prien's raid to force Hitler into a promise for more subs.

[Jimbuna]

The Kriegsmarine were the least likely of the German armed forces to be associated with the nazi party. They always saw themselves as honourable servicemen who fought for the honour of their country rather than the idiot known as Hitler.

Like any military service, there were undoubtably nazi supporters in their ranks, but very few in comparison to the rest.

Doenitz was always vying for extra equipment because Raeder was quite ineffectual in his pleadinfs to Hitler for resources, and Hitler quite frankly didn't like or understand the Kriegsmarine.

He was also very prone to sea sickness.

[Murr44]

In Hitler's Grey Wolves: U-Boats in the Indian Ocean Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat (U 196) is portrayed as a real *sshole. He also had a propensity for handing out post-patrol jail time for the slightest infringements of discipline.

Peter Zschech (U 505 - the only commander known to have committed suicide during a war patrol) did not have a good relationship with his crew. He was aloof, arrogant and was another strict discipliniarian. When I read Hunt and Kill I got the impression that the crew was actually relieved when he killed himself.

Wolfgang Luth & Joachim Schepke were known to be avid National Socialist supporters. By comparison, Teddy Suhren and Werner Henke were not. Henke got himself in trouble with the Innsbruck Gestapo (he called them "gangsters": they'd been harassing some friends of his) & only avoided imprisonment through the personal intervention of Donitz (he apologized to Himmler).

[fw66]

The U-boat force does seem to have been relatively resistant to the influence of Nazism, if Iron Coffins is anything to go by;

H. Werner talks a fair amount about his comrades, also making it clear that the U-Boat service tended to abstain from using the party salute until it was enforced after the assassination attempt on Hitler. He also shows his frustration at the "Party meddling in U-boat affairs" and this is clearly seen in the inexperienced and troublesome Ensign, who "had been assigned by the Party to indoctrinate my crew with official theories, ideals, and never-say-die slogans."
He goes further to explain that a great deal of U-boat captains, himself included, resisted Nazi involvement as much as possible. (Ch. 26)

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Murr44

Wolfgang Luth & Joachim Schepke were known to be avid National Socialist supporters. By comparison, Teddy Suhren and Werner Henke were not. Henke got himself in trouble with the Innsbruck Gestapo (he called them "gangsters": they'd been harassing some friends of his) & only avoided imprisonment through the personal intervention of Donitz (he apologized to Himmler).

And Teddy Suhren has the famous "prank" when returning to port, with the harbour full of people from the welcome reception and after seeing a friend, a class mate (I think that was the commander of the U-84), he asks him if the nazis were still in power! After the afirmative awnser, Suhren orders the boat to full reverse and leaves the harbour...