Are there any U-boat captains still alive?
The last surviving U-boat commander, Reinhard Hardegen, who brought the Second World War to America’s doorstep, has died at the age of 105. Hardegen was one of the most successful commanders during Operation Drumbeat, when Nazi submarines attacked merchant ships along the east coast of North America.
Who was the best U-boat commander?
Commanders with over 100,000 tons sunk
- Otto Kretschmer. 16 patrols. 46 ships sunk (273.043 tons)
- Wolfgang Lüth. 16 patrols. 46 ships sunk (225.204 tons)
- Erich Topp. 13 patrols.
- Heinrich Liebe. 9 patrols.
- Viktor Schütze. 7 patrols.
- Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. 10 patrols.
- Karl-Friedrich Merten. 5 patrols.
- Herbert Schultze. 9 patrols.
What is the German Mittelstand?
Mittelstand commonly refers to a group of unique businesses in German-speaking countries that are very successful, and are usually capable of surviving economic turbulence. Generally small and medium-sized enterprises, they differ from regular SME’s. The term is used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
What captain sank the most U-boats?
Captain Johnnie Walker
Captain Johnnie Walker was the Royal Navy’s most effective weapon against the German U-boat menace. Of the 21 million tons of Allied shipping lost during World War II, 15 million tons were sunk by U-boats.
Which submarine sank the most tonnage?
Tang
Tang was credited with sinking 33 enemy ships, totaling 116,454 tons, making it the most successful US submarine in history both in number of ships sunk and total tonnage.
Did any German U-boats defect to America?
The American passenger freighter Robert E. Lee was sunk by a German submarine in 1942 in the Gulf of Mexico. U-boats, like the one commanded by Capt. Reinhard Hardegen, sank or crippled dozens of merchant vessels off the American coast as part of a German operation called Drumbeat.
Why did submariners eat lemons?
His reported experiment on board a naval ship in 1747 showed that oranges and lemons were a cure for scurvy.