Otto Kretschmer
For submarine warfare, Otto Kretschmer is known as the "Ace of Aces." His destructive career in the Atlantic began in 1939. His early patrols were short in length and moderately unsuccessful. By early 1940, he had figured out his favorite method of assault. Kretschmer preferred to attack from the surface if possible, at night, and with a single torpedo rather than salvoes. Kretschmer took command of U-99 in April 1940. He took U-99 inside enemy convoys whenever possible, allowing him to attack in any direction before diving the boat to escape.
Kretschmer finished his 15th war patrol in December 1940. He assaulted a convoy escorted by British destroyers in March 1941. It was part of the same operation that cost the Germans Gunther Prien's life. The severity of the British depth charging forced Kretschmer to surface his ship, signal that it was sinking, and order his crew to abandon ship. The Germans sank U-99, and Kretschmer became a prisoner of war.
He spent the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp in Canada after being kept in Britain for some time for interrogation. On December 31, 1947, he was liberated and returned to West Germany. He joined the West German Navy in 1955. He served with NATO until 1970, when he retired as an admiral. Otto Kretschmer died in an accident on a boat, after falling down some steep steps and suffering fatal injuries. He was 86 years old and on a cruise to commemorate his 50th wedding anniversary.
- Date/place of birth: May 1, 1912, Hajduki Nyskie, Poland
- Date of death: August 5, 1998, Straubing, Germany
- Award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Iron Cross
- Sink more than 274,333 tons (44 ships)
