The Men - The Commander listing

Horst-Arno Fenski

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew 37b)

Successes
6 ships sunk for a total of 43,032 GRT
2 warships sunk for a total of 6,895 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 7,134 GRT
2 warships damaged for a total of 2,500 tons
1 ship a total loss for a total of 3,722 GRT

Born	3 Nov 1918		Königsberg, East Prussia
Died	10 Feb 1965	(46)	Hamburg

Oblt. Horst-Arno Fenski

Ranks

9 Oct 1937	Offiziersanwärter
1 Apr 1939	Fähnrich zur See
1 Mar 1940	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 May 1940	Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1942	Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

10 Oct 1941	Iron Cross 2nd Class
28 Oct 1941	Fleet War Badge
13 Dec 1942	U-boat War Badge 1939
28 Mar 1943	Iron Cross 1st Class
26 Nov 1943	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-34	16 Jun 1942	1 Feb 1943	No war patrols
U-410	5 Feb 1943	11 Mar 1944	5 patrols (137 days)
U-371	5 Apr 1944	4 May 1944	1 patrol (12 days)

Personal information

Horst-Arno Fenski began his naval career in October 1937. He served for six months on the battle cruiser Gneisenau. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. His first four patrols were as I WO on U-752. Then for six months he commanded the school boat U-34.

In February 1943 he took command of U-410 and operated mostly in the Mediterranean. His greatest success on that U-boat was the sinking of the British cruiser HMS Penelope (5,270 tons) in February 1944. U-410 was destroyed by US bombs in March 1944. Oblt. Fenski then took over U-371, but on his first patrol with this boat he had to scuttle her after heavy depth charge attacks. He then spent two years in US captivity.

Patrol info for Horst-Arno Fenski

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-410	9 Feb 1943	St. Nazaire	27 Mar 1943	Lorient	Patrol 1,	47 days
2.	U-410	26 Apr 1943	Lorient	13 May 1943	La Spezia	Patrol 2,	18 days
3.	U-410	7 Aug 1943	La Spezia	30 Aug 1943	Toulon	Patrol 3,	24 days
4.	U-410	12 Sep 1943	Toulon	3 Oct 1943	Toulon	Patrol 4,	22 days
5.	U-410	3 Feb 1944	Toulon	28 Feb 1944	Toulon	Patrol 5,	26 days
6.	U-371	23 Apr 1944	Toulon	4 May 1944	Sunk	Patrol 6,	12 days
6 patrols, 149 days at sea

Ships hit by Horst-Arno Fenski

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
6 Mar 1943	U-410	Fort Battle River	7,133	br	KMS-10
6 Mar 1943	U-410	Fort Paskoyac (d.)	7,134	br	KMS-10
26 Aug 1943	U-410	John Bell	7,242	am	UGS-14
26 Aug 1943	U-410	Richard Henderson	7,194	am	UGS-14
26 Sep 1943	U-410	Christian Michelsen	7,176	nw	UGS-17
1 Oct 1943	U-410	Empire Commerce (t.)	3,722	br	MKS-26
1 Oct 1943	U-410	Fort Howe	7,133	br	MKS-26

15 Feb 1944	U-410	Fort St. Nicolas	7,154	br	Shingle
18 Feb 1944	U-410	HMS Penelope (97)	5,270	br	Shingle
20 Feb 1944	U-410	USS LST-348	1,625	am	Shingle
3 May 1944	U-371	USS Menges (DE 320) (d.)	1,200	am	GUS-38
4 May 1944	U-371	FFL Sénégalais (T 22) (d.)	1,300	fr	GUS-38
			63,283
9 ships sunk (53,649 tons) and 3 ships damaged (9,634 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).