Walter Flachsenberg

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 28)


Successes
5 ships sunk, total tonnage 38,894 GRT

Born  26 Oct 1908 Mönchen-Gladbach
Died  3 Nov 1994(86)Westerland-Sylt, Germany


Ranks

10 Oct 1928 Seekadett
1 Jan 1930 Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1932 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1932 Leutnant zur See
1 Sep 1934 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun 1937 Kapitänleutnant
1 Jul 1942 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-71 14 Dec 1940 3 Jul 1942   6 patrols (191 days) 

Walter Flachsenberg joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1928. From Sept 1939 to March 1940 Flachsenberg served with Naval Flak detachments before joining the U-boat force in April 1940. He went through his U-boat training from April to Dec 1940, including a patrol as Commander in training on the famous U-100 in Sept. The patrol he went out with Schepke in U-100 was the incredibly successful 15-day patrol where they sank 7 ships for over 50,000 GRT.

Finishing his training Flachsenberg got his own command, the U-71, on 14 Dec 1940. With this boat he went out on 6 patrols, 191 days at sea, and sank 5 ships for almost 39,000 GRT. On 3 July 1942 he left the boat.

From July 1942 to the end of the war Walter Flachsenberg served in several staff positions, largely focusing on torpedo testing.

After the war he joined the post-war German Navy, Bundesmarine, and later retired as Flottenadmiral (e. Commodore or Rear Admiral).

Sources

Busch, R and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Walter Flachsenberg

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-71 14 Jun 1941  Kiel  2 Jul 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,19 days
2. U-71 2 Aug 1941  St. Nazaire  7 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,37 days
3. U-71 29 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  31 Oct 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 3,33 days
4. U-71 29 Nov 1941  St. Nazaire  5 Dec 1941  St. Nazaire   7 days
5. U-71 18 Dec 1941  St. Nazaire  21 Jan 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 4,35 days
6. U-71 23 Feb 1942  St. Nazaire  20 Apr 1942  La Pallice  Patrol 5,57 days
7. U-71 4 Jun 1942  La Pallice  6 Jun 1942  La Pallice   3 days
8. U-71 11 Jun 1942  La Pallice  20 Jun 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 6,10 days
6 patrols, 191 days at sea

Ships hit by Walter Flachsenberg

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
17 Mar 1942U-71 Ranja6,355nw
20 Mar 1942U-71 Oakmar5,766am
26 Mar 1942U-71 Dixie Arrow8,046am
31 Mar 1942U-71 San Gerardo12,915br
1 Apr 1942U-71 Eastmoor5,812br
 38,894

5 ships sunk (38,894 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.


About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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