Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)
| Successes 3 ships sunk, total tonnage 10,969 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 206 tons 2 ships damaged, total tonnage 17,179 GRT |
| Born | 16 Jun 1917 | Berlin-Wilmersdorf | |
| Died | 2 Jul 1944 | (27) | Atlantic, south-west of Tenerife |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-140 | 7 Apr 1941 | 9 Dec 1941 | 2 patrols (30 days) |
| U-96 | 28 Mar 1942 | 15 Mar 1943 | 3 patrols (158 days) |
| U-543 | 21 Apr 1943 | 2 Jul 1944 (+) | 2 patrols (174 days) |
Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel began his naval career in April 1936. After six months on the torpedo boat Luchs he transferred to the U-boat force in October 1938. Starting in December 1939 he served as II WO on board U-46 under the command of Kptlt. Sohler and later under Kptlt. Endrass.
In March 1941 he left U-46 and after receiving commander training took command of U-140. He made two patrols with U-140 in the Baltic during the summer of 1941 and sank the Soviet submarine M-94 (206 tons).
In April 1942 he replaced the successful commander of U-96, Kptlt. Lehmann-Willenbrock. On his second patrol with U-96 he sank three ships and damaged the British tanker F. J. Wolfe (12,190 tons) and the merchant New York.
In March 1943 Hellriegel left U-96 and a month later commissioned the Type IXC/40 boat U-543. This made him one of very few commanders who made patrols with each of the three main types of U-boats. He died when U-543 was sunk with all hands by a US aircraft on 2 July 1944 (Niestlé, 1998).
Oberleutnant Hellriegel (left) on the conning tower of U-96 after a patrol.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.
Patrol info for Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-140 | 19 Jun 1941 | Gotenhafen | 30 Jun 1941 | Gotenhafen | Patrol 1, | 12 days | |
| 2. | U-140 | 7 Jul 1941 | Gotenhafen | 24 Jul 1941 | Gotenhafen | Patrol 2, | 18 days | |
| 3. | U-96 | 23 Apr 1942 | St. Nazaire | 1 Jul 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 3, | 70 days | |
| 4. | U-96 | 24 Aug 1942 | St. Nazaire | 5 Oct 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 4, | 43 days | |
| 5. | U-96 | 26 Dec 1942 | St. Nazaire | 8 Feb 1943 | Königsberg | Patrol 5, | 45 days | |
| 6. | U-543 | 9 Nov 1943 | Kiel | 24 Jan 1944 | Lorient | Patrol 6, | 77 days | |
| 7. | U-543 | 28 Mar 1944 | Lorient | 2 Jul 1944 | Sunk | Patrol 7, | 97 days | |
| 7 patrols, 362 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Jul 1941 | U-140 | M-94 | 206 |  | sj | ||
| 10 Sep 1942 | U-96 |  | Elisabeth van Belgie | 4,241 |  | be | ON-127 |
| 10 Sep 1942 | U-96 | | F.J. Wolfe (d.) | 12,190 |  | br | ON-127 |
| 10 Sep 1942 | U-96 | Sveve | 6,313 |  | nw | ON-127 | |
| 11 Sep 1942 | U-96 | | Delães | 415 |  | pt | |
| 25 Sep 1942 | U-96 | New York (d.) | 4,989 | | br | RB-1 | |
| 28,354 | |||||||
4 ships sunk (11,175 tons) and 2 ships damaged (17,179 tons). Legend | |||||||
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
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