Hans-Heinz Linder

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)


Successes
7 ships sunk, total tonnage 24,811 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 8,882 GRT

Born  11 Feb 1913 Otterberg, Kaiserslautern
Died  10 Sep 1944(31)


Ranks

1 Jul 1934 Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936 Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940 Kapitänleutnant
1 Sep 1944 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-18 3 Sep 1940 17 Dec 1940   No war patrols 
U-202 22 Mar 1941 1 Sep 1942   6 patrols (236 days) 

Hans-Heinz Linder joined the Reichsmarine in 1933. He went through U-boat training from Nov 1939 to Aug 1940, and then commanded the small school boat U-18 from 3 Sept - 17 Dec 1940 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

He joined U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) for U-boat Commander sea training from Jan to March 1941. During this patrol U-96 sank seven ships totalling over 45,000 tons (Rohwer, 1998).

Kptlt. Linder then began U-boat construction familiarization (Baubelehrung) in preparation for his own command. He commissioned the new type VIIC U-boat U-202 at Kiel on 22 March 1941. The next three months were spent on working up execises in the Baltic (Busch & Röll, 1999).

U-202 left Kiel for the first patrol on 17 June 1941. Linder took U-202 on six patrols, spending 236 days at sea (Busch & Röll, 1997). He was a successful commander, sinking seven ships totalling almost 25,000 tons and damaging one large ship of 8,882 tons (Rohwer, 1998). Linder operated his boat very effectively and often escaped tough situations.

On 1 Sept 1942 Kptlt. Linder left U-202 to serve in the 1st Flotilla until Nov, when he joined the staff of 2/Adm U-boats (2nd in Command U-boats) until Jan 1943. From Jan 1943 to Sept 1944 he served as a Training Leader in the 25th (Training) Flotilla (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Kptlt. Hans-Heinz Linder died on 10 Sept 1944 in a Soviet air attack on Libau (Liepaja), Latvia (Busch & Röll, 1999).

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Hans-Heinz Linder

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-202 17 Jun 1941  Kiel  23 Jul 1941  Brest  Patrol 1,37 days
2. U-202 11 Aug 1941  Brest  17 Sep 1941  Brest  Patrol 2,38 days
3. U-202 16 Oct 1941  Brest  13 Nov 1941  Brest  Patrol 3,29 days
4. U-202 13 Dec 1941  Brest  27 Dec 1941  Brest  Patrol 4,15 days
5. U-202 1 Mar 1942  Brest  26 Apr 1942  Brest  Patrol 5,57 days
6. U-202 27 May 1942  Brest  25 Jul 1942  Brest  Patrol 6,60 days
6 patrols, 236 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Heinz Linder

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
27 Aug 1941U-202 Ladylove230br
11 Sep 1941U-202 Scania1,999swSC-42
3 Nov 1941U-202 Flynderborg2,022brSC-52
3 Nov 1941U-202 Gretavale4,586brSC-52
 
22 Mar 1942U-202 Athelviscount (d.)8,882brON-75
1 Apr 1942U-202 Loch Don5,249br
22 Jun 1942U-202 Rio Tercero4,864ar
1 Jul 1942U-202 City of Birmingham5,861am
 33,693

7 ships sunk (24,811 tons) and 1 ship damaged (8,882 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.

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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