Hans Oestermann
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)
| Successes 13 ships sunk for a total of 55,659 GRT 1 ship damaged for a total of 490 GRT |
| Born | 19 May 1913 | Bremervörde | |
| Died | 31 Jul 1942 | (29) | north-east of Boston, USA |
|
Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
| U-151 | 15 Jan 1941 | 21 Jul 1941 | No war patrols |
| U-754 | 28 Aug 1941 | 31 Jul 1942 (+) | 3 patrols (135 days) |
Personal information
Hans Oestermann joined the Kriegsmarine in 1933. He spent almost 3 years as the First Watch Officer on the destroyer Z 7 Hermann Schoemann from Sept 1937 to June 1940. In July he began U-boat training, finishing in Nov and then he started his U-boat commander training with the 24th flotilla which he finished in Dec 1940.
In Dec 1940 Kapitänleutnant Hans Oestermann was sent to U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) until 15 Jan 1941 when he took commissioned the new "duck" U-151. He left the boat 6 months later on 21 July and began another familiarization until 28 Aug 1941 when he commissioned the new and larger U-754 at Wilhelmshaven.
Oestermann was very successful with the U-754 and sank 13 ships for over 55,000 tons during 3 patrols in the North Atlantic.
Kptlt. Hans Oestermann was lost on the 3rd patrol on the U-754 when the boat was destroyed by a Canadian Hudson aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 113) north of Boston, USA. 43 dead (all hands lost).
Sources
Busch, R and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Patrol info for Hans Oestermann
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-754 | 30 Dec 1941 | Kiel | 9 Feb 1942 | Brest | Patrol 1, | 42 days | |
| 2. | U-754 | 7 Mar 1942 | Brest | 25 Apr 1942 | Brest | Patrol 2, | 50 days | |
| 3. | U-754 | 19 Jun 1942 | Brest | 31 Jul 1942 | Sunk | Patrol 3, | 43 days | |
| 3 patrols, 135 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Hans Oestermann
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Jan 1942 | U-754 |  | Belize | 2,153 |  | nw | |
| 22 Jan 1942 | U-754 | William Hansen | 1,344 | | nw | ||
| 25 Jan 1942 | U-754 | Mount Kitheron | 3,876 |  | gr | ||
| 27 Jan 1942 | U-754 | | Icarion | 4,013 | | gr | ON-53 |
| 23 Mar 1942 | U-754 | | British Prudence | 8,620 |  | br | HX-181 |
| 31 Mar 1942 | U-754 | Allegheny | 914 |  | am | ||
| 31 Mar 1942 | U-754 | Barnegat | 914 | | am | ||
| 31 Mar 1942 | U-754 | Menominee | 441 | | am | ||
| 31 Mar 1942 | U-754 | Ontario (d.) | 490 | | am | ||
| 1 Apr 1942 | U-754 | | Tiger | 5,992 | | am | |
| 3 Apr 1942 | U-754 | Otho | 4,839 | | am | ||
| 6 Apr 1942 | U-754 | Kollskegg | 9,858 | | nw | ||
| 29 Jun 1942 | U-754 | | Waiwera | 12,435 | | br | |
| 28 Jul 1942 | U-754 | | Ebb | 260 | | am | |
| 56,149 | |||||||
13 ships sunk (55,659 tons) and 1 ship damaged (490 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.