Reinhart Reche
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)
| Successes 9 ships sunk for a total of 47.229 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 7.191 GRT |
| Born | 13 Dec, 1915 | |
| Died | 3 Mar, 1993 |
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Ranks
Decorations
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Personal information
Kapitänleutnant Reinhart Reche |
Reinhart Reche began his naval career in April 1934, serving as training officer and on the light cruiser Emden.
In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. He made two patrols on U-751 under the command of Kptlt. Gerhard Bigalk before commissioning U-255 in November 1941. He led U-255 on nine patrols in the Arctic Sea and played a major role in the destruction of convoy PQ-17.
Reinhart Reche left U-255 in June 1943 and was then a member of the FdU Nordmeer staff until the end of the war.
In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine and was from 1959 to 1961 commander of the U-boat training unit. Later he served in several staff positions and retired in 1974 as Kapitän zur See. He was decorated with the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Merit Cross).
Patrol info
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | |||||
| 1. | U-255 | 15 Jun, 1942 | Kiel | 20 Jun, 1942 | Narvik | 6 days | |
| 2. | U-255 | 23 Jun, 1942 | Narvik | 15 Jul, 1942 | Narvik | Patrol | 23 days |
| 3. | U-255 | 18 Jul, 1942 | Narvik | 20 Jul, 1942 | Bergen | 3 days | |
| 4. | U-255 | 4 Aug, 1942 | Bergen | 9 Sep, 1942 | Neidenfjord | Patrol | 37 days |
| 5. | U-255 | 13 Sep, 1942 | Neidenfjord | 25 Sep, 1942 | Bergen | Patrol | 13 days |
| 6. | U-255 | 29 Sep, 1942 | Bergen | 3 Oct, 1942 | Kiel | 5 days | |
| 7. | U-255 | 7 Jan, 1943 | Kiel | 18 Jan, 1943 | Hammerfest | 12 days | |
| 8. | U-255 | 23 Jan, 1943 | Hammerfest | 9 Feb, 1943 | Narvik | Patrol | 18 days |
| 9. | U-255 | 22 Feb, 1943 | Narvik | 15 Mar, 1943 | Narvik | Patrol | 22 days |
| 10. | U-255 | 29 Mar, 1943 | Narvik | 29 Apr, 1943 | Bergen | Patrol | 32 days |
Ships hit by Reinhart Reche
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 6 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | John Witherspoon | 7.191 |  | am | PQ-17 | |
| 7 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | Alcoa Ranger | 5.116 | | am | PQ-17 | |
| 8 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | Olopana | 6.069 | | am | PQ-17 | |
| 13 Jul, 1942 | U-255 | Paulus Potter | 7.168 |  | nl | PQ-17 | |
| 20 Sep, 1942 | U-255 | Silver Sword | 4.937 | | am | QP-14 | |
| 26 Jan, 1943 | U-255 | Ufa | 1.892 |  | sj | ||
| 29 Jan, 1943 | U-255 | Krasnyj Partizan | 2.418 | | sj | ||
| 3 Feb, 1943 | U-255 | Greylock | 7.460 | | am | RA-52 | |
| 5 Mar, 1943 | U-255 | Executive | 4.978 | | am | RA-53 | |
| 10 Mar, 1943 | U-255 | Richard Bland | 7.191 | | am | RA-53 | total loss |
| 54.420 | |||||||
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. | |||||||
Decorations and ranks information is in many cases not complete. If you can help on any of those missing that would be great.