Heinz Franke
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)
| Successes 3 ships sunk for a total of 13.010 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 925 tons |
| Born | 30 Nov, 1915 | Berlin-Steglitz |
| Died | 5 Apr, 2003 |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-148 | 16 Jan, 1942 | - | 19 Oct, 1942 | No war patrols |
| U-262 | 26 Oct, 1942 | - | 25 Jan, 1944 | 5 patrols (222 days) |
| U-3509 | 15 Mar, 1945 | - | 9 Apr, 1945 | No war patrols |
| U-2502 | 12 Apr, 1945 | - | 8 May, 1945 | No war patrols |
Personal information
 Kapitänleutnant Heinz Franke |
Heinz Franke joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1936 and was a member of the so called Olympia-Crew. He served for more than two years on the battle cruiser Gneisenau and was on board during her two patrols in 1939.
In October 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force and after the usual training he became first watch officer (I WO) on U-84. After three patrols he left the boat in December 1941 and took over the school boat U-148 which he commanded for 10 months in the Baltic Sea.
In October 1942 he became commander of the front boat U-262 and just one month later on his first patrol he sank the Norwegian corvette Montbretia (925 tons). In May 1943 Franke was to pick up some captured U-boat men who planned to escape in the Gulf of St. Lorenz, but the breakout failed and he returned home without them.
Heinz Franke |
In January 1944 Heinz Franke left U-262 and was attached to the BdU org staff. After serving in several other staff positions and in a midget U-boat unit, he took command of U-3509 in March 1945. When the U-boat was damaged on 4 April, 1945 he transferred to U-2502, which he commanded to the end of the war.
After the war he spent six months in captivity, then served in a minesweeper unit.
In 1957 he joined the Bundesmarine, where he worked in the Amt für Militärkunde (department for military subjects). He retired in March 1972 as Fregattenkapitän.
Heinz Franke passed away on 5 April, 2003 suffering from advanced Alzheimers disease.
Patrol info
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | |||||
| 1. | U-262 | 5 Nov, 1942 | Narvik | 9 Dec, 1942 | La Pallice | Patrol, | 35 days |
| 2. | U-262 | 16 Jan, 1943 | La Pallice | 15 Feb, 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol, | 31 days |
| 3. | U-262 | 27 Mar, 1943 | La Pallice | 25 May, 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol, | 60 days |
| 4. | U-262 | 24 Jul, 1943 | La Pallice | 2 Sep, 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol, | 41 days |
| 5. | U-262 | 14 Oct, 1943 | La Pallice | 7 Dec, 1943 | La Pallice | Patrol, | 55 days |
| 5 patrols, 222 days at sea | |||||||
Ships hit by Heinz Franke
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 18 Nov, 1942 | U-262 | HNoMS Montbretia (K 208) | 925 |  | nw | ONS-144 | |
| 26 Nov, 1942 | U-262 | Ocean Crusader | 7.178 |  | br | HX-216 | |
| 6 Feb, 1943 | U-262 | Zagloba | 2.864 |  | po | SC-118 | |
| 31 Oct, 1943 | U-262 | Hallfried | 2.968 | | nw | SL-138 | |
| 13.935 | |||||||
* 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.