Günther Krech
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)
| Successes 17 ships sunk for a total of 93.186 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 913 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 925 tons 2 ships damaged for a total of 15.070 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 6.672 GRT |
| Born | 21 Sep, 1914 | Wilhelmshaven |
| Died | 3 Jun, 2000 |
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Ranks
Decorations
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Personal information
Günther Krech began his naval career in April 1933. Later, like Reinhard Hardegen and some other naval officers, he served for four years in the German Luftwaffe. In November 1939 Krech returned to the Kriegsmarine and began U-boat training. He received his first combat experiences on U-100 under Kptlt. Schepke. He left the boat in November 1940 and in February 1941 commissioned U-558.
Günther Krech after patrol
On ten patrols, mostly in the Atlantic and in Caribbean waters, he sank more than 20 ships. U-558 was sunk by US aircraft on 20 July, 1943 in the Bay of Biscay. Only the commander, the LI and three men of the gun crew survived the sinking. Günther Krech then spent a few years in Allied captivity.
Patrol info
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | |||||
| 1. | U-558 | 1 Jun, 1941 | Kiel | 9 Jul, 1941 | Brest | Patrol, | 39 days |
| 2. | U-558 | 28 Jul, 1941 | Brest | 7 Aug, 1941 | Brest | Patrol, | 11 days |
| 3. | U-558 | 25 Aug, 1941 | Brest | 16 Sep, 1941 | Brest | Patrol, | 23 days |
| 4. | U-558 | 11 Oct, 1941 | Brest | 25 Oct, 1941 | Brest | Patrol, | 15 days |
| 5. | U-558 | 24 Nov, 1941 | Brest | 7 Dec, 1941 | Brest | Patrol, | 14 days |
| 6. | U-558 | 10 Feb, 1942 | Brest | 11 Mar, 1942 | Brest | Patrol, | 30 days |
| 7. | U-558 | 12 Apr, 1942 | Brest | 21 Jun, 1942 | Brest | Patrol, | 71 days |
| 8. | U-558 | 29 Jul, 1942 | Brest | 16 Oct, 1942 | Brest | Patrol, | 80 days |
| 9. | U-558 | 9 Jan, 1943 | Brest | 29 Mar, 1943 | Brest | Patrol, | 80 days |
| 10. | U-558 | 8 May, 1943 | Brest | 20 Jul, 1943 | Sunk | Patrol, | 74 days |
| 10 patrols, 437 days at sea | |||||||
Ships hit by Günther Krech
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 28 Aug, 1941 | U-558 | Otaio | 10.298 |  | br | OS-4 | |
| 15 Oct, 1941 | U-558 | Vancouver Island | 9.472 |  | ca | ||
| 17 Oct, 1941 | U-558 | Erviken | 6.595 |  | nw | SC-48 | |
| 17 Oct, 1941 | U-558 | HMS Gladiolus (K 34) | 925 | | br | SC-48 | |
| 17 Oct, 1941 | U-558 | Rym | 1.369 | | nw | SC-48 | |
| 17 Oct, 1941 | U-558 | W.C. Teagle | 9.552 | | br | SC-48 | |
| 24 Feb, 1942 | U-558 | Anadara | 8.009 | | br | ONS-67 | damaged |
| 24 Feb, 1942 | U-558 | Eidanger | 9.432 | | nw | ONS-67 | |
| 24 Feb, 1942 | U-558 | Inverarder | 5.578 | | br | ONS-67 | |
| 12 May, 1942 | U-558 | HMS Bedfordshire (FY 141) | 913 | | br | ||
| 18 May, 1942 | U-558 | Fauna | 1.254 |  | nl | ||
| 21 May, 1942 | U-558 | Troisdoc | 1.925 | | ca | ||
| 23 May, 1942 | U-558 | William Boyce Thompson | 7.061 |  | am | damaged | |
| 25 May, 1942 | U-558 | Beatrice | 3.451 | | am | ||
| 27 May, 1942 | U-558 | Jack | 2.622 | | am | ||
| 2 Jun, 1942 | U-558 | Triton | 2.078 | | nl | ||
| 25 Aug, 1942 | U-558 | Amakura | 1.987 | | br | WAT-15 | |
| 13 Sep, 1942 | U-558 | Empire Lugard | 7.241 | | br | TAG-5 | |
| 13 Sep, 1942 | U-558 | Suriname | 7.915 | | nl | TAG-5 | |
| 13 Sep, 1942 | U-558 | Vilja | 6.672 | | nw | TAG-5 | total loss |
| 16 Sep, 1942 | U-558 | Commercial Trader | 2.606 | | am | ||
| 23 Feb, 1943 | U-558 | Empire Norseman | 9.811 | | br | UC-1 | |
| 116.766 | |||||||
* 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.
