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The Men - The Commander listing

Hans-Günther Lange

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 37a)


Successes
1 ship sunk for a total of 10 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 925 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 20 GRT

Born  28 Sep, 1916Hannover


Kptlt. Hans-Günther Lange

Ranks

1 Sep, 1937Seekadett
1 May, 1938Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul, 1939Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Aug, 1939Leutnant zur See
1 Sep, 1941Oberleutnant zur See
1 Aug, 1944Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

7 Jun, 1940Iron Cross 2nd Class
12 Dec, 1940Iron Cross 1st Class
11 May, 1944German Cross in Gold
26 Aug, 1944Knights Cross
29 Apr, 1945Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-71126 Sep, 1942 - 4 May, 1945  12 patrols (304 days) 

Personal information

HG Lange Kapitänleutnant Hans Günther Lange

Leutnant Lange received his first experience as an officer on board the torpedo boat Jaguar. In September 1941 he joined the U-boat arm and only two months later started his first patrol as IWO on U-431 in the Mediterranean. In July 1942 he completed the usual Kommandantenschießlehrgang (commander fire course) in the 24th Flotilla.

Oblt. Hans-Günther Lange commissioned U-711 in September 1942. He commanded eleven patrols on this boat, all in Arctic waters and mainly against British and Soviet convoys. Three times U-711 attacked Soviet radio stations on small islands in the Barents Sea and nearby waters.

On 23 August, 1944 Kptlt. Lange fired torpedoes at the Soviet battleship Archangelsk (former HMS Royal Sovereign and a sister ship to HMS Royal Oak sunk by U-47 at Scapa Flow in Oct 1939) and a Soviet destroyer, but this attack was unsuccessful.

U-711 was sunk in May 1945 by British aircraft. The next three months Lange spent in British-Norwegian captivity.

HG Lange
Fregattenkapitän Lange

In October 1957 Lange joined the Bundesmarine. Here he took part in the construction of a new German U-boat weapon. For two years he commanded the 1. Ubootgeschwader (1st U-boot squadron) and in January 1964 became commander of the entire U-boat force. Later he held several staff positions, ending his second naval career in 1972 as staff officer in the Marinedivision der Nordsee (naval forces in the North Sea).


Patrol info


 U-boatDeparture Arrival  
1. U-711 20 Mar, 1943  Kiel 23 Mar, 1943  Bergen  4 days
2. U-711 25 Mar, 1943  Bergen 30 Apr, 1943  Hammerfest Patrol,37 days
3. U-711 12 May, 1943  Hammerfest 14 May, 1943  Hammerfest  3 days
4. U-711 25 May, 1943  Hammerfest 18 Jun, 1943  Narvik Patrol,25 days
5. U-711 22 Jul, 1943  Narvik 30 Sep, 1943  Narvik Patrol,71 days
6. U-711 2 Oct, 1943  Narvik 5 Oct, 1943  Trondheim  4 days
7. U-711 15 Dec, 1943  Trondheim 17 Dec, 1943  Narvik  3 days
8. U-711 18 Dec, 1943  Narvik 19 Dec, 1943  Narvik  2 days
9. U-711 20 Dec, 1943  Narvik 23 Dec, 1943  Trondheim  4 days
10. U-711 19 Mar, 1944  Trondheim 21 Mar, 1944  Narvik  3 days
11. U-711 22 Mar, 1944  Narvik 6 Apr, 1944  Hammerfest Patrol,16 days
12. U-711 11 Apr, 1944  Hammerfest 15 Apr, 1944  Narvik Patrol,5 days
13. U-711 24 Apr, 1944  Narvik 5 May, 1944  Narvik Patrol,12 days
14. U-711 30 May, 1944  Narvik 8 Jul, 1944  Bogenbucht Patrol,40 days
15. U-711 29 Jul, 1944  Bogenbucht 30 Jul, 1944  Hammerfest  2 days
16. U-711 2 Aug, 1944  Hammerfest 19 Aug, 1944  Hammerfest Patrol,18 days
17. U-711 22 Aug, 1944  Hammerfest 26 Aug, 1944  Hammerfest  5 days
18. U-711 27 Aug, 1944  Hammerfest 28 Aug, 1944  Bogenbucht  2 days
19. U-711 3 Sep, 1944  Bogenbucht 5 Sep, 1944  Hammerfest  3 days
20. U-711 7 Sep, 1944  Hammerfest 4 Oct, 1944  Narvik Patrol,28 days
21. U-711 6 Oct, 1944  Narvik 8 Oct, 1944  Trondheim  3 days
22. U-711 23 Jan, 1945  Trondheim 26 Jan, 1945  Narvik  4 days
23. U-711 9 Feb, 1945  Narvik 24 Feb, 1945  Harstad Patrol,16 days
24. U-711 14 Mar, 1945  Harstad 31 Mar, 1945  Harstad Patrol,18 days
25. U-711 15 Apr, 1945  Harstad 2 May, 1945  Harstad Patrol,18 days

12 patrols, 304 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Günther Lange


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
13 Apr, 1944 U-711Solvoll10 nw 
 
17 Feb, 1945 U-711HMS Bluebell (K 80)925 br RA-64 
22 Mar, 1945 U-711BPS-520 sj damaged
 955

* 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.

Listing of all U-boat commanders