The Men - The Commander listing

Adolf Cornelius Piening

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 30)


Successes
25 ships sunk for a total of 126,664 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 13,785 tons
1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 6,736 GRT

Born  16 Sep 1910 Süderende, Tondem
Died  15 May 1984(73)Kiel


Kapitänleutnant Adolf Piening

Ranks

9 Oct 1930Seekadett
1 Jan 1932Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1934Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1934Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1936Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1943Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

21 Nov 1939Iron Cross 2nd Class
27 Jun 1940Iron Cross 1st Class
13 Mar 1942U-boat War Badge 1939
13 Aug 1942Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-155 23 Aug 1941 Feb, 1944   8 patrols (459 days) 

Personal information

Adolf Piening began his navy career on the armored cruiser Deutschland, then spent a few years on torpedo boats and minesweepers before transferring in October 1940 to the U-boat arm. After the usual training he made one patrol on U-48 as Kommandantenschüler in June 1941. In August 1941 he took command of U-155. He was very successful with this boat and on 15 November, 1942 sank the British escort carrier HMS Avenger (13.875 tons).

In March 1944 he became the commander of the 7th Flotilla. On 30 April, 1945 he laid mines outside St. Nazaire with U-255. After the war he spent more than two years in Allied captivity. In 1956 the later Kapitän zur See Adolf Piening joined the Bundesmarine, serving for 13 years.

Piening is famous for the so-called Piening Route which he invented as a means to escape Allied aircraft in the Bay of Biscay.

Patrol info for Adolf Cornelius Piening


 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-155 7 Feb 1942  Kiel  27 Mar 1942  Lorient  Patrol 1,49 days
2. U-155 24 Apr 1942  Lorient  14 Jun 1942  Lorient  Patrol 2,52 days
3. U-155 9 Jul 1942  Lorient  15 Sep 1942  Lorient  Patrol 3,69 days
4. U-155 7 Nov 1942  Lorient  30 Dec 1942  Lorient  Patrol 4,54 days
5. U-155 8 Feb 1943  Lorient  30 Apr 1943  Lorient  Patrol 5,82 days
6. U-155 10 Jun 1943  Lorient  16 Jun 1943  Lorient  Patrol 6,7 days
7. U-155 30 Jun 1943  Lorient  11 Aug 1943  Lorient  Patrol 7,43 days
8. U-155 18 Sep 1943  Lorient  19 Sep 1943  Brest   2 days
9. U-155 21 Sep 1943  Brest  1 Jan 1944  Lorient  Patrol 8,103 days
10. U-255 28 Apr 1945  La Pallice  30 Apr 1945  St. Nazaire  Patrol 9,3 days
9 patrols, 462 days at sea

Ships hit by Adolf Cornelius Piening


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
22 Feb, 1942 U-155 Adellen7,984  br  ONS-67 
22 Feb, 1942 U-155 Sama1,799  nw  ONS-67 
7 Mar, 1942 U-155 Arabutan7,874  bz  
14 May, 1942 U-155 Brabant2,483  be  
17 May, 1942 U-155 Challenger7,667  am  
17 May, 1942 U-155 San Victorio8,136  br  
20 May, 1942 U-155 Sylvan Arrow7,797  pa  OT-1 
23 May, 1942 U-155 Watsonville2,220  pa  
28 May, 1942 U-155 Poseidon1,928  nl  
30 May, 1942 U-155 Baghdad2,161  nw  
28 Jul, 1942 U-155 Barbacena4,772  bz  
28 Jul, 1942 U-155 Piave2,347  bz  
29 Jul, 1942 U-155 Bill2,445  nw  
30 Jul, 1942 U-155 Cranford6,096  am  
1 Aug, 1942 U-155 Clan Macnaughton6,088  br  
1 Aug, 1942 U-155 Kentar5,878  nl  
4 Aug, 1942 U-155 Empire Arnold7,045  br  E-6 
5 Aug, 1942 U-155 Draco389  nl  
9 Aug, 1942 U-155 San Emiliano8,071  br  E-7 
10 Aug, 1942 U-155 Strabo383  nl  
15 Nov, 1942 U-155 Ettrick11,279  br  MKF-1Y 
15 Nov, 1942 U-155 HMS Avenger (D 14)13,785  br  MKF-1Y 
15 Nov, 1942 U-155 USS Almaack (AK 27)6,736  am  MKF-1Y damaged
6 Dec, 1942 U-155 Serooskerk8,456  nl  ON-149 
 
2 Apr, 1943 U-155 Lysefjord1,091  nw  
3 Apr, 1943 U-155 Gulfstate6,882  am  
24 Oct, 1943 U-155 Siranger5,393  nw  
 147,185

* 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