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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, 1910Süderende, Tondem
Died  15 May, 1984Kiel


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-15523 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


 U-boatDeparture Arrival  
1. U-155 7 Feb, 1942  Kiel 27 Mar, 1942  Lorient Patrol,49 days
2. U-155 24 Apr, 1942  Lorient 14 Jun, 1942  Lorient Patrol,52 days
3. U-155 9 Jul, 1942  Lorient 15 Sep, 1942  Lorient Patrol,69 days
4. U-155 7 Nov, 1942  Lorient 30 Dec, 1942  Lorient Patrol,54 days
5. U-155 8 Feb, 1943  Lorient 30 Apr, 1943  Lorient Patrol,82 days
6. U-155 10 Jun, 1943  Lorient 16 Jun, 1943  Lorient Patrol,7 days
7. U-155 30 Jun, 1943  Lorient 11 Aug, 1943  Lorient Patrol,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,103 days
10. U-255 28 Apr, 1945  La Pallice 30 Apr, 1945  St. Nazaire Patrol,3 days

9 patrols, 462 days at sea

Ships hit by Adolf Cornelius Piening


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
22 Feb, 1942 U-155Adellen7.984 br ONS-67 
22 Feb, 1942 U-155Sama1.799 nw ONS-67 
7 Mar, 1942 U-155Arabutan7.874 bz 
14 May, 1942 U-155Brabant2.483 be 
17 May, 1942 U-155Challenger7.667 am 
17 May, 1942 U-155San Victorio8.136 br 
20 May, 1942 U-155Sylvan Arrow7.797 pa OT-1 
23 May, 1942 U-155Watsonville2.220 pa 
28 May, 1942 U-155Poseidon1.928 nl 
30 May, 1942 U-155Baghdad2.161 nw 
28 Jul, 1942 U-155Barbacena4.772 bz 
28 Jul, 1942 U-155Piave2.347 bz 
29 Jul, 1942 U-155Bill2.445 nw 
30 Jul, 1942 U-155Cranford6.096 am 
1 Aug, 1942 U-155Clan Macnaughton6.088 br 
1 Aug, 1942 U-155Kentar5.878 nl 
4 Aug, 1942 U-155Empire Arnold7.045 br E-6 
5 Aug, 1942 U-155Draco389 nl 
9 Aug, 1942 U-155San Emiliano8.071 br E-7 
10 Aug, 1942 U-155Strabo383 nl 
15 Nov, 1942 U-155Ettrick11.279 br MKF-1Y 
15 Nov, 1942 U-155HMS Avenger (D 14)13.785 br MKF-1Y 
15 Nov, 1942 U-155USS Almaack (AK 27)6.736 am MKF-1Y damaged
6 Dec, 1942 U-155Serooskerk8.456 nl ON-149 
 
2 Apr, 1943 U-155Lysefjord1.091 nw 
3 Apr, 1943 U-155Gulfstate6.882 am 
24 Oct, 1943 U-155Siranger5.393 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