Friedrich Steinhoff
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)
| Successes 2 ships sunk for a total of 21.999 GRT 1 ship damaged for a total of 8.773 GRT |
| Born | 14 Jul, 1909 | Küllstadt/Thür (Küllstedt) |
| Died | 19 May, 1945 | Charlestown (Charles Street Prison) |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-511 | 8 Dec, 1941 | - | 17 Dec, 1942 | 2 patrols (112 days) |
| U-873 | 1 Mar, 1944 | - | 17 May, 1945 | 1 patrol (49 days) |
Personal information
After serving on minesweepers, Friedrich Steinhoff transferred to the U-boat force in March 1941. With his first command, U-511, he undertook submerged rocket trials (this brother was a researcher at Peenemünde). After a year's duty in the staff of the 7th flotilla, he commissioned the Type IX D2 boat U-873 in March 1944.
On her first patrol in 1945 the war ended, and Steinhoff surrendered on 16 May, 1945 near Portsmouth, USA. Steinhoff and his crew were taken, not to a POW camp, but to the Charles Street Jail in Boston (while awaiting disposition to proper camp), a city jail with all kinds of common criminals lodged there. Stories that some crew members were mistreated are often told.
A broken man, Friedrich Steinhoff committed suicide on the morning of 19 May, 1945, opening his arteries using broken pieces of his sunglasses. The doctor from U-873, Dr. Karl Steinke, tried to give first aid, but it was too late. Some documents regarding the surrender of U-873 and interrogations of its crew can be found at uboatarchive.net.
Friedrich Steinhoff rests in the military cemetery of Fort Devens.
Patrol info
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | |||||
| 1. | U-511 | 16 Jul, 1942 | Kiel | 29 Sep, 1942 | Lorient | Patrol, | 76 days |
| 2. | U-511 | 24 Oct, 1942 | Lorient | 28 Nov, 1942 | Lorient | Patrol, | 36 days |
| 3. | U-873 | 17 Feb, 1945 | Kiel | 22 Feb, 1945 | Horten | 6 days | |
| 4. | U-873 | 21 Mar, 1945 | Horten | 22 Mar, 1945 | Kristiansand | 2 days | |
| 5. | U-873 | 30 Mar, 1945 | Kristiansand | 17 May, 1945 | Portsmouth, USA | Patrol, | 49 days |
| 3 patrols, 161 days at sea | |||||||
Ships hit by Friedrich Steinhoff
| Date | Boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Fate * | |
| 27 Aug, 1942 | U-511 | Esso Aruba | 8.773 |  | am | TAW-15 | damaged |
| 27 Aug, 1942 | U-511 | Rotterdam | 8.968 |  | nl | TAW-15 | |
| 27 Aug, 1942 | U-511 | San Fabian | 13.031 |  | br | TAW-15 | |
| 30.772 | |||||||
* 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.