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Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 31)

Successes 24 ships sunk for a total of 170,237 GRT 2 ships damaged for a total of 15,864 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 8,888 GRT

Personal information

Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock began his naval career in April 1931, serving for more than a year on the light cruiser Karlsruhe (together with Karl-Friedrich Merten) and 18 months on the sailing school ship Horst Wessel.

In April 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force where he completed the usual officer training. After a short time on board U-8 he took command of U-5 in December 1939. Lehmann-Willenbrock made his first patrol in Norwegian waters during Operation Hartmut (the occupation of Norway in spring 1940).

In August 1940 he left U-5 and a month later commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-96.

After three months of training the U-boat was attached to the 7th flotilla in St. Nazaire. Lehmann-Willenbrock made eight patrols with this boat. His third patrol in February 1942 resulted in seven ships sunk for a total of 49,490 tons. On 25 February, 1942 the daily Wehrmachtsbericht announced:

An dem großen Erfolg der Unterseebootswaffe ist das Boot des Kapitänleutnants Lehmann-Willenbrock mit 55,600 BRT hervorragend beteiligt. Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock hat damit in kurzer Zeit 125,580 BRT feindlichen Handelsschiffsraumes vernichtet.

(Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock's boat has contributed to the great success of the U-boat force with 55,600 tons sunk. Kapitänleutnant Lehmann-Willenbrock within a short span of time has sunk a total of 125,580 tons of enemy shipping.)

A war corespondent, Sonderführer-Leutnant Lothar-Günther Buchheim, accompanied U-96 on her seventh patrol. Thirty years later he wrote about his experiences on board in a book entitled Das Boot. Lehmann-Willenbrock served as the model for the commander in that book.

Lehmann-Willenbrock left U-96 in March 1942 and became the commander of the 9th flotilla in Brest (France). From Brest Korvettenkapitän Lehmann-Willenbrock began his last patrol in September 1944 with U-256, just a few days before American forces occupied the town.

He reached Bergen, Norway with U-256, where in December 1944 he became the commander of the 11th flotilla, a position he held until the end of the war.

After a year in captivity, Lehmann-Willenbrock returned in May 1946 and worked with Karl-Friedrich Merten on the salvage of sunken ships in the Rhine river. In 1948 with three comrades he built the sailing ship Magellan. They sailed together to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they started a great regatta.

Later he was skipper on several trade ships. In March 1959 he showed great courage as skipper of the freighter Inga Bastian when he and his crew saved 57 survivors from the burning Brazilian ship Commandante Lyra. In 1969 he became captain of the German nuclear research ship Otto Hahn, a post which he held for more than ten years.

For his outstanding merit after the war he was decorated in 1974 with the Bundes-Verdienstkreuz am Bande (Federal Merit Cross on ribbon). He was for long years the chairman of the U-Bootskameradschaft Bremen, which bears his name to this day.

35 years later.
Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock on the set with Jürgen Prochnow
who plays the commander ("Der Alte") in the movie Das Boot.

Ships hit by Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
11 Dec, 1940	U-96	Rotorua	10,890		br	HX-92
11 Dec, 1940	U-96	Towa	5,419		nl	HX-92
12 Dec, 1940	U-96	Macedonier	5,227		be	HX-92
12 Dec, 1940	U-96	Stureholm	4,575		sw	HX-92
14 Dec, 1940	U-96	Empire Razorbill	5,118		br	OB-257	damaged
14 Dec, 1940	U-96	Western Prince	10,926		br
18 Dec, 1940	U-96	Pendrecht	10,746		nl	OB-259	damaged
16 Jan, 1941	U-96	Oropesa	14,118		br
17 Jan, 1941	U-96	Almeda Star	14,936		br
13 Feb, 1941	U-96	Arthur F. Corwin	10,516		br	HX-106
13 Feb, 1941	U-96	Clea	7,987		br	HX-106
18 Feb, 1941	U-96	Black Osprey	5,589		br	HX-107
22 Feb, 1941	U-96	Scottish Standard	6,999		br	OB-287
23 Feb, 1941	U-96	Anglo-Peruvian	5,457		br	OB-288
24 Feb, 1941	U-96	Linaria	3,385		br	OB-288
24 Feb, 1941	U-96	Sirikishna	5,458		br	OB-288
28 Apr, 1941	U-96	Caledonia	9,892		nw	HX-121
28 Apr, 1941	U-96	Oilfield	8,516		br	HX-121
28 Apr, 1941	U-96	Port Hardy	8,897		br	HX-121
19 May, 1941	U-96	Empire Ridge	2,922		br	HG-61
5 Jul, 1941	U-96	Anselm	5,954		br
31 Oct, 1941	U-96	Bennekom	5,998		nl	OS-10
19 Feb, 1942	U-96	Empire Seal	7,965		br
20 Feb, 1942	U-96	Lake Osweya	2,398		am
22 Feb, 1942	U-96	Kars	8,888		br	HX-175	total loss
22 Feb, 1942	U-96	Torungen	1,948		nw
9 Mar, 1942	U-96	Tyr	4,265		nw
			194,989
* 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.

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