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From the Gallery

U-995 at Laboe, set D

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Berühmte Schiffe des Zweiten Weltkrieges
Ellis, Chris

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Allied Warships

Check out our new extensive section on all the Allied Warships during WWII in all theatres of the war.

Over 21,000 ships

Ranks 7 Apr 1900 Seekadett 19 Apr 1901 Fähnrich zur See 27 Sep 1903 Leutnant zur See 30 Mar 1906 Oberleutnant zur See 10 Apr 1911 Kapitänleutnant 15 Apr 1940 Korvettenkapitän 7 Apr 1941 Fregattenkapitän 1 Jul 1942 Kapitän zur See Decorations 25 Aug 1908 Lifesaving Medal 1913 Order of the Red Eagle Iron Cross 2nd class Iron Cross 1st class 14 May 1916 Hausorden von Hohenzollern 12 Aug 1916 Pour le Mérite 8 Nov 1917 Knight's Cross with War Decoration Austrian Order of Leopold

Notes

Walter Forstmann became a Seekadett in 1900 when entering the Kaiserliche Marine. The same year he received the Rettungsmedaille.

Forstmann became commanding officer of the U 11 and was promoted to Kapitänleutnant in 1911. He received the Roter Adler Orden the following year.

In 1914 he took over command of the U 12 and led her on several early-war missions in the North Sea. Forstmann, however, is best known for his string of successes in the Mediterranean in the U 39.

Forstman received the Pour le Mérite on the 12th August 1916 as CO of this U-boat 'for outstanding naval planning and operations, which resulted in the sinking of 261.070 BRT of Allied warships and merchant ships'.

He was also the man that sank the HMS Niger, a British gunboat on the 11th November 1914.

He would finish the war having sunk nearly 400,000 tons of shipping and ranks as the second highest scoring submarine commander of all time. In 1917 he became Chef der III U Flottille.

In 1919 he left service with the rank of Korvettenkapitän. He went into business after the war and became the director of an industrial firm.