The Men - U-boat Commanders

Georg Schewe

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)


Successes
16 ships sunk, total tonnage 85,779 GRT

Born  24 Nov 1909 Ueckermünde, Pomerania
Died  14 Oct 1990(80)Hamburg, Germany


Georg Schewe

Ranks

1 Apr 1932 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1934 Fähnrich zur See
1 Sep 1935 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1936 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1937 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939 Kapitänleutnant
1 Aug 1943 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

20 Dec 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
24 Jan 1940 U-boat War Badge 1939
13 Jun 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
23 May 1941 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-60 22 Jul 1939 19 Jul 1940   6 patrols (104 days) 
U-105 10 Sep 1940 6 Jan 1942   4 patrols (236 days) 

Schewe 2
Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe at the periscope

Georg Schewe began his naval career as a seaman in October 1928. In 1932 he commenced officer training and received his commission in 1936. In the same year he transferred to the U-boat force, receiving a thorough pre-war training. In July 1939 he commissioned the type IIC U-boat U-60. After six patrols (with only one sinking) he left the boat in August 1940 to commission the much larger type IXB U-boat U-105.

From January 1941 U-105 operated mostly in Atlantic waters. During her second patrol in spring 1941 Kptlt Schewe achieved remarkable success when he sank 12 ships with a total of 71,450 tons. It was the second most successful patrol of the whole war, only beaten by Hessler's with U-107 a few months later. Georg Schewe left U-105 in February 1942 for a shore posting.

He became a staff member of the FdU Mittelmeer (U-boat Command Mediterranean). After more than two years in this position, in autumn 1944 he took over command of the 33rd Flotilla for a month. From October 1944 he was on the OKM (Naval High Command) staff. Following Germany's surrender he spent a year in allied captivity.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Georg Schewe

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-60 4 Nov 1939  Kiel  21 Nov 1939  Kiel  Patrol 1,18 days
2. U-60 4 Dec 1939  Kiel  4 Dec 1939  Wilhelmshaven   1 days
3. U-60 12 Dec 1939  Wilhelmshaven  19 Dec 1939  Kiel  Patrol 2,8 days
4. U-60 9 Jan 1940  Kiel  21 Jan 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 3,13 days
5. U-60 14 Feb 1940  Wilhelmshaven  29 Feb 1940  Wilhelmshaven  Patrol 4,16 days
6. U-60 4 Apr 1940  Wilhelmshaven  27 Apr 1940  Kiel  Patrol 5,24 days
7. U-60 18 May 1940  Kiel  11 Jun 1940  Kiel  Patrol 6,25 days
8. U-105 24 Dec 1940  Kiel  31 Jan 1941  Lorient  Patrol 7,39 days
9. U-105 22 Feb 1941  Lorient  13 Jun 1941  Lorient  Patrol 8,112 days
10. U-105 3 Aug 1941  Lorient  20 Sep 1941  Lorient  Patrol 9,49 days
11. U-105 8 Nov 1941  Lorient  13 Dec 1941  Lorient  Patrol 10,36 days
10 patrols, 340 days at sea

Ships hit by Georg Schewe

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
19 Dec 1939U-60 City of Kobe [Mine]4,373brFS-56
 
9 Jan 1941U-105 Bassano4,843br
26 Jan 1941U-105 Lurigethan3,564brSLS-61
8 Mar 1941U-105 Harmodius5,229brSL-67
18 Mar 1941U-105 Medjerda4,380brSL-68
19 Mar 1941U-105 Mandalika7,750nlSL-68
21 Mar 1941U-105 Clan Ogilvy5,802brSL-68
21 Mar 1941U-105 Benwyvis5,920brSL-68
21 Mar 1941U-105 Jhelum4,038brSL-68
5 Apr 1941U-105 Ena de Larrinaga5,200br
6 May 1941U-105 Oakdene4,255brOG-59
13 May 1941U-105 Benvrackie6,434brOB-312
15 May 1941U-105 Benvenue5,920brOB-314
16 May 1941U-105 Rodney Star11,803br
1 Jun 1941U-105 Scottish Monarch4,719brOB-319
11 Sep 1941U-105 Montana1,549pa
 85,779

16 ships sunk (85,779 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.


About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II
Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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