Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)

Successes
4 ships sunk, total tonnage 15,850 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 835 tons
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 16,610 GRT
1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 1,705 tons

Born	10 Apr 1914		Cologne-Lindenthal
Died	11 May 1979	(65)	Kiel, Germany

Kapitänleutnant Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Ranks

8 Apr 1934		Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934		Seekadett
1 Jul 1935		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov 1941		Kapitänleutnant
20 Apr 1945		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

25 Feb 1941		Iron Cross 2nd Class
25 Feb 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
6 Aug 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Nov 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-121	31 Mar 1941	8 Jul 1941	No war patrols
U-453	9 Jul 1941	6 Dec 1943	14 patrols (332 days)

Freiherr von Schlippenbach began his naval career in April 1934. He later served on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein and as a training officer before transferring to the U.bootwaffe in 1939.

After time on several U-boats as Watch Officer, in March 1941 he took over command of the type IIB U-boat school boat U-121. In July 1941 he moved to the larger type VIIC U-boat U-453, and on his first patrol in December 1941 managed to break through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. During the next two years he became one of the most experienced commanders stationed there, and was awarded the Knights Cross in 1943.

In 1944 he took a staff position in the OKM (Naval High Command) and at Marineschule Mürwik (Naval Academy). He spent last six weeks of the war serving in the infantry in the defence of central Germany. After the war he spent three months in a US POW Camp.

He joined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy) in January 1956, in which he served mostly in staff positions. He retired as Kapitän zur See in September 1972.

Kapitänleutnant Freiherr von Schlippenbach with officers from U-453.

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).

Patrol info for Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-453	12 Nov 1941	Kiel	17 Dec 1941	La Spezia	Patrol 1,	36 days
2.	U-453	17 Jan 1942	La Spezia	1 Feb 1942	Pola	Patrol 2,	16 days
3.	U-453	22 Mar 1942	Pola	21 Apr 1942	Pola	Patrol 3,	31 days
4.	U-453	25 May 1942	Pola	14 Jun 1942	Salamis	Patrol 4,	21 days
5.	U-453	18 Jun 1942	Salamis	21 Jul 1942	Pola	Patrol 5,	34 days
6.	U-453	31 Aug 1942	Pola	10 Sep 1942	Salamis		11 days
7.	U-453	17 Sep 1942	Salamis	15 Oct 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 6,	29 days
8.	U-453	29 Nov 1942	La Spezia	17 Dec 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 7,	19 days
9.	U-453	11 Jan 1943	La Spezia	16 Feb 1943	Pola	Patrol 8,	37 days
10.	U-453	1 Apr 1943	Pola	5 May 1943	Pola	Patrol 9,	35 days
11.	U-453	23 Jun 1943	Pola	24 Jul 1943	Pola	Patrol 10,	32 days
12.	U-453	31 Jul 1943	Pola	14 Aug 1943	Pola	Patrol 11,	15 days
13.	U-453	21 Oct 1943	Pola	27 Oct 1943	Pola	Patrol 12,	7 days
14.	U-453	2 Nov 1943	Pola	13 Nov 1943	Pola	Patrol 13,	12 days
15.	U-453	24 Nov 1943	Pola	1 Dec 1943	Pola	Patrol 14,	8 days
14 patrols, 332 days at sea

Ships hit by Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
13 Dec 1941	U-453	Badalona	4,202	sp

7 Apr 1942	U-453	HMHS Somersetshire (d.)	9,716	br

20 Jan 1943	U-453	Jean Jadot	5,859	be	KMS-7
30 Jun 1943	U-453	Oligarch (d.)	6,894	br	GTX-3
6 Jul 1943	U-453	Shahjehan	5,454	br	MWS-36
15 Nov 1943	U-453	HMS Quail (G 45) (t.) [Mine]	1,705	br
20 Nov 1943	U-453	Jela [Mine]	335	yu
22 Nov 1943	U-453	HMS Hebe (J 24) [Mine]	835	br
			35,000
6 ships sunk (18,390 tons) and 2 ships damaged (16,610 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost). [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.