Karl-Ernst Schroeter

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)

Successes
7 ships sunk, total tonnage 32,966 GRT
2 auxiliary warships sunk, total tonnage 1,134 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 4,799 GRT

Born	3 Dec 1912		Freystadt, Silesia
Died	23 May 1943	(30)	Central North Atlantic

Kriegsmarine Crew photo

Ranks

1 Jul 1935		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb 1941		Kapitänleutnant
1 May 1943		Korvettenkapitän

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-121	28 May 1940	30 Mar 1941	No war patrols
U-752	24 May 1941	23 May 1943 (+)	9 patrols (329 days)

Karl-Ernst Schroeter joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1934. He served as the First Watch Officer (1WO) on the U-9 (Kptlt. Ludwig Mathes) during one patrol during Sept - Oct 1939. He then became the First Watch Officer on the much larger type IXB boat U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe) during which he also went out on one patrol taking part in sinking 3 ships for over 13,000 GRT.

Karl-Ernst Schroeter served with a training flotilla from Jan to April 1940. May 1940 he spent getting familiar with the small "duck" U-121 before commissioning the new boat on 28 May 1940. The boat spent its entire career as a school boat and Schroeter left her on 30 March 1941.

From April to May he would again spend time learning the ins and out of a new boat, this time the larger type VIIC boats, at Wilhelmshaven. He commissioned the brand new U-752 on 24 May 1941, his first combat U-boat.

With the U-752 Kptlt. Karl-Ernst Schroeter went out on 9 war patrols spending 329 days at sea. He was a successful commander, sinking 8 ships for over 33,000 GRT and damaging another merchant for 4,799 GRT.

The loss of U-752

On 19 May 1943 U-752 joined Wolfpack Mosel along with 20 other boats. On May 23 Schroeter found convoy HX-239 and reported its position. This, in turn, homed in Allied escort forces and aircraft. A Swordfish from the British escort carrier HMS Archer found the boat on the surface and attacked with 8 rockets, the last 2 of which penetrated the pressure hull causing extensive damages and flooding. This forced Schroeter to abort the crash dive and fight it out on the surface (Blair, 1998).

On reaching the tower Schroeter was hit in the head by gunfire from a Wildcat/Martlet aircraft and killed instantly along with several of his crew. His Chief Engineer (LI) took command and scuttled the boat, ordering men to abandon ship. The First Watch Officer willingly went down with the boat. Allied escorts picked up 13 men and 4 survivors were picked up by U-91 (Oblt. Heinz Hungershausen) later in the day (Blair, 1998).

Sources

Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Karl-Ernst Schroeter

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-752	23 Jul 1941	Kiel	24 Jul 1941	Horten		2 days
2.	U-752	31 Jul 1941	Horten	2 Aug 1941	Trondheim		3 days
3.	U-752	18 Aug 1941	Trondheim	22 Aug 1941	Kirkenes		5 days
4.	U-752	23 Aug 1941	Kirkenes	17 Sep 1941	Kirkenes	Patrol 1,	26 days
5.	U-752	19 Sep 1941	Kirkenes	23 Sep 1941	Trondheim		5 days
6.	U-752	18 Oct 1941	Trondheim	22 Oct 1941	Kirkenes		5 days
7.	U-752	7 Nov 1941	Kirkenes	18 Nov 1941	Kirkenes	Patrol 2,	12 days
8.	U-752	22 Nov 1941	Kirkenes	10 Dec 1941	Kiel	Patrol 3,	19 days
9.	U-752	4 Feb 1942	Kiel	5 Feb 1942	Helgoland	Patrol 4,	2 days
10.	U-752	7 Feb 1942	Helgoland	10 Feb 1942	Bergen	Patrol 4,	4 days
11.	U-752	12 Feb 1942	Bergen	13 Mar 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 4,	30 days
12.	U-752	28 Mar 1942	La Pallice	21 May 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	55 days
13.	U-752	2 Jul 1942	St. Nazaire	4 Sep 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 6,	65 days
14.	U-752	19 Oct 1942	La Pallice	21 Oct 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 7,	3 days
15.	U-752	22 Oct 1942	La Pallice	3 Dec 1942	La Pallice	Patrol 7,	43 days
16.	U-752	9 Jan 1943	La Pallice	15 Feb 1943	St. Nazaire	Patrol 8,	38 days
17.	U-752	22 Apr 1943	St. Nazaire	23 May 1943	Sunk	Patrol 9,	32 days
9 patrols, 329 days at sea

Ships hit by Karl-Ernst Schroeter

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
25 Aug 1941	U-752	T-898 (No 44)	553	sj
27 Aug 1941	U-752	RT-8 Seld´	608	sj
15 Nov 1941	U-752	T-889 (No 34)	581	sj

21 Apr 1942	U-752	West Imboden	5,751	am
23 Apr 1942	U-752	Reinholt (d.)	4,799	nw
1 May 1942	U-752	Bidevind	4,956	nw
23 Jul 1942	U-752	Garmula	5,254	br
27 Jul 1942	U-752	Leikanger	4,003	nw	FN-20
9 Aug 1942	U-752	Mendanau	6,047	nl
13 Aug 1942	U-752	Cripple Creek	6,347	am
			38,899
9 ships sunk (34,100 tons) and 1 ship damaged (4,799 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.