Günther Seibicke

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)

Successes
6 ships sunk, total tonnage 36,208 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 291 tons (lost aboard transport ships)
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 15,575 GRT

Born	30 Aug 1911		Eggersdorf, Lebus
Died	26 May 1943	(31)	North Atlantic west of Cape Ortegal

Günther Seibicke

Ranks

1 Apr 1932		Offiziersanwärter
4 Nov 1932		Seekadett
1 Jan 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Sep 1935		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1937		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1940		Kapitänleutnant
1 Jun 1943		Korvettenkapitän (posthumous)

Decorations

17 Sep 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
16 May 1940		Iron Cross 1st Class
24 Apr 1942		U-boat War Badge 1939
27 Mar 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-436	27 Sep 1941	26 May 1943 (+)	8 patrols (214 days)

Kapitänleutnant Günther Seibicke

Günther Seibicke began his naval career in August 1932. This was four months later than usual, due to an accident in June 1932 in which the German sailing school ship Niobe sank after capsizing. Most of the cadets (27 men) of Crew 1932 died in this accident; they were replaced by young men selected from across Germany.

After serving on the light cruiser Königsberg, Seibicke spent more than four years in minesweepers, starting in 1936. For the first years of the war he commanded minesweeper M 4, and was awarded both the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class in 1939. In April 1941 he transferred to the U-boat force, and following standard training commissioned U-436 in September 1941.

He took her on eight patrols, mostly in Arctic and northern waters, but also in the North Atlantic, until U-436 was sunk with all hands on 26 May 1943. (Niestlé, 1998)

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).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.

Patrol info for Günther Seibicke

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-436	2 Feb 1942	Kiel	17 Feb 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 1,	16 days
2.	U-436	26 Feb 1942	Kirkenes	24 Mar 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 2,	27 days
3.	U-436	7 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	20 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 3,	14 days
4.	U-436	29 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	4 May 1942	Trondheim	Patrol 4,	6 days
5.	U-436	12 May 1942	Trondheim	27 May 1942	Skjomenfjord	Patrol 5,	16 days
6.	U-436	30 May 1942	Skjomenfjord	1 Jun 1942	Trondheim		3 days
7.	U-436	7 Jun 1942	Trondheim	11 Jun 1942	Kiel		5 days
8.	U-436	12 Jun 1942	Kiel	13 Jun 1942	Danzig		2 days
9.	U-436	20 Sep 1942	Danzig	21 Sep 1942	Kiel		2 days
10.	U-436	6 Oct 1942	Kiel	12 Nov 1942	Lorient	Patrol 6,	38 days
11.	U-436	17 Dec 1942	Lorient	19 Feb 1943	St. Nazaire	Patrol 7,	65 days
12.	U-436	25 Apr 1943	St. Nazaire	26 May 1943	Sunk	Patrol 8,	32 days
8 patrols, 214 days at sea

Ships hit by Günther Seibicke

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
1 Mar 1942	U-436	RT-19 Komintern	577	sj
13 Apr 1942	U-436	Kiev	5,823	sj	QP-10
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Frontenac (d.)	7,350	nw	HX-212
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Gurney E. Newlin (d.)	8,225	am	HX-212
27 Oct 1942	U-436	HMS LCT-2281 [Trans.]	291	br	HX-212
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Sourabaya	10,107	br	HX-212
29 Oct 1942	U-436	Barrwhin	4,998	br	HX-212

8 Jan 1943	U-436	Albert L. Ellsworth	8,309	nw	TM-1
8 Jan 1943	U-436	Oltenia II	6,394	br	TM-1
			52,074
7 ships sunk (36,499 tons) and 2 ships damaged (15,575 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. [Trans.] indicates the vessel was lost while being transported on another vessel.

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.