| Born | 11 Mar 1918 | Munich, Germany | |
| Died | 28 Apr 2010 | (92) | München, Germany |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-149 | 1 Aug 1942 | 14 May 1944 | No war patrols |
Adolf-Wilhelm Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord joined the Kriegsmarine in 1937. After basic U-boat training from Oct 1940 - April 1941 and U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) April - May 1941 he was made 1st Watch Officer (1WO) on the new U-402 (Kptlt. Siegfried von Forstner) from May to Oct 1941. He left the boat just prior to its first patrol at the end of Oct 1941 (Busch & Röll, 1999).
He then served as 1WO on U-71 (Kptlt. Walter Flachsenberg) from Oct 1941 - April 1942 (Busch & Röll, 1999). He went out on two war patrols, spending 92 days at sea, with five ships sunk totalling almost 39,000 tons.
OL von Hammerstein-Equord then went through U-boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla and U-boat Commander sea training on the type IID "duck" U-149 April - July 1942 (Busch & Röll, 1999).
Von Hammerstein-Equord returned to take command of U-149 on 1 Aug 1942, remaining with her until 14 May 1944 (Busch & Röll, 1999). Since the boat was a school boat, von Hammerstein-Equord never took her on patrol.
He then joined the Staff of U-boat Command Norway, remaining in staff positions there until the war ended in May 1945 (Busch & Röll, 1999).
Post war
After spending one year as a prisoner of war in England Baron Adolf-Wilhelm von Hammerstein-Equord returned to Germany to live in Prien. a. Chiemsee, a small town between Munich and Salzburg on Lake Chiemsee.
From 1957 he lived with his family in Munich, eventually becoming director of an insurance company, and then spent his retirement in Munich. He died on 28 April 2010 at the age of 92.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Patrol info for Adolf-Wilhelm Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord
This commander did not go out on patrols with his boats.
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.
Media links
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