Hans Heidtmann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
4 ships sunk, total tonnage 11,811 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,060 tons
2 ships a total loss, total tonnage 6,117 GRT

Born	8 Aug 1914		Bahnhof Gleschendorf, Pönitz, Lübeck
Died	5 Apr 1976	(61)	Hamburg, Germany

Kptlt. Hans Heidtmann

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 Oct 1941		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

26 Nov 1939		U-boat War Badge 1939
26 Nov 1939		Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
27 Nov 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
23 Sep 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
12 Apr 1943		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-2	7 Jul 1940	5 Aug 1940	No war patrols (Acting CO)
U-14	Aug, 1940	29 Sep 1940	No war patrols (Acting CO)
U-21	1 Aug 1940	20 Dec 1940	No war patrols
U-559	27 Feb 1941	30 Oct 1942	10 patrols (247 days)

Hans Heidtmann joined the Navy in April 1934. He served on the light cruiser Deutschland, before transferring to the U-boat arm in January 1938. He made six patrols on U-2 and U-14. Beginning in July 1940 he was commander on several school boats in the 21st (Training) Flotilla.

In February 1941 he commissioned the type VIIC U-boat U-559, and after two patrols in the North Atlantic he managed to break through into the Straits of Gibraltar on 26 September 1941. For the next year he operated successfully in the Mediterranean until his U-boat was sunk on 30 October 1942 by British destroyers (Niestlé, 1998). Heidtmann and most of the crew were captured. He spent four and a half years in British captivity in Egypt, Canada and England before being released in May 1947.

In January 1958 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving in several staff positions and retiring in September 1972 as Kapitän zur See.

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 Hans Heidtmann

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-559	4 Jun 1941	Kiel	5 Jul 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 1,	32 days
2.	U-559	26 Jul 1941	St. Nazaire	22 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 2,	28 days
3.	U-559	20 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	20 Oct 1941	Salamis	Patrol 3,	31 days
4.	U-559	24 Nov 1941	Salamis	4 Dec 1941	Salamis	Patrol 4,	11 days
5.	U-559	8 Dec 1941	Salamis	31 Dec 1941	Salamis	Patrol 5,	24 days
6.	U-559	16 Feb 1942	Salamis	26 Feb 1942	Salamis	Patrol 6,	11 days
7.	U-559	4 Mar 1942	Salamis	21 Mar 1942	Salamis	Patrol 7,	18 days
8.	U-559	24 Mar 1942	Salamis	27 Mar 1942	Pola		4 days
9.	U-559	10 May 1942	Pola	12 May 1942	Pola		3 days
10.	U-559	18 May 1942	Pola	22 Jun 1942	Pola	Patrol 8,	36 days
11.	U-559	15 Aug 1942	Pola	21 Aug 1942	Salamis		7 days
12.	U-559	29 Aug 1942	Salamis	21 Sep 1942	Messina	Patrol 9,	24 days
13.	U-559	29 Sep 1942	Messina	30 Oct 1942	Sunk	Patrol 10,	32 days
10 patrols, 247 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans Heidtmann

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
19 Aug 1941	U-559	Alva	1,584	br	OG-71
27 Nov 1941	U-559	HMAS Parramatta (L 44)	1,060	au
23 Dec 1941	U-559	Shuntien	3,059	br	TA-5
26 Dec 1941	U-559	Warszawa	2,487	po	AT-6

10 Jun 1942	U-559	Athene	4,681	nw	AT-49
10 Jun 1942	U-559	Brambleleaf (t.)	5,917	br	AT-49
12 Oct 1942	U-559	Bringhi (t.)	200	ag
			18,988
7 ships sunk (18,988 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).

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.