Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew 38)


Successes
4 ships sunk, total tonnage 22,912 GRT

Born  27 May 1920 Berlin-Schöneberg
Died  12 Aug 1944(24)Indian Ocean, off Seychelles


Ranks

1 Oct 1938 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1939 Seekadett
1 Dec 1939 Fähnrich zur See
1 Aug 1940 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1941 Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1943 Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

  Iron Cross 2nd Class
  Iron Cross 1st Class
  U-boat War Badge 1939

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-198 21 Jan 1944 12 Aug 1944  (+)  1 patrol (115 days) 

Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg joined the Kriegsmarine in 1938. From Oct 1938 to Feb 1939 he served with the Basic training establishment at Stralsund then joined the sailing training ship Albert Leo Schlageter until June 1939. He served on the light cruiser Emden from July to Sept 1939 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

From June 1941 to Feb 1942 Heusinger von Waldegg served as a Watch Officer in sea training with the 5th (Training) Flotilla (training). He then went through U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) to learn all about the large type IXD2 boat being built at Bremen (Busch & Röll, 1999).

On 14 March 1942 KrvKpt. Wilhelm Schulze commissioned the new U-177 and Heusinger von Waldegg became its First Watch Officer (1WO). He served in that role until Oct 1942 (Busch & Röll, 1999). After training in the Baltic the boat left for its first war patrol on 17 Sept 1942, but by then had a new Commander, the ace KrvKpt. Robert Gysae.

Heusinger von Waldegg went out on 2 very long patrols with the U-177, spending an amazing 312 days at sea (Busch & Röll, 1997). Both patrols were to the tip of South Africa and as far as Madagascar. During these missions they sank 14 ships (87,388 GRT) and damaged a small ship of 2,588 GRT (Rohwer, 1998).

First command

Having left the successful boat with valuable experience he went through U-boat Commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla from Oct 1943 to Jan 1944 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

On 21 Jan 1944 Oblt. Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg took command of the U-198, a sister boat of U-177. He left La Pallice, France for his first patrol as Commander on 20 April 1944. During the patrol he again went to familiar seas south of Africa and into the waters around Madagascar (Busch & Röll, 1997).

Heusinger von Waldegg sank 4 ships on his patrol with the U-198, the last being Empire Day only 5 days before U-198 herself was lost (Rohwer, 1998).


The motor merchant Empire Day sunk by U-198 (Heusinger von Waldegg) on 7 Aug 1944.

U-198's patrol came to an sudden end when the boat was sunk with all hands, 66 men, on 12 Aug 1944 in the Indian Ocean near Seychelles by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Findhorn and the Indian sloop HMIS Godavari (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.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-198 23 Mar 1944  Bordeaux  25 Mar 1944  La Pallice   3 days
2. U-198 20 Apr 1944  La Pallice  12 Aug 1944  Sunk  Patrol 1,115 days

Ships hit by Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
16 Jun 1944U-198 Columbine3,268sa
15 Jul 1944U-198 Director5,107br
6 Aug 1944U-198 Empire City7,295brDKA-21
7 Aug 1944U-198 Empire Day7,242br
 22,912

4 ships sunk (22,912 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this 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.

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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