Hans Jenisch

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)

Successes
17 ships sunk, total tonnage 110,139 GRT
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 14,749 GRT
1 warship damaged, total tonnage 8,000 tons

Born	19 Oct 1913		Gerdauen, East Prussia
Died	29 Apr 1982	(68)	Kiel, Germany

Oberleutnant zur See Hans Jenisch

Ranks

1 Apr 1933		Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1936		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov 1940		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

		Iron Cross 2nd Class
		Iron Cross 1st Class
		U-boat War Badge 1939
7 Oct 1940		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-32	12 Feb 1940	30 Oct 1940	6 patrols (114 days)

Oberleutnant zur See Hans Jenisch on board

Hans Jenisch joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1933 and after a year on the cruiser Deutschland transferred to the U-boat force in May 1937. After training he became the first watch officer on U-32 in January 1938. Two years later he took over this U-boat as commander.

During his six patrols he sank 17 ships, including the 42,348 ton Empress of Britain, (see Biggest U-boat victims) which was damaged by German bombs.

When U-32 was sunk on 30 October, 1940 northwest of Ireland by two British destroyers, Jenisch was taken prisoner. He then spent six and a half years in British captivity before returning to Germany in June 1947.

In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, holding mainly staff positions but also commanding the frigate Hipper for a few months. He retired in 1972 as Kapitän zur See.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Hans Jenisch

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-32	26 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	23 Mar 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	27 days
2.	U-32	27 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	5 May 1940	Trondheim		9 days
3.	U-32	8 May 1940	Trondheim	14 May 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	7 days
4.	U-32	3 Jun 1940	Wilhelmshaven	1 Jul 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 3,	29 days
5.	U-32	15 Aug 1940	Wilhelmshaven	8 Sep 1940	Lorient	Patrol 4,	25 days
6.	U-32	18 Sep 1940	Lorient	6 Oct 1940	Lorient	Patrol 5,	19 days
7.	U-32	24 Oct 1940	Lorient	30 Oct 1940	Sunk	Patrol 6,	7 days
6 patrols, 114 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans Jenisch

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
2 Mar 1940	U-32	Lagaholm	2,818	sw
18 Jun 1940	U-32	Altair	1,522	nw
18 Jun 1940	U-32	Nuevo Ons	108	sp
18 Jun 1940	U-32	Sálvora	108	sp
19 Jun 1940	U-32	Labud	5,334	yu
22 Jun 1940	U-32	Eli Knudsen	9,026	nw	HX-49
30 Aug 1940	U-32	Mill Hill	4,318	br	HX-66A
30 Aug 1940	U-32	Chelsea	4,804	br	HX-66A
30 Aug 1940	U-32	Norne	3,971	nw	HX-66A
1 Sep 1940	U-32	HMS Fiji (58) (d.)	8,000	br	MP
22 Sep 1940	U-32	Collegian (d.)	7,886	br	HX-72
25 Sep 1940	U-32	Mabriton	6,694	br	OB-216
26 Sep 1940	U-32	Corrientes (d.)	6,863	br	OB-217
26 Sep 1940	U-32	Tancred	6,094	nw	OB-217
26 Sep 1940	U-32	Darcoila	4,084	br	OB-217
28 Sep 1940	U-32	Empire Ocelot	5,759	br	OB-218
29 Sep 1940	U-32	Bassa	5,267	br	OB-218
30 Sep 1940	U-32	Haulerwijk	3,278	nl	OB-219
2 Oct 1940	U-32	Kayeson	4,606	br
28 Oct 1940	U-32	Empress of Britain	42,348	br
			132,888
17 ships sunk (110,139 tons) and 3 ships damaged (22,749 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

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.