Heinrich Liebe

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 27)

Successes
34 ships sunk, total tonnage 187,267 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 3,670 GRT

Born	29 Jan 1908		Gotha
Died	27 Jul 1997	(89)	Eisenach / Thürigen, Germany

Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe

Ranks

11 Oct 1927		Seekadett
1 Apr 1929		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jun 1931		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1931		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1933		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1936		Kapitänleutnant
1 Dec 1941		Korvettenkapitän
1 Oct 1944		Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

20 Apr 1937		German Olympic Medal
8 Oct 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
16 Dec 1939		U-boat War Badge 1939
6 Apr 1940		Iron Cross 1st Class
14 Aug 1940		Knights Cross
10 Jun 1941		Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-2	1 Oct 1936	31 Jan 1938	No war patrols
U-38	24 Oct 1938	22 Jul 1941	9 patrols (328 days)

Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe after a patrol.

Heinrich Liebe began his naval career in April 1927. Starting in 1931 he served on the battleship Schleswig- Holstein, then in September 1935 transferred to the newly-formed U-boat force.

He was one of the few commanders with long and thorough pre-war U-boat experience. In October 1938 he commissioned U-38 and took her on a total of nine patrols. On his last patrol he sank eight ships with a total of 47,279 tons in the waters off Freetown, Africa. During this patrol he received the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross.

In July 1941 he left U-38 and served for three years as a staff officer at OKM (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, Naval High Command).

From August 1944 to the end of the war he served on the staff of the BdU (Commander in Chief U-boats) as 2. SKL, BdU op.

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Heinrich Liebe

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-38	19 Aug 1939	Wilhelmshaven	18 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	31 days
2.	U-38	14 Nov 1939	Wilhelmshaven	16 Dec 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	33 days
3.	U-38	26 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	5 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 3,	40 days
4.	U-38	8 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	27 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 4,	20 days
5.	U-38	6 Jun 1940	Wilhelmshaven	2 Jul 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 5,	27 days
6.	U-38	1 Aug 1940	Wilhelmshaven	3 Sep 1940	Lorient	Patrol 6,	34 days
7.	U-38	25 Sep 1940	Lorient	24 Oct 1940	Lorient	Patrol 7,	30 days
8.	U-38	18 Dec 1940	Lorient	22 Jan 1941	Lorient	Patrol 8,	36 days
9.	U-38	9 Apr 1941	Lorient	24 Jun 1941	Lorient	Patrol 9,	77 days
9 patrols, 328 days at sea

Ships hit by Heinrich Liebe

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
6 Sep 1939	U-38	Manaar	7,242	br
11 Sep 1939	U-38	Inverliffey	9,456	br
7 Dec 1939	U-38	Thomas Walton	4,460	br
11 Dec 1939	U-38	Garoufalia	4,708	gr
13 Dec 1939	U-38	Deptford	4,101	br

9 Mar 1940	U-38	Leukos	216	ir
17 Mar 1940	U-38	Argentina	5,375	da
21 Mar 1940	U-38	Algier	1,654	da
21 Mar 1940	U-38	Christiansborg	3,270	da
26 Mar 1940	U-38	Cometa	3,794	nw
2 Apr 1940	U-38	Signe	1,540	fi	HN-23A
14 Jun 1940	U-38	Mount Myrto	5,403	gr
15 Jun 1940	U-38	Italia	9,973	nw	HX-47
15 Jun 1940	U-38	Erik Boye	2,238	ca	HX-47
20 Jun 1940	U-38	Tilia Gorthon	1,776	sw
21 Jun 1940	U-38	Luxembourg	5,809	be
22 Jun 1940	U-38	Neion	5,154	gr
7 Aug 1940	U-38	Mohamed Ali El-Kebir	7,527	br
11 Aug 1940	U-38	Llanfair	4,966	br	SL-41
31 Aug 1940	U-38	Har Zion	2,508	br	OB-205
1 Oct 1940	U-38	Highland Patriot	14,172	br
17 Oct 1940	U-38	Aenos	3,554	gr	SC-7
18 Oct 1940	U-38	Carsbreck (d.)	3,670	br	SC-7
19 Oct 1940	U-38	Matheran	7,653	br	HX-79
19 Oct 1940	U-38	Bilderdijk	6,856	nl	HX-79
27 Dec 1940	U-38	Waiotira	12,823	br
31 Dec 1940	U-38	Valparaiso	3,760	sw	HX-97

4 May 1941	U-38	Japan	5,230	sw	OB-310
5 May 1941	U-38	Queen Maud	4,976	br	OB-309
23 May 1941	U-38	Berhala	6,622	nl	OB-318
24 May 1941	U-38	Vulcain	4,362	br	OB-317
29 May 1941	U-38	Tabaristan	6,251	br
30 May 1941	U-38	Empire Protector	6,181	br
31 May 1941	U-38	Rinda	6,029	nw
8 Jun 1941	U-38	Kingston Hill	7,628	br
			190,937
34 ships sunk (187,267 tons) and 1 ship damaged (3,670 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.