Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 30)


Successes
14 ships sunk, total tonnage 70,434 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 602 GRT
3 ships damaged, total tonnage 28,682 GRT

Born  19 Sep 1910 Hannover
Died  13 Oct 1943(33)North Atlantic


Korvkpt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner

Ranks

1 Apr 1930 Offiziersanwärter
10 Oct 1930 Seekadett
1 Jan 1932 Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1934 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1934 Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1936 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Kapitänleutnant
1 Apr 1943 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

18 Feb 1942 Iron Cross 2nd Class
7 Aug 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
9 Feb 1943 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-59 11 Nov 1940 16 Apr 1941   No war patrols 
U-402 21 May 1941 13 Oct 1943  (+)  8 patrols (349 days) 

Forstner
Siegfried von Forstner celebrates news of his Knights Cross award in the wardroom of U-402, cruising at a depth of 100 ft.

Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner began his naval career in April 1930 (his younger brother, Wolfgang-Friedrich, was also a U-boat commander, 37a). He served for more than two years on the light cruiser Nürnberg, including six patrols during the first year of the war. In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. Following standard training he served on U-99 under Kptlt. Kretschmer for one patrol as a Kommandantenschüler (Commander-in-training) (Busch & Röll, 1999).

After a few months on the training boat U-59, in April 1941 he commissioned U-402, a type VIIC U-boat (Busch & Röll, 1999). He operated mostly against convoys in the North Atlantic and became one of the most successful commanders in 1943.

U-402 was sunk with all hands on 13 October 1943 by an aircraft from the US escort carrier USS Card (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.

Patrol info for Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-402 26 Oct 1941  Kiel  9 Dec 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,45 days
2. U-402 11 Jan 1942  St. Nazaire  11 Feb 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,32 days
3. U-402 26 Mar 1942  St. Nazaire  20 May 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 3,56 days
4. U-402 16 Jun 1942  St. Nazaire  5 Aug 1942  La Pallice  Patrol 4,51 days
5. U-402 4 Oct 1942  La Pallice  20 Nov 1942  La Pallice  Patrol 5,48 days
6. U-402 14 Jan 1943  La Pallice  23 Feb 1943  La Pallice  Patrol 6,41 days
7. U-402 21 Apr 1943  La Pallice  26 May 1943  La Pallice  Patrol 7,36 days
8. U-402 4 Sep 1943  La Pallice  13 Oct 1943  Sunk  Patrol 8,40 days
8 patrols, 349 days at sea

Ships hit by Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner

Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
16 Jan 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Llangibby Castle (d.)11,951brWS-15
13 Apr 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Empire Progress5,249brON-80
30 Apr 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Ashkhabad5,284sj
2 May 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner USS Cythera (PY 26)602am
2 Nov 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Empire Sunrise (d.)7,459brSC-107
2 Nov 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Dalcroy4,558brSC-107
2 Nov 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Rinos4,649grSC-107
2 Nov 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Empire Leopard5,676brSC-107
2 Nov 1942U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Empire Antelope4,945brSC-107
 
7 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Toward1,571brSC-118
7 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Robert E. Hopkins6,625amSC-118
7 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Daghild (d.)9,272nwSC-118
7 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Afrika8,597brSC-118
7 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Henry R. Mallory6,063amSC-118
7 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Kalliopi4,965grSC-118
8 Feb 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Newton Ash4,625brSC-118
11 May 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Antigone4,545brSC-129
11 May 1943U-402Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner Grado3,082nwSC-129
 99,718

15 ships sunk (71,036 tons) and 3 ships damaged (28,682 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.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim


Bloody Winter

Waters, John M.

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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