Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 28)

Successes
7 ships sunk, total tonnage 42,433 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 925 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 123 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged, total tonnage 11,402 GRT

Born	11 Sep 1906		Stahlheim, Metz
Died	9 Jan 1974	(67)	Bad Schwartau, Germany

Ranks

10 Oct 1928		Seekadett
1 Jan 1930		Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1932		Leutnant zur See
1 Sep 1934		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jun 1937		Kapitänleutnant
1 Jan 1943		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

13 Apr 1941		Iron Cross 2nd Class
13 Apr 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
13 Apr 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
31 Dec 1941		Knights Cross
20 Sep 1944		U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-8	5 May 1940	7 Jun 1940	1 patrol (18 days)
U-74	31 Oct 1940	23 Mar 1942	7 patrols (170 days)
U-196	11 Sep 1942	21 Sep 1944	2 patrols (373 days)

Kapitänleutnant Kentrat after patrol

Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat began his naval career in October 1925 as a seaman. In 1928 he began officer training and became an officer in 1932. He then served on the warships Hessen, Deutschland and Schlesien. In October 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force. During the winter of 1940 he made one patrol on U-25 before taking over U-8 in May 1940. Unfortunately he was injured after an accident on board and spent over three months in hospital.

In October 1940 he commissioned U-74. In the course of seven patrols he sank five ships, including the Canadian corvette HMCS Levis, and damaged the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Worcestershire (11,402 tons). Before Kptlt. Kentrat left U-74, he brought the boat through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean.

He then served for six months on the staff of Admiral Friedeburg (2nd Admiral of U-boats) before commissioning the long-range U-boat U-196 in September 1942. The first patrol with U-196 became famous even though he sank only two ships of some 12,000 tons. But it was the longest patrol a U-boat or other submarine ever made in wartime. U-196 left Kiel on 13 March, 1943 and reached Bordeaux on 23 October, 1943, 225 days later. In the photo below can you see that such a long patrol left its mark on the face of the commander. The second patrol with U-196 was also longer than five months. Korvkpt. Kentrat left the boat in Penang and served to the end of war in several staff positions in Japan. He returned to Germany after more than two years in captivity in October 1947.

Korvkpt. Kentrat with the well earned Beck's beer after his outstanding 225 days patrol.
Left the FdU West KzS Rösing, right the commander of the 12th Flotilla Korvkpt. Scholtz.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).

Patrol info for Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-8	19 May 1940	Kiel	5 Jun 1940	at sea	Patrol 1,	18 days
2.	U-74	22 Feb 1941	Kiel	23 Feb 1941	Helgoland		2 days
3.	U-74	24 Feb 1941	Helgoland	27 Feb 1941	Bergen		4 days
4.	U-74	5 Mar 1941	Bergen	11 Apr 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 2,	38 days
5.	U-74	8 May 1941	St. Nazaire	30 May 1941	Lorient	Patrol 3,	23 days
6.	U-74	5 Jul 1941	Lorient	12 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	39 days
7.	U-74	8 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	26 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	19 days
8.	U-74	22 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	12 Nov 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	22 days
9.	U-74	9 Dec 1941	St. Nazaire	24 Dec 1941	Messina	Patrol 7,	16 days
10.	U-74	27 Dec 1941	Messina	8 Jan 1942	La Spezia	Patrol 8,	13 days
11.	U-196	13 Mar 1943	Kiel	23 Oct 1943	Bordeaux	Patrol 9,	225 days
12.	U-196	11 Mar 1944	Bordeaux	13 Mar 1944	La Pallice		3 days
13.	U-196	16 Mar 1944	La Pallice	10 Aug 1944	Penang	Patrol 10,	148 days
10 patrols, 561 days at sea

Ships hit by Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat

Date	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
11 Mar 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Frodi (d.)	123	is
3 Apr 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Leonidas Z. Cambanis	4,274	gr	SC-26
3 Apr 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	HMS Worcestershire (F 29) (d.)	11,402	br	SC-26
5 Aug 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Kumasian	4,922	br	SL-81
19 Sep 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	HMCS Levis (K 115)	925	ca	SC-44
20 Sep 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Empire Burton	6,966	br	SC-44
7 Nov 1941	U-74	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Nottingham	8,532	br

11 May 1943	U-196	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Nailsea Meadow	4,962	br
3 Aug 1943	U-196	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	City of Oran	7,323	br	CB-1

9 Jul 1944	U-196	Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	Shahzada	5,454	br
				54,883
8 ships sunk (43,358 tons) and 2 ships damaged (11,525 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.