WWI U-boat commanders

Rudolf Schneider

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 4/01)

Successes
45 ships sunk with a total of 125,976 GRT
1 warship sunk with a total of 15,000 tons
5 ships damaged with a total of 21,956 GRT
1 ship taken as prize with a total of 1,925 GRT

Born:13 Feb 1882 Zittau  
Died:13 Oct 1917 Northwest of Ireland 

Rudolf Schneider

Ranks

10 Apr 1901 Seekadett
22 Apr 1902 Fähnrich zur See
29 Sep 1904 Leutnant zur See
6 Apr 1907 Oberleutnant zur See
25 Apr 1912 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

20 Nov 1906  Lifesaving Medal
2 Sep 1909  Order of St. Stanislaus (Russia)
9 Jul 1912  Military Merit Order (Bavaria)
 Iron Cross 2nd class
 Iron Cross 1st class
19 Nov 1915  Royal House Order of Hohenzollern

U-boat Commands

U 246 Dec 1913 - 14 Oct 1916
U 8726 Feb 1917 - 13 Oct 1917 (+)

Notes

Most people knew him as Rudi. He entered the Kaiserliche Marine in 1901 as a Seekadett. In June 1914 he received the Rettungsmedaille as a Leutnant zur See and was promoted Kapitänleutnant.

He became CO of U24 and was responsible for the sinking of the British battleship HMS Formidable during the very first underwater attack at night on the 1st January 1915 off Portland Bill.

He also received the Hausorden von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern.

On October 13 1917, during a very stormy weather, he was lost overboard from the conning tower of U 87. One of his shipmates managed to bring him back on board but it was too late. He was subsequently buried at sea. His 1WO, KL Freiherr Rudolf von Speth-Schulzburg, took over the command of the boat.

Ships hit by Rudolf Schneider

DateU-boat Name of shipType of shipTonsNat.
 
26 Oct 1914 U 24 Amiral Ganteaume (d.)Steamer4,590fr
 
1 Jan 1915 U 24  FormidableBattleship15,000br
2 Apr 1915 U 24 LochwoodSteamer2,042br
4 Apr 1915 U 24 City Of BremenSteamer1,258br
10 Apr 1915 U 24 The PresidentSteamer647br
11 Apr 1915 U 24 Frederic Franck (d.)Steamer973fr
27 Jun 1915 U 24 EdithSailing vessel97br
27 Jun 1915 U 24 IndraniSteamer3,640br
27 Jun 1915 U 24 LucenaSteamer243br
28 Jun 1915 U 24 DumfriesshireSailing vessel2,622br
28 Jun 1915 U 24  ArmenianSteamer8,825br
29 Jun 1915 U 24  Scottish MonarchSteamer5,043br
30 Jun 1915 U 24  ThistlebankSailing vessel2,411nw
1 Jul 1915 U 24 L. C. TowerSailing vessel518br
1 Jul 1915 U 24 SardomeneSailing vessel2,000it
1 Jul 1915 U 24 WelburySteamer3,591br
6 Jul 1915 U 24 EllenSailing vessel169da
7 Aug 1915 U 24 GeirangerSteamer1,081nw
12 Aug 1915 U 24 OspreySteamer310br
13 Aug 1915 U 24 Cairosteamer1,671br
19 Aug 1915 U 24  ArabicPassenger steamer15,801br
19 Aug 1915 U 24 DunsleySteamer4,930br
19 Aug 1915 U 24  New York CitySteamer2,970br
19 Aug 1915 U 24 St. OlafSailing vessel277br
24 Aug 1915 U 24 Sinsen (p.)Steamer1,925nw
25 Dec 1915 U 24 Van StirumPassenger steamer3,284br
26 Dec 1915 U 24 CottinghamSteamer513br
26 Dec 1915 U 24 Ministre BernaertSteamer4,215be
28 Dec 1915 U 24  Huronian (d.)Steamer8,755br
28 Dec 1915 U 24 El Zorrotanker5,989br
 
11 Jul 1916 U 24 Nellie NuttenNavy Trawler174br
 
23 May 1917 U 87 Bernisse (d.)Steamer951nl
23 May 1917 U 87 ElveSteamer962nl
26 May 1917 U 87 LuciparaSailing vessel1,943ru
26 May 1917 U 87 Saint MirrenSailing vessel1,956br
30 May 1917 U 87 BathurstSteamer2,821br
30 May 1917 U 87 HanleySteamer3,331br
2 Jun 1917 U 87 EliofiloSteamer3,583it
2 Jun 1917 U 87  Mississipi (d.)Steamer6,687fr
4 Jul 1917 U 87 Loch KatrineTrawler151br
8 Jul 1917 U 87 ValettaSteamer5,871br
10 Jul 1917 U 87 Seang ChoonPassenger steamer5,807br
11 Jul 1917 U 87 KiotoSteamer6,182br
12 Jul 1917 U 87 CastletonSteamer2,395br
16 Jul 1917 U 87 TameleSteamer3,932br
19 Jul 1917 U 87 ArtensisSailing vessel1,788nw
21 Jul 1917 U 87 Coniston WaterSteamer3,738br
19 Aug 1917 U 87 Eika IiSteamer1,268nw
21 Aug 1917 U 87 OsloSteamer2,296br
22 Aug 1917 U 87 Alexander ShukoffSteamer1,652da
27 Aug 1917 U 87  AnnaSteamer1,211da
27 Aug 1917 U 87  AuroraSteamer768da
 164,857
47 ships sunk (142,901 tons) and 5 ships damaged (21,956 tons).


Legend
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
(p.) means the ship was taken as prize (included in ships & tonnage lost).
We have a picture of this vessel.

Media links


Kaiserliche Marine U-Boote 1914-1918

Dufeil, Yves

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