Albrecht Achilles
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)
Successes 12 ships sunk, total tonnage 60,107 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,130 tons 5 ships damaged, total tonnage 35,672 GRT 1 warship damaged, total tonnage 5,450 tons 1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 3,305 GRT |
Born | 25 Jan 1914 | Karlsruhe | |
Died | 27 Sep 1943 | (29) | Bahia, Brazil |
Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
U-boat | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
U-161 | 1 Jan 1942 | 27 Sep 1943 (+) | 6 patrols (435 days) |
Kptlt. Albrecht Achilles after a patrol |
Albrecht Achilles began his naval career in April 1934. He then served on the school ship Schleswig-Holstein and on the battleship Gneisenau. After a year at the Marineschule Mürwik instructing future officers, he transferred to the U-boat force in April 1940.
After the usual training he made three patrols on U-66 under Korvkpt. Richard Zapp. He left the boat in November 1941 and in January 1942 took command of the IXC boat U-161. He operated mostly in the Caribbean, but also in Brazilian and African waters. In March 1942 he sank the US Coast Guard ship Acacia and in October of that year damaged the British light cruiser Phoebe (5,450 tons).
Albrecht Achilles died when U-161 was sunk with all hands in September 1943 by a US Mariner aircraft northeast of Bahia.
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.
Patrol info for Albrecht Achilles
U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | U-161 | 3 Jan 1942 | Kiel | 15 Jan 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 1, | 13 days | |
2. | U-161 | 24 Jan 1942 | Lorient | 2 Apr 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 69 days | |
3. | U-161 | 28 Apr 1942 | Lorient | 7 Aug 1942 | Lorient | Patrol 3, | 102 days | |
4. | U-161 | 19 Sep 1942 | Lorient | 9 Jan 1943 | Lorient | Patrol 4, | 113 days | |
5. | U-161 | 13 Mar 1943 | Lorient | 7 Jun 1943 | Lorient | Patrol 5, | 87 days | |
6. | U-161 | 8 Aug 1943 | Lorient | 27 Sep 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 6, | 51 days | |
6 patrols, 435 days at sea |
Ships hit by Albrecht Achilles
Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 Feb 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | British Consul (d.) | 6,940 | br | |||
19 Feb 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Mokihana (d.) | 7,460 | am | |||
21 Feb 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Circe Shell | 8,207 | br | ON-60 | ||
23 Feb 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Lihue | 7,001 | am | |||
7 Mar 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Uniwaleco | 9,755 | sa | |||
10 Mar 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Lady Nelson (d.) | 7,970 | ca | |||
10 Mar 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Umtata (d.) | 8,141 | br | |||
14 Mar 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Sarniadoc | 1,940 | ca | |||
15 Mar 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | USCGC Acacia (WAGL 200) | 1,130 | am | |||
16 Jun 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Nueva Altagracia | 30 | do | |||
3 Jul 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | San Pablo (t.) | 3,305 | pa | |||
16 Jul 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Fairport | 6,165 | am | AS-4 | ||
23 Oct 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | HMS Phoebe (43) (d.) | 5,450 | br | |||
8 Nov 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Benalder (d.) | 5,161 | br | ST-40 | ||
8 Nov 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | West Humhaw | 5,527 | am | ST-40 | ||
29 Nov 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Tjileboet | 5,760 | nl | ON-145 | ||
12 Dec 1942 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Ripley | 4,997 | br | |||
19 May 1943 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Angelus | 255 | ca | |||
20 Sep 1943 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | St. Usk | 5,472 | br | |||
26 Sep 1943 | U-161 | Albrecht Achilles | Itapagé | 4,998 | bz | |||
105,664 | ||||||||
14 ships sunk (64,542 tons) and 6 ships damaged (41,122 tons). Legend |
About ranks and decorations
Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.
Media links
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