Horst von Schroeter

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 37b)

Successes
6 ships sunk, total tonnage 31,557 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 683 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 7,068 GRT

Born	10 Jun 1919		Bieberstein, Saxony
Died	25 Jul 2006	(87)	Bonn, Germany

Horst von Schroeter

Ranks

9 Oct 1937		Offiziersanwärter
28 Jun 1938		Seekadett
1 Apr 1939		Fähnrich zur See
1 Mar 1940		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 May 1940		Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1942		Oberleutnant zur See
21 Dec 1944		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

25 Aug 1941		Iron Cross 2nd Class
25 Aug 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
10 Feb 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class
12 Dec 1943		German Cross in Gold
1 Jun 1944		Knights Cross
15 Mar 1945		U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-123	1 Aug 1942	17 Jun 1944	4 patrols (343 days)
U-2506	31 Aug 1944	9 May 1945	No war patrols

Horst von Schroeter began his naval career in October 1937. He spent five months on the battlecruiser Scharnhorst, including two patrols in the first months of the war. In May 1940 he joined the U-boat force. After six patrols as WO on U-123 he took over command of this famous boat from Reinhard Hardegen on 1 August 1942 . He left U-123 in June 1944, and two months later commissioned the type XXI Elektro U-boat Elektro boat U-2506, which sailed to Bergen, Norway in the last days of the war, but never saw active service.

In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy). From 1976 to 1979 he was the commander of the NATO Naval forces in the Baltic Sea Approaches (COMNAVBALTAP). He retired in 1979 with the rank of Vizeadmiral, and as such was the highest ranking former U-boat officer in the Bundesmarine.

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).

Patrol info for Horst von Schroeter

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-123	5 Dec 1942	Kiel	6 Feb 1943	Lorient	Patrol 1,	64 days
2.	U-123	13 Mar 1943	Lorient	8 Jun 1943	Lorient	Patrol 2,	88 days
3.	U-123	1 Aug 1943	Lorient	5 Aug 1943	Lorient		5 days
4.	U-123	16 Aug 1943	Lorient	7 Nov 1943	Lorient	Patrol 3,	84 days
5.	U-123	29 Dec 1943	Lorient	30 Dec 1943	Lorient		2 days
6.	U-123	9 Jan 1944	Lorient	24 Apr 1944	Lorient	Patrol 4,	107 days
4 patrols, 343 days at sea

Ships hit by Horst von Schroeter

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
29 Dec 1942	U-123	Baron Cochrane	3,385	br	ONS-154
29 Dec 1942	U-123	Empire Shackleton (d.)	7,068	br	ONS-154

8 Apr 1943	U-123	Castillo Montealegre	3,972	sp
18 Apr 1943	U-123	HMS P-615	683	br
18 Apr 1943	U-123	Empire Bruce	7,459	br
29 Apr 1943	U-123	Nanking	5,931	sw
5 May 1943	U-123	Holmbury	4,566	br
9 May 1943	U-123	Kanbe	6,244	br	TS-38
			39,308
7 ships sunk (32,240 tons) and 1 ship damaged (7,068 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.