Viktor Schütze

Kapitän zur See (Crew 25)

Successes
35 ships sunk, total tonnage 180,073 GRT
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 14,213 GRT

Born	16 Feb 1906		Kiel
Died	23 Sep 1950	(44)	Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Victor Schütze

Ranks

16 Nov 1925		Seekadett
1 Apr 1927		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jun 1928		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1929		Leutnant zur See
1 Jul 1931		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1935		Kapitänleutnant
1 Feb 1940		Korvettenkapitän
1 Mar 1943		Fregattenkapitän
1 Mar 1944		Kapitän zur See

Decorations

13 Nov 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
21 Feb 1940		Iron Cross 1st Class
11 Dec 1940		Knights Cross
14 Jul 1941		Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-19	16 Jan 1936	30 Sep 1937	No war patrols
U-11	13 Aug 1938	4 Sep 1939	No war patrols
U-25	5 Sep 1939	19 May 1940	3 patrols (105 days)
U-103	5 Jul 1940	12 Aug 1941	4 patrols (201 days)

Victor Schütze after patrol

Victor Schütze began his naval career in April 1925. He served for some years on torpedo boats before transferring in October 1935 to the newly formed U-boat force. For nearly two years he commanded the type IIB U-boat U-19. In October 1937 he was detached for 10 months for destroyer training, but in August 1938 he returned and took over U-11.

He achieved his first successes in the North Atlantic. In January and February 1940 he operated in the Bay of Biscay and near the Portuguese coast with U-25.

In July 1940 he took over U-103 and attacked convoys in the Atlantic and in African waters. In August 1941 he left this boat.

Victor Schütze with the commander of U-124, Johann Mohr

In August 1941 Schütze became the commander of the 2nd Flotilla in Lorient.

From March 1943 to the end of the war he was the "FdU Ausbildungsflottillen" (Commander Training Flotillas) in Gotenhafen, where he had the responsibility for all training flotillas in the Baltic Sea.

After the war he returned from captivity in March 1946, but died just four years later.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Viktor Schütze

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-25	18 Oct 1939	Wilhelmshaven	19 Nov 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	33 days
2.	U-25	13 Jan 1940	Wilhelmshaven	19 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	38 days
3.	U-25	3 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	6 May 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 3,	34 days
4.	U-103	21 Sep 1940	Kiel	19 Oct 1940	Lorient	Patrol 4,	29 days
5.	U-103	9 Nov 1940	Lorient	12 Dec 1940	Lorient	Patrol 5,	34 days
6.	U-103	21 Jan 1941	Lorient	24 Feb 1941	Lorient	Patrol 6,	35 days
7.	U-103	1 Apr 1941	Lorient	12 Jul 1941	Lorient	Patrol 7,	103 days
7 patrols, 306 days at sea

Ships hit by Viktor Schütze

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
31 Oct 1939	U-25	Baoulé	5,874	fr	20-K

17 Jan 1940	U-25	Polzella	4,751	br
17 Jan 1940	U-25	Enid	1,140	nw
18 Jan 1940	U-25	Pajala	6,873	sw
22 Jan 1940	U-25	Songa	2,589	nw
3 Feb 1940	U-25	Armanistan	6,805	br	OG-16
13 Feb 1940	U-25	Chastine Mærsk	5,177	da
6 Oct 1940	U-103	Nina Borthen	6,123	nw	OB-222
9 Oct 1940	U-103	Zannes Gounaris	4,407	gr	SC-6
9 Oct 1940	U-103	Graigwen (d.)	3,697	br	SC-6
9 Oct 1940	U-103	Delphin	3,816	gr	SC-6
13 Oct 1940	U-103	Nora	1,186	es
15 Oct 1940	U-103	Thistlegarth	4,747	br	OA-228
21 Nov 1940	U-103	Daydawn	4,768	br	OB-244
21 Nov 1940	U-103	Victoria	6,085	gr	OB-244
27 Nov 1940	U-103	Glenmoor	4,393	br	OB-248
28 Nov 1940	U-103	Mount Athos	3,578	gr	OB-248
28 Nov 1940	U-103	St. Elwyn	4,940	br	OB-249
8 Dec 1940	U-103	Calabria	9,515	br	SLS-56
9 Dec 1940	U-103	Empire Jaguar	5,186	br	OB-252

13 Feb 1941	U-103	Arthur F. Corwin (d.)	10,516	br	HX-106
17 Feb 1941	U-103	Edwy R. Brown	10,455	br	HX-107
18 Feb 1941	U-103	Seaforth	5,459	br
19 Feb 1941	U-103	Benjamin Franklin	7,034	nw	HX-107
25 Apr 1941	U-103	Polyana	2,267	nw	OG-58
1 May 1941	U-103	Samsø	1,494	br
3 May 1941	U-103	Wray Castle	4,253	br
6 May 1941	U-103	Surat	5,529	br
6 May 1941	U-103	Dunkwa	4,752	br	OB-310
9 May 1941	U-103	City of Winchester	7,120	br	OB-313
11 May 1941	U-103	City of Shanghai	5,828	br	OB-313
22 May 1941	U-103	British Grenadier	6,857	br
24 May 1941	U-103	Marionga	4,236	gr	OB-317
25 May 1941	U-103	Radames	3,575	ag
25 May 1941	U-103	Wangi Wangi	7,789	nl
8 Jun 1941	U-103	Elmdene	4,853	br	OB-324
29 Jun 1941	U-103	Ernani	6,619	it
			194,286
35 ships sunk (180,073 tons) and 2 ships damaged (14,213 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.