Reiner Dierksen

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)


Successes
11 ships sunk, total tonnage 53,307 GRT

Born  24 Mar 1908 Esenshausen, Baden-Württemberg
Died  15 May 1943(35)Cuban waters

© Deutsches U-Boot Museum

Ranks

1 Apr 1933 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1934 Fähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1935 Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939 Kapitänleutnant
1 May 1943 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

1940 Iron Cross 2nd Class
1940 Minesweeper War Badge
3 Oct 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Feb 1943 U-boat War Badge 1939
7 Jan 1944 German Cross in Gold (posthumous)

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-176 15 Dec 1941 15 May 1943  (+)  3 patrols (216 days) 

Reiner Dierksen joined the Germany Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1933. From Oct 1938 to June 1940 he was Commander M 5 of the 1st Mineseweeping flotilla, then he was the Commander of the 32nd Minesweeping flotilla until March 1941.

Kapitänleutnant Reiner Dierksen began his U-boat training in March 1941, then took his U-boat Commander training and U-boat familiarization until 15 Dec 1941 when he commissioned the type IXC U-176 at Bremen.

On his second patrol with U-176 Dierksen ran into one of the most stubborn victims of the entire war when he spent almost 48 hours hunting the Dutch freighter Polydorus before finally sinking her with his 7th and 8th torpedoes! (Blair, 1998).

Korvettenkapitän Reiner Dierksen died when his U-176 was sunk with all hands, 53 men, on its 3 war patrol north of Cuba on 15 May 1943 by Cuban patrol boat CS 13. Dierksen had sunk 10 ships with a total of 45,850 GRT and one 7,457 GRT ship damaged.

Sources

Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.
Busch, R and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Reiner Dierksen

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-176 21 Jul 1942  Kiel  2 Oct 1942  Lorient  Patrol 1,74 days
2. U-176 9 Nov 1942  Lorient  18 Feb 1943  Lorient  Patrol 2,102 days
3. U-176 6 Apr 1943  Lorient  15 May 1943  Sunk  Patrol 3,40 days
3 patrols, 216 days at sea

Ships hit by Reiner Dierksen

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
4 Aug 1942U-176 Richmond Castle7,798br
8 Aug 1942U-176 Kelso3,956brSC-94
8 Aug 1942U-176 Mount Kassion7,914grSC-94
8 Aug 1942U-176 Trehata4,817brSC-94
9 Aug 1942U-176 Radchurch3,701brSC-94
25 Aug 1942U-176 Empire Breeze7,457brONS-122
27 Nov 1942U-176 Polydorus5,922nlON-145
13 Dec 1942U-176 Scania1,629sw
16 Dec 1942U-176 Observer5,881br
 
13 May 1943U-176 Mambi1,983cuNC-18
13 May 1943U-176 Nickeliner2,249amNC-18
 53,307

11 ships sunk (53,307 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.


About ranks and decorations
Special thanks to Fernando Almeida for data on ranks and decorations.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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