Alfred Eick

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 37a)

Successes
8 ships sunk, total tonnage 56,972 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 249 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 3,702 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 9,970 GRT

Born	9 Mar 1916		Essen
Died	12 Apr 2015	(99)	Bielefeld, Germany

Kptlt. Alfred Eick

Ranks

3 Apr 1937		Offiziersanwärter
21 Sep 1937		Seekadett
1 May 1938		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1939		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Aug 1939		Leutnant zur See
1 Sep 1941		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1944		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

13 Jan 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
19 Oct 1940		Destroyer War Badge
19 Feb 1943		U-boat War Badge 1939
29 Aug 1943		Iron Cross 1st Class
16 Mar 1944		German Cross in Gold
31 Mar 1944		Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-510	22 May 1943	9 May 1945	4 patrols (354 days)

Alfred Eick began his naval career in April 1937. Later he served for more than a year on the destroyer Hermann Beitzen, and he undertook 16 patrols in the first year of the war. In November 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force, where he accompanied U-176 on her first two patrols.

In May 1943 he became commander of U-510. After a successful patrol in Brazilian waters, U-510 left Lorient on her second patrol assigned as one of the Monsun boats. Eick operated for a few months in the Indian Ocean before heading back in January 1945 with a load of important goods (tin, quinine, etc.) on board. After being supplied with oil southeast of Madagascar by Krvkpt. Oesten's U-861 (who was short of fuel herself), U-510 ran out of fuel in the North Atlantic, but managed to reach the U-boat base at St. Nazaire in France at the end of April 1945 (at that time the base was still in German hands).

Alfred Eick was in French captivity from May 1945 to July 1947. He then studied business management at the University of Hamburg and worked later as a tax adviser.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). 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 Alfred Eick

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-510	3 Jun 1943	Lorient	29 Aug 1943	Lorient	Patrol 1,	88 days
2.	U-510	3 Nov 1943	Lorient	5 Apr 1944	Penang	Patrol 2,	155 days
3.	U-510	12 Apr 1944	Penang	13 Apr 1944	Singapur		2 days
4.	U-510	26 Jun 1944	Singapur	7 Jul 1944	Kobe		12 days
5.	U-510	7 Oct 1944	Kobe	19 Oct 1944	Batavia		13 days
6.	U-510	26 Nov 1944	Batavia	3 Dec 1944	Batavia	Patrol 3,	8 days
7.	U-510	11 Jan 1945	Batavia	23 Apr 1945	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	103 days
4 patrols, 354 days at sea

Ships hit by Alfred Eick

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
8 Jul 1943	U-510	B.P. Newton	10,324	nw	TJ-1
8 Jul 1943	U-510	Eldena	6,900	am	TJ-1
8 Jul 1943	U-510	Everagra (d.)	3,702	le	TJ-1
10 Jul 1943	U-510	Scandinavia	1,641	sw

22 Feb 1944	U-510	San Alvaro	7,385	br	PA-69
22 Feb 1944	U-510	Erling Brøvig (t.)	9,970	nw	PA-69
22 Feb 1944	U-510	E.G. Seubert	9,181	am	PA-69
7 Mar 1944	U-510	Tarifa	7,229	nw
19 Mar 1944	U-510	John A. Poor	7,176	am
27 Mar 1944	U-510	HMS Maaløy (J 136)	249	br

23 Feb 1945	U-510	Point Pleasant Park	7,136	ca
			70,893
10 ships sunk (67,191 tons) and 1 ship damaged (3,702 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).