| Born | 26 Oct 1908 | Mönchen-Gladbach | |
| Died | 3 Nov 1994 | (86) | Westerland-Sylt, Germany |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-71 | 14 Dec 1940 | 3 Jul 1942 | 6 patrols (191 days) |
Walter Flachsenberg joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1928. From Sept 1939 to March 1940 Flachsenberg served with Naval Flak detachments before joining the U-boat force in April 1940. He went through his U-boat training from April to Dec 1940, including a patrol as Commander in training on the famous U-100 in Sept. The patrol he went out with Schepke in U-100 was the incredibly successful 15-day patrol where they sank 7 ships for over 50,000 GRT.
Finishing his training Flachsenberg got his own command, the U-71, on 14 Dec 1940. With this boat he went out on 6 patrols, 191 days at sea, and sank 5 ships for almost 39,000 GRT. On 3 July 1942 he left the boat.
From July 1942 to the end of the war Walter Flachsenberg served in several staff positions, largely focusing on torpedo testing.
After the war he joined the post-war German Navy, Bundesmarine, and later retired as Flottenadmiral (e. Commodore or Rear Admiral).
Sources
Busch, R and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Patrol info for Walter Flachsenberg
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | U-71 | 14 Jun 1941 | Kiel | 2 Jul 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 19 days | |
| 2. | U-71 | 2 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | 7 Sep 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 2, | 37 days | |
| 3. | U-71 | 29 Sep 1941 | St. Nazaire | 31 Oct 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 3, | 33 days | |
| 4. | U-71 | 29 Nov 1941 | St. Nazaire | 5 Dec 1941 | St. Nazaire | 7 days | ||
| 5. | U-71 | 18 Dec 1941 | St. Nazaire | 21 Jan 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 4, | 35 days | |
| 6. | U-71 | 23 Feb 1942 | St. Nazaire | 20 Apr 1942 | La Pallice | Patrol 5, | 57 days | |
| 7. | U-71 | 4 Jun 1942 | La Pallice | 6 Jun 1942 | La Pallice | 3 days | ||
| 8. | U-71 | 11 Jun 1942 | La Pallice | 20 Jun 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 6, | 10 days | |
| 6 patrols, 191 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Walter Flachsenberg
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Mar 1942 | U-71 |  | Ranja | 6,355 |  | nw | ||
| 20 Mar 1942 | U-71 | | Oakmar | 5,766 |  | am | ||
| 26 Mar 1942 | U-71 | | Dixie Arrow | 8,046 | | am | ||
| 31 Mar 1942 | U-71 | | San Gerardo | 12,915 |  | br | ||
| 1 Apr 1942 | U-71 | | Eastmoor | 5,812 | | br | ||
| 38,894 | ||||||||
5 ships sunk (38,894 tons). Legend | ||||||||
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.
Media links
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