Otto Hinrichs

Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve (entry, Jahrgang 36)



No ships sunk or damaged.


Born  30 Nov 1913 Brake, Unterweser, Bremen


Gertraude and Otto Hinrichs

Ranks

1 Jul 1943 Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve

Decorations

  Minesweeper War Badge
  Iron Cross 2nd Class
  Iron Cross 1st Class
  U-boat War Badge 1939

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-1061 25 Aug 1943 19 Mar 1945   5 patrols (98 days) 

Otto Hinrichs joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936. After U-boat training from Jan to Aug 1941, served as a Watch Officer (WO) on the long range type IXC U-boat U-105 (KrvKpt. Heinrich Schuch) until Aug 1942, when he became Watch Officer on U-154, another type IXC, and again under KrvKpt. Schuch, until Feb 1943 (Busch & Röll, 1999). (Rohwer, 1998). U-105 operated in the South Atlantic, as far south as Capetown, South Africa, and U-154 in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Ltnt. Hinrichs went through U-boat Commander Training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla from Feb 1943, then the torpedo course [42], and finally more practical instruction with the 22nd (Training) Flotilla until May 1943. He then began Baubelehrung (U-boat construction familiarization) for his own boat (Busch & Röll, 1999).

On 25 Aug 1943 Oblt. Hinrichs commissioned the new type VIIF U-boat U-1061 at Germaniaweft, Kiel (Busch & Röll, 1999). His boat was not a normal combat boat but primarily a torpedo carrier (two of which supported Far East operations). After training in the Baltic during the winter of 1943/1944, U-1061 spent the war transporting torpedoes from Kiel to Norway, bringing invaluable supplies to U-boats stationed there (Busch & Röll, 1997).

Hinrichs left the boat on 19 March 1945 while docked at Bergen, Norway. He spent the last few months of the war with the 5th Flotilla (training) at Kiel (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Otto Hinrichs was the youngest child and only son of Hinrich Heeren Hinrichs, miller, and Insine Katherine Koester. He married Gertraude Schmidt from Dresden while training in Berlin. Their son, Bernd Otto, born 1944, is today an electrical engineer living in the Hannover area.

Only a few weeks after the end of the war he was back in Germany, where he continued his seagoing career as a merchant navy captain. He still had close contact at that time with several of his crew from U-1061 (information from a relative).

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Otto Hinrichs

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-1061 22 Feb 1944  Kiel  23 Feb 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 1,2 days
2. U-1061 23 Feb 1944  Kristiansand  24 Feb 1944  Bergen  Patrol 1,2 days
3. U-1061 25 Feb 1944  Bergen  2 Mar 1944  Narvik  Patrol 1,7 days
4. U-1061 5 Mar 1944  Narvik  10 Mar 1944  Bergen  Patrol 1,6 days
5. U-1061 11 Mar 1944  Bergen  12 Mar 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 1,2 days
6. U-1061 13 Mar 1944  Kristiansand  14 Mar 1944  Kiel  Patrol 1,2 days
7. U-1061 6 Apr 1944  Kiel  8 Apr 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 2,3 days
8. U-1061 8 Apr 1944  Kristiansand  12 Apr 1944  Narvik  Patrol 2,5 days
9. U-1061 18 Apr 1944  Narvik  29 Apr 1944  Kiel  Patrol 2,12 days
10. U-1061 18 May 1944  Kiel  20 May 1944  Gotenhafen   3 days
11. U-1061 22 May 1944  Gotenhafen  24 May 1944  Kiel   3 days
12. U-1061 27 May 1944  Kiel  29 May 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 3,3 days
13. U-1061 29 May 1944  Kristiansand  5 Jun 1944  Skjomenfjord  Patrol 3,8 days
14. U-1061 8 Jun 1944  Skjomenfjord  10 Jun 1944  Trondheim  Patrol 3,3 days
15. U-1061 12 Jun 1944  Trondheim  13 Jun 1944  Bergen  Patrol 3,2 days
16. U-1061 14 Jun 1944  Bergen  15 Jun 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 3,2 days
17. U-1061 15 Jun 1944  Kristiansand  17 Jun 1944  Kiel  Patrol 3,3 days
18. U-1061 1 Jul 1944  Kiel  3 Jul 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 4,3 days
19. U-1061 3 Jul 1944  Kristiansand  5 Jul 1944  Bergen  Patrol 4,3 days
20. U-1061 5 Jul 1944  Bergen  6 Jul 1944  Trondheim  Patrol 4,2 days
21. U-1061 7 Jul 1944  Trondheim  9 Jul 1944  Narvik  Patrol 4,3 days
22. U-1061 13 Jul 1944  Narvik  15 Jul 1944  Trondheim  Patrol 4,3 days
23. U-1061 17 Jul 1944  Trondheim  18 Jul 1944  Bergen  Patrol 4,2 days
24. U-1061 19 Jul 1944  Bergen  20 Jul 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 4,2 days
25. U-1061 21 Jul 1944  Kristiansand  23 Jul 1944  Kiel  Patrol 4,3 days
26. U-1061 17 Oct 1944  Kiel  19 Oct 1944  Horten  Patrol 5,3 days
27. U-1061 22 Oct 1944  Horten  23 Oct 1944  Kristiansand  Patrol 5,2 days
28. U-1061 26 Oct 1944  Kristiansand  28 Oct 1944  Bergen  Patrol 5,3 days
29. U-1061 28 Oct 1944  Bergen  3 Nov 1944  Trondheim  Patrol 5,7 days
30. U-1061 20 Jan 1945  Trondheim  21 Jan 1945  Bergen   2 days
31. U-1061 7 Feb 1945  Bergen  9 Feb 1945  Bergen   3 days
5 patrols, 98 days at sea

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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