Hans-Joachim Horrer

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 32)

Successes
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 417 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 2,847 GRT

Born	6 Feb 1908		Dortmund
Died	14 Sep 1942	(34)	Arctic Ocean

Ranks

1 Sep 1935		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1937		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb 1940		Kapitänleutnant
1 Sep 1942		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

		Narvik Shield
		Iron Cross 2nd Class
		Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-555	30 Jan 1941	25 Aug 1941	No war patrols
U-589	25 Sep 1941	14 Sep 1942 (+)	7 patrols (96 days)

Hans-Joachim Horrer joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1932 and went through the usual officer training. He was a Gunnery Officer and Watch Officer on the destroyer Z 9 Wolfgang Zenker from July 1938 to April 1940 when the destroyer was sunk during the fierce battles of Narvik, Norway.

Horrer then started his U-boat officer training which lasted from July 1940 to January 1941. He was then assigned to the almost completed type VIIC U-555 as Baubelehrung commander on Jan 18, then taking command of the boat upon commission on Jan 30, 1941. He served on the boat until 25 Aug, 1941 but never went on patrol.

He again served as Baubelehrung commander with the 8. KLA from 26 Aug to 24 Sept. He then took command of the new type VIIC boat U-589. He went on 8 patrols with the boat and was lost with his entire crew when the boat was sunk south-west of Spitzbergen on 14 Sep 1942.

Sources

Busch, R. & Röll, H. (1999). German U-boat Commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Hans-Joachim Horrer

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-589	23 Feb 1942	Kiel	26 Feb 1942	Helgoland		4 days
2.	U-589	28 Feb 1942	Helgoland	21 Mar 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 1,	22 days
3.	U-589	24 Mar 1942	Kirkenes	2 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 2,	10 days
4.	U-589	8 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	20 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 3,	13 days
5.	U-589	29 Apr 1942	Kirkenes	6 May 1942	Kirkenes	Patrol 4,	8 days
6.	U-589	8 May 1942	Kirkenes	12 May 1942	Skjomenfjord		5 days
7.	U-589	16 May 1942	Skjomenfjord	23 May 1942	Narvik		8 days
8.	U-589	26 May 1942	Narvik	28 May 1942	Bergen		3 days
9.	U-589	17 Jul 1942	Bergen	12 Aug 1942	Skjomenfjord	Patrol 5,	27 days
10.	U-589	23 Aug 1942	Skjomenfjord	1 Sep 1942	Narvik	Patrol 6,	10 days
11.	U-589	9 Sep 1942	Narvik	14 Sep 1942	Sunk	Patrol 7,	6 days
7 patrols, 96 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Joachim Horrer

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
1 May 1942	U-589	Tsiolkovskij (d.)	2,847	sj	QP-11
11 Oct 1942	U-589	Musson (No 23) [Mine]	417	sj
			3,264
1 ship sunk (417 tons) and 1 ship damaged (2,847 tons). Legend (d.) means the ship was damaged. [Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.