The Men - U-boat Commanders

Hans Benker

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)


Successes
3 ships sunk, total tonnage 18,751 GRT
2 auxiliary warships sunk, total tonnage 1,129 GRT

Born  21 Feb 1917 Bochum
Died  2 Jan 1944(26)North Atlantic


Hans Benker in Nov 1942

Ranks

3 Apr 1936 Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936 Seekadett
1 May 1937 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb 1943 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

13 May 1941 Iron Cross 2nd Class
30 Nov 1942 U-boat War Badge 1939
30 Nov 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
31 Dec 1943 German Cross in Gold

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-80 6 Oct 1941 4 May 1942   No war patrols 
U-625 4 Jun 1942 2 Jan 1944  (+)  9 patrols (224 days) 

On Jan 2, 1944 the boat was attacked by two British B-24 Liberators from Sqdn 224. Benker managed to drive the first aircraft off but ordered dive when the second bomber threatened the boat.

During the dive the Naxos wire running into the tower prevented a safe seal Benker thought and cancelled the dive and went up with another man to clear the wire and secure the boat. Sadly the order to cancel the dive was not recognised and the boat continued the dive causing Benker and the other man to drown. (Blair, 1998).

Sources

Blair, C. (1998). Hitler’s U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942-1945.

Patrol info for Hans Benker

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-625 1 Oct 1942  Kiel  8 Oct 1942  Skjomenfjord   8 days
2. U-625 4 Nov 1942  Skjomenfjord  29 Nov 1942  Narvik  Patrol 1,26 days
3. U-625 30 Nov 1942  Narvik  2 Dec 1942  Bergen   3 days
4. U-625 23 Dec 1942  Bergen  25 Dec 1942  Narvik   3 days
5. U-625 30 Dec 1942  Narvik  6 Feb 1943  Narvik  Patrol 2,39 days
6. U-625 7 Feb 1943  Narvik  11 Feb 1943  Bergen   5 days
7. U-625 17 Mar 1943  Bergen  16 Apr 1943  Hammerfest  Patrol 3,31 days
8. U-625 26 Apr 1943  Hammerfest  31 May 1943  Narvik  Patrol 4,36 days
9. U-625 10 Jun 1943  Narvik  11 Jun 1943  Hammerfest   2 days
10. U-625 21 Jun 1943  Hammerfest  28 Jun 1943  Narvik  Patrol 5,8 days
11. U-625 29 Jun 1943  Narvik  30 Jun 1943  Trondheim   2 days
12. U-625 12 Jul 1943  Trondheim  27 Jul 1943  Narvik  Patrol 6,16 days
13. U-625 4 Aug 1943  Narvik  5 Aug 1943  Tromsö   2 days
14. U-625 5 Aug 1943  Tromsö  6 Aug 1943  Hammerfest   2 days
15. U-625 7 Aug 1943  Hammerfest  20 Aug 1943  Narvik  Patrol 7,14 days
16. U-625 21 Aug 1943  Narvik  23 Aug 1943  Trondheim   3 days
17. U-625 4 Nov 1943  Trondheim  8 Nov 1943  Trondheim  Patrol 8,5 days
18. U-625 15 Nov 1943  Trondheim  2 Jan 1944  *died at sea*  Patrol 9,49 days
9 patrols, 224 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans Benker

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
6 Nov 1942U-625 Chulmleigh5,445br
6 Nov 1942U-625 Empire Sky7,455br
23 Nov 1942U-625 Goolistan5,851brQP-15
 
25 Jul 1943U-625 T-904 (No 58) [Mine]557sj
25 Aug 1943U-625 ASO-1 Shkval [Mine]572sj
 19,880

5 ships sunk (19,880 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.


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


German U-boat Commanders of World War II
Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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