Hans-Heinz Linder

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)

Successes
7 ships sunk, total tonnage 24,811 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 8,882 GRT

Born	11 Feb 1913		Otterberg, Kaiserslautern
Died	10 Sep 1944	(31)

Ranks

1 Jul 1934		Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1936		Leutnant zur See
1 Jun 1938		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940		Kapitänleutnant
1 Sep 1944		Korvettenkapitän

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-18	3 Sep 1940	17 Dec 1940	No war patrols
U-202	22 Mar 1941	1 Sep 1942	6 patrols (236 days)

Hans-Heinz Linder joined the Reichsmarine in 1933. He went through U-boat training from Nov 1939 to Aug 1940, and then commanded the small school boat U-18 from 3 Sept - 17 Dec 1940 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

He joined U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) for U-boat Commander sea training from Jan to March 1941. During this patrol U-96 sank seven ships totalling over 45,000 tons (Rohwer, 1998).

Kptlt. Linder then began U-boat construction familiarization (Baubelehrung) in preparation for his own command. He commissioned the new type VIIC U-boat U-202 at Kiel on 22 March 1941. The next three months were spent on working up execises in the Baltic (Busch & Röll, 1999).

U-202 left Kiel for the first patrol on 17 June 1941. Linder took U-202 on six patrols, spending 236 days at sea (Busch & Röll, 1997). He was a successful commander, sinking seven ships totalling almost 25,000 tons and damaging one large ship of 8,882 tons (Rohwer, 1998). Linder operated his boat very effectively and often escaped tough situations.

On 1 Sept 1942 Kptlt. Linder left U-202 to serve in the 1st Flotilla until Nov, when he joined the staff of 2/Adm U-boats (2nd in Command U-boats) until Jan 1943. From Jan 1943 to Sept 1944 he served as a Training Leader in the 25th (Training) Flotilla (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Kptlt. Hans-Heinz Linder died on 10 Sept 1944 in a Soviet air attack on Libau (Liepaja), Latvia (Busch & Röll, 1999).

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 Hans-Heinz Linder

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-202	17 Jun 1941	Kiel	23 Jul 1941	Brest	Patrol 1,	37 days
2.	U-202	11 Aug 1941	Brest	17 Sep 1941	Brest	Patrol 2,	38 days
3.	U-202	16 Oct 1941	Brest	13 Nov 1941	Brest	Patrol 3,	29 days
4.	U-202	13 Dec 1941	Brest	27 Dec 1941	Brest	Patrol 4,	15 days
5.	U-202	1 Mar 1942	Brest	26 Apr 1942	Brest	Patrol 5,	57 days
6.	U-202	27 May 1942	Brest	25 Jul 1942	Brest	Patrol 6,	60 days
6 patrols, 236 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Heinz Linder

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
27 Aug 1941	U-202	Ladylove	230	br
11 Sep 1941	U-202	Scania	1,999	sw	SC-42
3 Nov 1941	U-202	Flynderborg	2,022	br	SC-52
3 Nov 1941	U-202	Gretavale	4,586	br	SC-52

22 Mar 1942	U-202	Athelviscount (d.)	8,882	br	ON-75
1 Apr 1942	U-202	Loch Don	5,249	br
22 Jun 1942	U-202	Rio Tercero	4,864	ar
1 Jul 1942	U-202	City of Birmingham	5,861	am
			33,693
7 ships sunk (24,811 tons) and 1 ship damaged (8,882 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.