The Men - U-boat Commanders

Heinrich Niemeyer

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew X/39)


Successes
2 ships sunk, total tonnage 8,371 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 750 GRT

Born  15 Jun 1910 Löbejün, Saalkreis
Died  1 Nov 1991(81)


Oblt. Heinrich Niemeyer

Ranks

16 Sep 1939 Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1940 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1941 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Mar 1942 Leutnant zur See
1 Feb 1944 Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

  Iron Cross 2nd Class
  Minesweeper War Badge
  U-boat War Badge 1939
  Iron Cross 1st Class
  U-boat Front Clasp
20 Aug 1944 German Cross in Gold

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-547 18 Apr 1944 31 Dec 1944   2 patrols (142 days) 
U-1233 15 Apr 1945 5 May 1945   No war patrols 

Heinrich Niemeyer joined the Kriegsmarine in 1939. He served in the 15. Vorpostenbootflottille (Flak boat flotilla) 1940-42, and then underwent U-boat training Sep 1942 - Sep 1943, afterwards serving as I WO (1st Watch Officer) on U-515 (Henke) for a year. He then took over command of U-547 from Frgkpt. Kurt Sturm, which was, like U-515, a type IXC/40 U-boat.

After commanding U-547 between Apr - Oct 1944 (three patrols, three sinkings, total tonnage 9,121), Oblt. Niemeyer was intended to take command of the new type XXI Elektro U-boat Elektro boat U-3532 being built at Schichau, Danzig.

The boat was not commissioned, but Niemeyer sailed from Hela with refugees from the oncoming Russian forces on 11 March 1945, arriving at Kiel the next day (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Niemeyer afterwards took command of U-1233 (Kuhn), another Type XIC/40 boat, from April 1945 until Germany's capitulation on 5 May, when he surrendered her at Baring Bay near Frederica, Denmark.

Patrol info for Heinrich Niemeyer

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-547 30 Apr 1944  Lorient  11 Aug 1944  Bordeaux  Patrol 1,104 days
2. U-547 23 Aug 1944  Bordeaux  29 Sep 1944  Marviken  Patrol 2,38 days
3. U-547 1 Oct 1944  Marviken  4 Oct 1944  Flensburg   4 days
2 patrols, 142 days at sea

Ships hit by Heinrich Niemeyer

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
14 Jun 1944U-547 HMS Birdlip (T 218)750br
14 Jun 1944U-547 Saint Basile2,778fr
2 Jul 1944U-547 Bodegraven5,593nl
 9,121

3 ships sunk (9,121 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.


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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