Hermann Otto

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

No ships sunk or damaged.

Born	30 May 1914		Leising, Saxony
Died	24 Jun 1943	(29)	Cape Ortegal

Leutnant zur See Hermann Otto

Ranks

10 Sep 1936		Seekadett
1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jul 1943		Kapitänleutnant (posthumous)

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-449	22 Aug 1942	24 Jun 1943 (+)	1 patrol (24 days)

Hermann Otto joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1933. He served on the gunnery training ship Brummer May 1939 - Jan 1941, when he commenced U-boat training. He finished his courses in June 1941 (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Leutnant zur See Otto Hermann while serving on U-403.

He served as 1st Watch Officer (I WO) on U-403 (Heinz-Ehlert Clausen) until June 1942 (Busch & Röll, 1999), during which he went on two short patrols in Arctic and northern waters, 37 days in all, sinking the British merchant Empire Holland on 16 April 1942.

Oblt. Otto went through U-boat Commander training June - July 1942, when he began U-boat construction familiarization (Baubelehrung) in preparation for his own command (Busch & Röll, 1999).

Hermann Otto commissioned the type VIIC U-boat U-449 on 22 August 1942 and spent the next winter working up boat and crew in the Baltic. On June 1 1943 Oblt. Otto departed for his first patrol from Kiel (Busch & Röll, 1997).

The boat was sunk 24 days later in the North Atlantic north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain in position 45.00N, 11.59W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Wren, HMS Woodpecker, HMS Kite and HMS Wild Goose. There were no survivors from the crew of 49 (Niestlé, 1998).