Robert Gysae

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)

Successes
24 ships sunk, total tonnage 136,266 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 10,549 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 2,588 GRT

Born	14 Jan 1911		Berlin-Charlottenburg
Died	26 Apr 1989	(78)	Wilhelmshaven, Germany

Kptlt. Robert Gysae

Ranks

1 Apr 1931		Offiziersanwärter
14 Oct 1931		Seekadett
1 Jan 1933		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1935		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1935		Leutnant zur See
1 Jan 1937		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1939		Kapitänleutnant
1 Jul 1943		Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

31 May 1940		Iron Cross 2nd Class
15 Apr 1941		Iron Cross 1st Class
31 May 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
31 Dec 1941		Knights Cross
31 May 1943		Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
1 Oct 1944		U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-98	12 Oct 1940	23 Mar 1942	6 patrols (194 days)
U-177	24 Mar 1942	16 Oct 1943	2 patrols (312 days)

Robert Gysae began his naval career in April 1931. After some years on torpedo boats (Albatros, Leopard and T-107) Kapitänleutnant Robert Gysae transferred to the U-boat arm in April 1940. Six months later in October of 1940 he commissioned the U-98, and in March 1941 set out on his first patrol with that boat. What is amazing is that Robert Gysae started his career as a U-boat commander without serving any time as IWO or "Kommandantenschüler" on any other boats. Very few men were shown such trust by BdU.

Kptlt. Gysae, well shaved

Korvkpt. Gysae, with a proud beard after patrol

After six patrols with U-98, he took over the larger U-177. On two long-range patrols into the Indian Ocean Gysae sank 14 ships with a total of 87,388 tons. During the second patrol he received the Oak Leaves. In October 1943 he left the boat and in January 1944 he became the commander of the 25th (Training) Flotilla . In the last month of the war (April 1945) he was the commander of the Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1 (Navy tank-hunter regiment).

Flotillenadmiral Robert Gysae

After the war's end he spent some weeks in captivity before going on to serve for more than two years in the German minesweeping service (Deutscher Minenräumdienst).

During the postwar period he joined the Bundesmarine (post-war German Navy). There he served for four years as Navy attache in the USA and then spent three years as Flottillenadmiral and Commander of the Marinedivision Nordsee before retiring in March 1970.

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 Robert Gysae

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-98	12 Mar 1941	Kiel	14 Apr 1941	Lorient	Patrol 1,	34 days
2.	U-98	1 May 1941	Lorient	29 May 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 2,	29 days
3.	U-98	23 Jun 1941	St. Nazaire	23 Jul 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 3,	31 days
4.	U-98	31 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	26 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	27 days
5.	U-98	29 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	29 Nov 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	32 days
6.	U-98	18 Jan 1942	St. Nazaire	27 Feb 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	41 days
7.	U-177	17 Sep 1942	Kiel	22 Jan 1943	Bordeaux	Patrol 7,	128 days
8.	U-177	1 Apr 1943	Bordeaux	1 Oct 1943	Bordeaux	Patrol 8,	184 days
8 patrols, 506 days at sea

Ships hit by Robert Gysae

Date	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
27 Mar 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Koranton	6,695	br	SC-25
4 Apr 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Helle	2,467	nw	SC-26
4 Apr 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Welcombe	5,122	br	SC-26
9 Apr 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Prins Willem II	1,304	nl	HX-117
13 May 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	HMS Salopian (F 94)	10,549	br	SC-30
20 May 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Rothermere	5,356	br	HX-126
21 May 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Marconi	7,402	br	OB-322
9 Jul 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Designer	5,945	br	OB-341
9 Jul 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Inverness	4,897	br	OB-341
16 Sep 1941	U-98	Robert Gysae	Jedmoor	4,392	br	SC-42

15 Feb 1942	U-98	Robert Gysae	Biela	5,298	br	ON-62
2 Nov 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Aegeus	4,538	gr	TRIN-16
9 Nov 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Cerion (d.)	2,588	br
19 Nov 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Scottish Chief	7,006	br	PA-8
20 Nov 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Pierce Butler	7,191	am
28 Nov 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Nova Scotia	6,796	br
30 Nov 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Llandaff Castle	10,799	br
7 Dec 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Saronikos	3,548	gr
12 Dec 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Empire Gull	6,408	br
14 Dec 1942	U-177	Robert Gysae	Sawahloento	3,085	nl

28 May 1943	U-177	Robert Gysae	Agwimonte	6,679	am	CD-20
28 May 1943	U-177	Robert Gysae	Storaas	7,886	nw	CD-20
6 Jul 1943	U-177	Robert Gysae	Jasper Park	7,129	ca
10 Jul 1943	U-177	Robert Gysae	Alice F. Palmer	7,176	am
29 Jul 1943	U-177	Robert Gysae	Cornish City	4,952	br	DN-53
5 Aug 1943	U-177	Robert Gysae	Efthalia Mari	4,195	gr
				149,403
25 ships sunk (146,815 tons) and 1 ship damaged (2,588 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

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.