Otto Ites

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)


Successes
15 ships sunk, total tonnage 76,882 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 8,022 GRT

Born  5 Feb 1918 Norden, Ostfriesland, Germany
Died  2 Feb 1982(63)Norden / Ostfriesland, Germany


Oberleutnant zur See Otto Ites

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 Apr 1943 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

27 Oct 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
21 Dec 1939 U-boat War Badge 1939
25 Feb 1940 Iron Cross 1st Class
28 Mar 1942 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-146 7 Apr 1941 26 Aug 1941   2 patrols (45 days) 
U-94 29 Aug 1941 28 Aug 1942   5 patrols (190 days) 



Leutnant zur See Otto Ites

Otto Ites joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1936 and was a member of the so called Olympia-Crew. He served for some months on the torpedo boats Kondor and Albatros before he transferred to the U-boat force in October 1938.

After a short time on U-51 he became the second watch officer (II WO) on U-48. Together with the first watch officer (I WO) 'Teddy' Suhren he participated in the outstanding successes of this famous U-boat. When Suhren left the boat, Ites became the first watch officer.

In March 1941 he left U-48 and after two weeks of commander training he took over U-146. He made two patrols in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. In August 1941 Ites left U-146 and took over U-94 from Herbert Kuppisch.


Kapitän zur See Otto Ites

On four patrols, mostly in the North Atlantic, Ites sank 13 ships and damaged two more.

On his fifth patrol his operational area was the Caribbean Sea. But on 28 August 1942 U-94 was sunk by depth charges from an aircraft and ramming by the Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville (Niestlé, 1998). Ites was among the 26 survivors and was in US captivity until May 1946.

After his return he became a dentist, before joining the Bundesmarine in 1956. Here he served for two years on the destroyer Z-2 as commander and then held several staff positions.

Otto Ites retired in September 1977 as Konteradmiral.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.

Patrol info for Otto Ites

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-146 17 Jun 1941  Kiel  10 Jul 1941  Bergen  Patrol 1,24 days
2. U-146 11 Jul 1941  Bergen  14 Jul 1941  Kiel  Patrol 1,4 days
3. U-146 26 Jul 1941  Kiel  11 Aug 1941  Kiel  Patrol 2,17 days
4. U-94 2 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  15 Oct 1941  Kiel  Patrol 3,44 days
5. U-94 12 Jan 1942  Kiel  30 Jan 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 4,19 days
6. U-94 12 Feb 1942  St. Nazaire  2 Apr 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 5,50 days
7. U-94 4 May 1942  St. Nazaire  23 Jun 1942  St. Nazaire  Patrol 6,51 days
8. U-94 3 Aug 1942  St. Nazaire  28 Aug 1942  Sunk  Patrol 7,26 days
7 patrols, 235 days at sea

Ships hit by Otto Ites

Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
28 Jun 1941U-146Otto Ites Pluto3,496fi
15 Sep 1941U-94Otto Ites Newbury5,102brON-14
15 Sep 1941U-94Otto Ites Pegasus5,762grON-14
15 Sep 1941U-94Otto Ites Empire Eland5,613brON-14
1 Oct 1941U-94Otto Ites San Florentino12,842brON-19
 
24 Feb 1942U-94Otto Ites Empire Hail7,005brON-66
9 Mar 1942U-94Otto Ites Cayrú5,152bz
11 Mar 1942U-94Otto Ites Hvoslef1,630nw
25 Mar 1942U-94Otto Ites Imperial Transport (d.)8,022brON-77
12 May 1942U-94Otto Ites Cocle5,630paONS-92
13 May 1942U-94Otto Ites Batna4,399brONS-92
13 May 1942U-94Otto Ites Tolken4,471swONS-92
5 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Maria da Glória320pt
10 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Empire Clough6,147brONS-100
10 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Ramsay4,855brONS-100
11 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Pontypridd4,458brONS-100
 84,904

15 ships sunk (76,882 tons) and 1 ship damaged (8,022 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.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

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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