Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 28)
Successes 7 ships sunk, total tonnage 42,433 GRT 1 warship sunk, total tonnage 925 tons 1 ship damaged, total tonnage 123 GRT 1 auxiliary warship damaged, total tonnage 11,402 GRT |
Born | 11 Sep 1906 | Stahlheim, Metz | |
Died | 9 Jan 1974 | (67) | Bad Schwartau, Germany |
Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
U-boat | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
U-8 | 5 May 1940 | 7 Jun 1940 | 1 patrol (18 days) |
U-74 | 31 Oct 1940 | 23 Mar 1942 | 7 patrols (170 days) |
U-196 | 11 Sep 1942 | 21 Sep 1944 | 2 patrols (373 days) |
Kapitänleutnant Kentrat after patrol |
Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat began his naval career in October 1925 as a seaman. In 1928 he began officer training and became an officer in 1932. He then served on the warships Hessen, Deutschland and Schlesien. In October 1939 he transferred to the U-boat force. During the winter of 1940 he made one patrol on U-25 before taking over U-8 in May 1940. Unfortunately he was injured after an accident on board and spent over three months in hospital.
In October 1940 he commissioned U-74. In the course of seven patrols he sank five ships, including the Canadian corvette HMCS Levis, and damaged the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Worcestershire (11,402 tons). Before Kptlt. Kentrat left U-74, he brought the boat through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean.
He then served for six months on the staff of Admiral Friedeburg (2nd Admiral of U-boats) before commissioning the long-range U-boat U-196 in September 1942. The first patrol with U-196 became famous even though he sank only two ships of some 12,000 tons. But it was the longest patrol a U-boat or other submarine ever made in wartime. U-196 left Kiel on 13 March, 1943 and reached Bordeaux on 23 October, 1943, 225 days later. In the photo below can you see that such a long patrol left its mark on the face of the commander. The second patrol with U-196 was also longer than five months. Korvkpt. Kentrat left the boat in Penang and served to the end of war in several staff positions in Japan. He returned to Germany after more than two years in captivity in October 1947.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Patrol info for Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat
U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | U-8 | 19 May 1940 | Kiel | 5 Jun 1940 | *at sea* | Patrol 1, | 18 days | |
2. | U-74 | 22 Feb 1941 | Kiel | 23 Feb 1941 | Helgoland | 2 days | ||
3. | U-74 | 24 Feb 1941 | Helgoland | 27 Feb 1941 | Bergen | 4 days | ||
4. | U-74 | 5 Mar 1941 | Bergen | 11 Apr 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 2, | 38 days | |
5. | U-74 | 8 May 1941 | St. Nazaire | 30 May 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 3, | 23 days | |
6. | U-74 | 5 Jul 1941 | Lorient | 12 Aug 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 4, | 39 days | |
7. | U-74 | 8 Sep 1941 | St. Nazaire | 26 Sep 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 5, | 19 days | |
8. | U-74 | 22 Oct 1941 | St. Nazaire | 12 Nov 1941 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 6, | 22 days | |
9. | U-74 | 9 Dec 1941 | St. Nazaire | 24 Dec 1941 | Messina | Patrol 7, | 16 days | |
10. | U-74 | 27 Dec 1941 | Messina | 8 Jan 1942 | La Spezia | Patrol 8, | 13 days | |
11. | U-196 | 13 Mar 1943 | Kiel | 23 Oct 1943 | Bordeaux | Patrol 9, | 225 days | |
12. | U-196 | 11 Mar 1944 | Bordeaux | 13 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | 3 days | ||
13. | U-196 | 16 Mar 1944 | La Pallice | 10 Aug 1944 | Penang | Patrol 10, | 148 days | |
10 patrols, 561 days at sea |
Ships hit by Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat
Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 Mar 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Frodi (d.) | 123 | is | |||
3 Apr 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Leonidas Z. Cambanis | 4,274 | gr | SC-26 | ||
3 Apr 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | HMS Worcestershire (F 29) (d.) | 11,402 | br | SC-26 | ||
5 Aug 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Kumasian | 4,922 | br | SL-81 | ||
19 Sep 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | HMCS Levis (K 115) | 925 | ca | SC-44 | ||
20 Sep 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Empire Burton | 6,966 | br | SC-44 | ||
7 Nov 1941 | U-74 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Nottingham | 8,532 | br | |||
11 May 1943 | U-196 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Nailsea Meadow | 4,962 | br | |||
3 Aug 1943 | U-196 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | City of Oran | 7,323 | br | CB-1 | ||
9 Jul 1944 | U-196 | Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat | Shahzada | 5,454 | br | |||
54,883 | ||||||||
8 ships sunk (43,358 tons) and 2 ships damaged (11,525 tons). Legend |
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