Curt Beitzen

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 4/04)

Successes
12 ships sunk with a total of 16,746 GRT
1 warship sunk with a total of 10,850 tons
2 ships damaged with a total of 3,744 GRT
1 ship taken as prize with a total of 1,700 GRT

Born:	21 May 1885	Hildesheim
Died:	27 Sep 1918	East of the Orkney Islands

Ranks

6 Apr 1904		Seekadett
11 Apr 1905		Fähnrich zur See
28 Sep 1907		Leutnant zur See
5 Sep 1909		Oberleutnant zur See
17 Oct 1915		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

		Iron Cross 2nd class
1915		Iron Cross 1st class
1917		Friedrich-August Cross (Oldenburg)

U-boat Commands

U 75	26 Mar 1916	-	1 May 1917
U 98	31 May 1917	-	24 Nov 1917
U 102	26 Nov 1917	-	27 Sep 1918 (+)

Notes

Serving as CO of U 75 and U 102 Beitzen was not one of these men that would become a topscorer in the U-Boat war. However there is one story that gives him his place in history;

On 29 May, 1916 he laid a 38 piece minefield with U 75 just outside the entrance of Scapa Flow. The very same day the HMS Hampshire left Scapa for Russia as the situation on the Eastern Front became critical and she was to play a crucial part in that. On board she had Field Marshall Lord Kitchener and his general staff. They were to turn the tide of the war in Russia.

Only 10 miles outside Scapa Flow the armored cruiser ran on one of Beitzen's mines in foul weather and sank in minutes, leaving only 14 survivors. Great-Britain's most famous military leader and a legend in his own time was killed and nothing was to stop Russia from defeat and revolution.

Beitzen later went on to command U 102, which was lost with all hands in late September 1918 in the Northern Barrage east of the Orkney Islands. The wreck of U 102 was located during a sonar sweep in 2006 and positively identidfied by divers in 2007.

Ships hit by Curt Beitzen

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Type of ship	Tons

5 Jun 1916	U 75	Hampshire	Armored cruiser	10,850	br
22 Jun 1916	U 75	Laurel Crown	Navy Drifter	81	br
7 Aug 1916	U 75	John High	Navy Trawler	228	br
12 Aug 1916	U 75	Kovda	Dispatch vessel	1,125	ru
20 Sep 1916	U 75	Etton	Steamer	2,831	br
16 Nov 1916	U 75	Fenja	Sailing vessel	433	da
22 Nov 1916	U 75	Reserv (p.)	Steamer	1,700	sw
23 Nov 1916	U 75	Arthur	Steamer	1,435	sw

9 Apr 1917	U 75	Ganslei	Steamer	1,273	ru
15 Apr 1917	U 75	Arctic Prince (d.)	Navy Trawler	194	br
8 Dec 1917	U 102	Lucien	Sailing vessel	200	fr
13 Dec 1917	U 102	Noviembre	Steamer	3,500	sp

21 Feb 1918	U 102	Cheviot Range	Steamer	3,691	br
3 Mar 1918	U 102	Romeo	Steamer	1,730	br
24 Jun 1918	U 102	Caroline	Sailing vessel	219	da
2 Sep 1918	U 75	Ariadne Christine (d.)	Steamer	3,550	br
				33,040
14 ships sunk (29,296 tons) and 2 ships damaged (3,744 tons). Legend (d.) means the ship was damaged. (p.) means the ship was taken as prize (included in ships & tonnage lost). We have a picture of this vessel.