Gustav Sieß

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 4/02)

Successes
53 ships sunk with a total of 159,545 GRT
3 warships sunk with a total of 28,750 tons
10 ships damaged with a total of 36,363 GRT

Born:	11 Dec 1883	Hamburg
Died:	14 Oct 1970	Hamburg

Ranks

1 Apr 1902		Seekadett
11 Apr 1903		Fähnrich zur See
29 Sep 1905		Leutnant zur See
30 Mar 1908		Oberleutnant zur See
12 Apr 1913		Kapitänleutnant
11 Nov 1919		Out of naval service
22 Feb 1920		Korvettenkapitän (Charakter)
1 Dec 1935		Major
1 Jan 1938		Oberstleutnant

Decorations

19 Sep 1912		Order of the Crown
4 Mar 1914		Lifesaving Medal
		Iron Cross 2nd class
		Iron Cross 1st class
		Hanseatic Cross
27 Feb 1917		Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
24 Apr 1918		Pour le Mérite

U-boat Commands

U 73	9 Oct 1915	-	21 May 1917
U 33	1 Apr 1917	-	18 Aug 1918
U 33	19 Oct 1918	-	11 Nov 1918
U 65	19 Aug 1918	-	29 Sep 1918

Notes

He joined the Navy in April 1902, after attending the Academy and went on a on board the training ship SMS Moltke and armored cruise SMS Hansa , he was assigned in 1906 to I Division Torpedo. In October 1908 he was transferred to Mne Battalion and at the same time he obtained the command of the minesweepers S 27, S 25 and S 38.

From 1910 to 1912 he served as an assistant at the Inspectorate of the Coast Artillery and Mine. In November 1912 he obtained the command of the SMTb V3 and later that of SMTb V1.

In August 1915, after attending submarines training, he was given command of SM U-73 as part of the Baltic Flotilla based in Kiel, and subsequently sent to the Mediterranean Flotilla at Pola. He then commanded the U-33 and U-65, always working in the Mediterranean. Among his greatest successes were the sinking of the battleship HMS Russell, the Russian battleship Peresvyet and the passenger ship Britannia the sister of Titanic.

He was awarded the Pour le Mérite on 24th April 1918 in recognition of having sunk a total of 261.399 BRT of enemy shipping. Outside of the Mediterranean Siess sank 154.061 BRT of enemy shipping during three patrols with U73. In five long patrols in the same area he sank 107.338 BRT of enemy shipping.

On 24 April 1918 in recognition of his actions, he was decorated with the Order Pour le Merite. After the war, during the Weimar Republic, Gustav Siess formed a commercial company the "Siess, von Loe & Co".

In 1935, after training to become a pilot, he returned to the armed forces with the rank of Luftwafe Major and became head of logistics at the Air Ministry (Luftwaffe) in Berlin. In 1944, after a serious illness, he left active service with the rank of Generalleutnant. Arrested by the Soviets in 1945, was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was released in 1955 and returned to Hamburg, where he died at the age of 87 years October 14, 1970.

Ships hit by Gustav Sieß

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Type of ship	Tons

11 Apr 1916	U 73	Inverlyon	Sailing vessel	1,827	br
17 Apr 1916	U 73	Terje Viken	Steamer	3,579	nw
27 Apr 1916	U 73	Nasturtium	Sloop	1,250	br
27 Apr 1916	U 73	Russell	Battleship	14,000	br
28 Apr 1916	U 73	Aegusa	Navy yacht	1,242	br
4 May 1916	U 73	Crownsin	Navy trawler	137	br
3 Aug 1916	U 73	Clacton	Auxiliary minesweeper	820	br
9 Aug 1916	U 73	Lorenzo Donato	Sailing vessel	140	it
24 Oct 1916	U 73	Propontis	Sailing vessel	700	gr
28 Oct 1916	73	Angeliki (d.)	Paddle steamer	706	gr
31 Oct 1916	U 73	Kiki Issaias	Steamer	2,993	gr
14 Nov 1916	U 73	Burdigala	Armed merchant cruiser	12,009	fr
20 Nov 1916	U 73	Spetzai (d.)	Steamer	788	gr
20 Nov 1916	U 73	Sparti (d.)	Steamer	961	gr
21 Nov 1916	U 73	Britannic	Hospital ship	48,158	br
23 Nov 1916	U 73	Braemar Castle (d.)	Hospital ship	6,318	br
21 Dec 1916	U 73	Murex	Tanker	3,564	br
23 Dec 1916	U 73	Thistleban	Steamer	4,117	br

2 Jan 1917	U 73	Peresvyet	Battleship	13,500	ru
12 Mar 1917	U 73	Bilswood	Steamer	3,097	br
15 Apr 1917	U 33	Cameronia	Troopship	10,963	br
16 Apr 1917	U 33	Sontay	Passenger steamer	7,247	fr
22 Apr 1917	U 33	Blaatind	Steamer	1,641	nw
22 Apr 1917	U 33	Maria S.	Sailing vessel	133	it
22 Apr 1917	U 33	Unione	Sailing vessel	207	it
26 Apr 1917	U 33	Monitor	Sailing vessel	138	br
27 Apr 1917	U 33	Mafalda	Sailing vessel	162	it
27 Apr 1917	U 33	Margaret B. Rouss	Sailing vessel	701	am
28 Apr 1917	U 33	Lisetta	Fishing vessel	40	it
30 Apr 1917	U 33	Chrisomalli Th. Sifneo	Steamer	2,415	gr
27 May 1917	U 33	Beatrice	Sailing vessel	106	it
27 May 1917	U 33	Michele Costantino	Sailing vessel	51	it
3 Jun 1917	U 33	Greenbank	Steamer	3,881	br
3 Jun 1917	U 33	Islandmore	Steamer	3,046	br
7 Jun 1917	U 33	Il Dionisio	Sailing vessel	97	it
7 Jun 1917	U 33	San Antonio	Sailing vessel	13	it
26 Jul 1917	U 33	Blanchette	Sailing vessel	280	it
26 Jul 1917	U 33	Gesu E Maria	Sailing vessel	196	it
27 Jul 1917	U 33	Frigido	Sailing vessel	59	it
27 Jul 1917	U 33	Genova	Steamer	3,486	it
28 Jul 1917	U 33	Splendor (d.)	Tanker	6,507	it
1 Aug 1917	U 33	Llandudno	Steamer	4,187	br
4 Aug 1917	U 33	Angelina T.	Sailing vessel	146	it
8 Aug 1917	U 33	Llanishen	Steamer	3,837	br
9 Aug 1917	U 33	Flora	Sailing vessel	125	it
9 Aug 1917	U 33	Industria	Sailing vessel	51	sp
15 Aug 1917	U 33	Bandai Maru	Steamer	3,227	jp

23 Jan 1918	U 33	Capri (d.)	Steamer	3,899	it
24 Jan 1918	U 33	Antonios J. Dracoulis	Steamer	3,301	gr
25 Jan 1918	U 33	Apostoles Andreas	Sailing vessel	50	br
29 Jan 1918	U 33	Taxiarchis	Sailing vessel	160	br
31 Jan 1918	U 33	Eggesford (d.)	Steamer	4,414	br
1 Feb 1918	U 33	Glenamoy (d.)	Steamer	7,269	br
4 Feb 1918	U 33	Ravenshoe (d.)	Steamer	3,592	br
4 Feb 1918	U 33	Standish Hall	Steamer	3,996	br
20 Mar 1918	U 33	Saint Dimitrios	Steamer	3,359	br
20 Mar 1918	U 33	Samoset	Tanker	5,251	br
20 Mar 1918	U 33	Yochow	Steamer	2,127	br
20 Mar 1918	U 33	Antonios M. Theophilatos	Steamer	2,282	gr
31 Mar 1918	U 33	La Loire	Steamer	5,343	fr
5 May 1918	U 33	Aghios Johannis	Sailing vessel	20	gr
2 Sep 1918	U 65	San Andres	Steamer	3,314	br
12 Sep 1918	U 65	Chao Chow Fu (d.)	Steamer	1,909	br
12 Sep 1918	U 65	Sarnia	Armed boarding steamer	1,498	br
14 Sep 1918	U 65	Ioanna No. 45	Sailing vessel	9	br
15 Sep 1918	U 65	Ioanna No. 37	Sailing vessel	17	br
				224,658
56 ships sunk (188,295 tons) and 10 ships damaged (36,363 tons). Legend (d.) means the ship was damaged. We have a picture of this vessel.