| Born | 28 Feb 1893 | Hannover |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UD-1 | 4 May 1941 | 2 Nov 1941 | No war patrols |
| U-460 | 24 Dec 1941 | 1 Aug 1942 | 1 patrol (55 days) |
| UA | 10 Aug 1942 | 22 Mar 1943 | No war patrols |
| UD-4 | 23 Mar 1943 | 22 Nov 1944 | No war patrols |
Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Schäfer was one of the oldest U-boat commanders of WWII to depart on patrol when he took his boat, the milch cow U-460, out from Kiel, Germany on 24 Dec 1941. He was 49 years old at the time. He arrived safely in St. Nazaire, France 55 days later. This was his only operational patrol.
He had served in the Kaiserliche Marine in WWI, joining as a reserve officer candidate in 1914 and serving on the coastal defence ship SMS Siegfried and torpedo boat S23 before transferring to U-boats in June 1916. He joined the newly commissioned U 55 as 2nd Watch Officer in June 1916 under the command of Kptltnt. Wilhelm Werner. Under Werner's command U 55 sank 64 ships, total tonnage 133,742, including the former liner RMS Carpathia, serving as a troopship. Carpathia was famous as the first ship to arrive after the sinking of the Titanic. Schäfer remained with U 55 until the end of the war, when he was discharged.
He joined the Kriegsmarine in 1938, serving in the OKM Foreign Intelligence section (Amt für Auslandsabwehr) before joining UD-4 as 1st Watch Officer in Jan. 1941. He then went on to command UD-1 in May 1941 with the rank of Kapitänleutnant.
On 2 Nov 1941 he took over the newly-commissioned type XIV U-460. After her one operational patrol, she didn't see further active service under Kptltnt Schäfer, who handed her over to Oblt.z.S. Ebe Schnoor on 1 Aug 1942. Schäfer was promoted Korvettenkapitän 1 Dec 1942, and served training new crew on U-A and UD-4, and in UAK Danzig (Unterseebootsabnahmekommando: U-boat acceptance commission) until the war's end.
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).
http://www.luftfahrtverlag-start.de/VersorgerMusterAlleCopyright4.pdf
Patrol info for Friedrich Schäfer
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | U-460 | 7 Jun 1942 | Kiel | 31 Jul 1942 | St. Nazaire | Patrol 1, | 55 days | |
Media links
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