Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)


Successes
4 ships sunk, total tonnage 15,850 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 835 tons
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 16,610 GRT
1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 1,705 tons

Born  10 Apr 1914 Cologne-Lindenthal
Died  11 May 1979(65)Kiel, Germany


Kapitänleutnant Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Ranks

8 Apr 1934 Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934 Seekadett
1 Jul 1935 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937 Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov 1941 Kapitänleutnant
20 Apr 1945 Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

25 Feb 1941 Iron Cross 2nd Class
25 Feb 1942 U-boat War Badge 1939
6 Aug 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Nov 1943 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-121 31 Mar 1941 8 Jul 1941   No war patrols 
U-453 9 Jul 1941 6 Dec 1943   14 patrols (332 days) 

Freiherr von Schlippenbach began his naval career in April 1934. He later served on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein and as a training officer before transferring to the U.bootwaffe in 1939.

After time on several U-boats as Watch Officer, in March 1941 he took over command of the type IIB U-boat school boat U-121. In July 1941 he moved to the larger type VIIC U-boat U-453, and on his first patrol in December 1941 managed to break through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. During the next two years he became one of the most experienced commanders stationed there, and was awarded the Knights Cross in 1943.

In 1944 he took a staff position in the OKM (Naval High Command) and at Marineschule Mürwik (Naval Academy). He spent last six weeks of the war serving in the infantry in the defence of central Germany. After the war he spent three months in a US POW Camp.

He joined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy) in January 1956, in which he served mostly in staff positions. He retired as Kapitän zur See in September 1972.


Kapitänleutnant Freiherr von Schlippenbach with officers from U-453.

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).

Patrol info for Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-453 12 Nov 1941  Kiel  17 Dec 1941  La Spezia  Patrol 1,36 days
2. U-453 17 Jan 1942  La Spezia  1 Feb 1942  Pola  Patrol 2,16 days
3. U-453 22 Mar 1942  Pola  21 Apr 1942  Pola  Patrol 3,31 days
4. U-453 25 May 1942  Pola  14 Jun 1942  Salamis  Patrol 4,21 days
5. U-453 18 Jun 1942  Salamis  21 Jul 1942  Pola  Patrol 5,34 days
6. U-453 31 Aug 1942  Pola  10 Sep 1942  Salamis   11 days
7. U-453 17 Sep 1942  Salamis  15 Oct 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 6,29 days
8. U-453 29 Nov 1942  La Spezia  17 Dec 1942  La Spezia  Patrol 7,19 days
9. U-453 11 Jan 1943  La Spezia  16 Feb 1943  Pola  Patrol 8,37 days
10. U-453 1 Apr 1943  Pola  5 May 1943  Pola  Patrol 9,35 days
11. U-453 23 Jun 1943  Pola  24 Jul 1943  Pola  Patrol 10,32 days
12. U-453 31 Jul 1943  Pola  14 Aug 1943  Pola  Patrol 11,15 days
13. U-453 21 Oct 1943  Pola  27 Oct 1943  Pola  Patrol 12,7 days
14. U-453 2 Nov 1943  Pola  13 Nov 1943  Pola  Patrol 13,12 days
15. U-453 24 Nov 1943  Pola  1 Dec 1943  Pola  Patrol 14,8 days
14 patrols, 332 days at sea

Ships hit by Egon Reiner Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
13 Dec 1941U-453 Badalona4,202sp
 
7 Apr 1942U-453 HMHS Somersetshire (d.)9,716br
 
20 Jan 1943U-453 Jean Jadot5,859beKMS-7
30 Jun 1943U-453 Oligarch (d.)6,894brGTX-3
6 Jul 1943U-453 Shahjehan5,454brMWS-36
15 Nov 1943U-453 HMS Quail (G 45) (t.) [Mine]1,705br
20 Nov 1943U-453 Jela [Mine]335yu
22 Nov 1943U-453 HMS Hebe (J 24) [Mine]835br
 35,000

6 ships sunk (18,390 tons) and 2 ships damaged (16,610 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.
(t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.


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.

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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