Hans-Joachim Schwantke

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

Successes
1 ship sunk, total tonnage 5,154 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 9,131 GRT

Born	30 Aug 1918		Hindenburg, Upper Silesia
Died	30 Jul 1943	(24)	North Atlantic

Ranks

3 Apr 1936		Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936		Seekadett
1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Aug 1943		Kapitänleutnant (posthumous)

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-43	19 Mar 1942	30 Jul 1943 (+)	4 patrols (221 days)

Crew of 1936

Hans-Joachim Schwantke was one of the Kriegsmarine's famous Olympia Crew. This Crew chose the Olympic rings as their symbol (the 1936 Olympic games were held in Berlin). It was the largest Crew, and produced more U-boat commanders than any other – of the 164 who 'graduated', 140 took command during the war.

Patrol info for Hans-Joachim Schwantke

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-43	4 Jul 1942	Kiel	15 Aug 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	43 days
2.	U-43	23 Sep 1942	Lorient	9 Dec 1942	Lorient	Patrol 2,	78 days
3.	U-43	9 Jan 1943	Lorient	31 Mar 1943	Lorient	Patrol 3,	82 days
4.	U-43	13 Jul 1943	Lorient	30 Jul 1943	Sunk	Patrol 4,	18 days
4 patrols, 221 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans-Joachim Schwantke

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
18 Nov 1942	U-43	Brilliant (t.)	9,131	am	SC-109

3 Mar 1943	U-43	Doggerbank	5,154	dt
			14,285
2 ships sunk (14,285 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).

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.