Heinrich Hasenschar
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)
| Successes 4 ships sunk, total tonnage 21,765 GRT 3 ships damaged, total tonnage 20,450 GRT |
| Born | 27 Sep 1916 | Hoeringhausen / Waldeck | |
| Died | 3 Jul 1943 | (26) | Cape Ortegal |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-29 | 15 Sep 1941 | 5 May 1942 | No war patrols |
| U-628 | 25 Jun 1942 | 3 Jul 1943 (+) | 4 patrols (124 days) |
Heinrich Hasenschar joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, as part of the Olympia crew. He went through U-boat training from Oct 1939 to June 1940. He served as a Watch officer (WO) on the small "duck" U-59 (Joachim Matz) from June to Dec 1940 (Busch & Röll, 1999). During this time he went out on 5 patrols, 58 days at sea, destroying 4 ships for almost 14,000 tons and damaging one for 8,000 tons.
From Jan to July 1941 Heinrich Hasenschar served as a Watch Officer (WO) on the newly commissioned U-751 (Kplt. Gerhard Bigalk). The boat went out on one patrol during this time, from 3 June to 5 July 1941, sinking one ship of 5,370 tons.
Hasenschar went through U-boat Commander training with the 24th Flotilla from July to Sep 1941. Oblt. Heinrich Hasenschar took command the veteran type VIIA boat U-29 on 15 Sept 1941 (Busch & Röll, 1999). The famous boat, having sunk the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous (50) on 17 Sept 1939, was then in a training flotilla. Hasenschar spent the winter in the Baltic learning how to handle the boat in preparation for front line duty. When taking on his first front line command he had extensive experience; over 90 days at sea and a full winter with his U-29.
Hansenschar began his U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) in May 1942 in preparation for his next command. He then commissioned the brand-new type VIIC boat U-628 on 25 June 1942 (Busch & Röll, 1999).
He commanded the boat on 4 patrols, before perishing on the 4th when the boat being sunk with all hands on 3 July 1943 by a British B-24 Liberator bomber (Niestlé, 1998).
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Patrol info for Heinrich Hasenschar
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-628 | 28 Nov 1942 | Kiel | 8 Jan 1943 | Brest | Patrol 1, | 42 days | |
| 2. | U-628 | 1 Feb 1943 | Brest | 9 Mar 1943 | Brest | Patrol 2, | 37 days | |
| 3. | U-628 | 8 Apr 1943 | Brest | 19 May 1943 | Brest | Patrol 3, | 42 days | |
| 4. | U-628 | 1 Jul 1943 | Brest | 3 Jul 1943 | Sunk | Patrol 4, | 3 days | |
| 4 patrols, 124 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Heinrich Hasenschar
| Date | U-boat | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-628 |  | Lynton Grange | 5,029 |  | br | ONS-154 |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-628 | Glittre (d.) | 6,409 |  | nw | ON-166 | |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-628 | Winkler (d.) | 6,907 |  | pa | ON-166 | |
| 24 Feb 1943 | U-628 | Ingria | 4,391 | | nw | ON-166 | |
| 25 Feb 1943 | U-628 | Manchester Merchant | 7,264 | | br | ON-166 | |
| 17 Apr 1943 | U-628 | Fort Rampart (d.) | 7,134 | | br | HX-233 | |
| 5 May 1943 | U-628 | | Harbury | 5,081 | | br | ONS-5 |
| 42,215 | |||||||
4 ships sunk (21,765 tons) and 3 ships damaged (20,450 tons). Legend | |||||||
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.