Heinrich Liebe

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 27)

Successes
34 ships sunk, total tonnage 187,267 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 3,670 GRT

Born	29 Jan 1908		Gotha
Died	27 Jul 1997	(89)

Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe

Ranks

1 Oct 1927	Seekadett
1 Apr 1929	Fähnrich zur See
1 Jun 1931	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1931	Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1933	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1936	Kapitänleutnant
1 Dec 1941	Korvettenkapitän
1 Oct 1944	Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

8 Oct 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
16 Dec 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
6 Apr 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
14 Aug 1940	Knights Cross
10 Jun 1941	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-2	1 Oct 1936	31 Jan 1938	No war patrols
U-38	24 Oct 1938	22 Jul 1941	9 patrols (333 days)

Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe after a patrol.

Heinrich Liebe began his naval career in April 1927. Starting in 1931 he served on the line ship Schleswig- Holstein, then transferred in September 1935 to the newly formed U-boat force.

He was one of the few commanders with a long and solid pre-war U-boat experience. In October 1938 he commissioned U-38 and made a total of nine patrols with this boat. On his last patrol he sank eight ships with a total of 47,279 tons in the waters off Freetown, Africa. During this patrol he received the Oak Leaves cluster to the Knights Cross.

In July 1941 he left U-38 and served for three years a staff member in the OKM (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, German Navy High Command).

From August 1944 to the end of the war he served on the staff of the BdU (2. SKL, BdU op).

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).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

Patrol info for Heinrich Liebe

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-38	19 Aug 1939	Wilhelmshaven	18 Sep 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 1,	31 days
2.	U-38	14 Nov 1939	Wilhelmshaven	16 Dec 1939	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 2,	33 days
3.	U-38	26 Feb 1940	Wilhelmshaven	5 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 3,	40 days
4.	U-38	8 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	27 Apr 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 4,	20 days
5.	U-38	6 Jun 1940	Wilhelmshaven	2 Jul 1940	Wilhelmshaven	Patrol 5,	27 days
6.	U-38	1 Aug 1940	Wilhelmshaven	3 Sep 1940	Lorient	Patrol 6,	34 days
7.	U-38	25 Sep 1940	Lorient	24 Oct 1940	Lorient	Patrol 7,	30 days
8.	U-38	18 Dec 1940	Lorient	22 Jan 1941	Lorient	Patrol 8,	36 days
9.	U-38	9 Apr 1941	Lorient	29 Jun 1941	Lorient	Patrol 9,	82 days
9 patrols, 333 days at sea

Ships hit by Heinrich Liebe

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
6 Sep 1939	U-38	Manaar	7,242	br
11 Sep 1939	U-38	Inverliffey	9,456	br
7 Dec 1939	U-38	Thomas Walton	4,460	br
11 Dec 1939	U-38	Garoufalia	4,708	gr
13 Dec 1939	U-38	Deptford	4,101	br

9 Mar 1940	U-38	Leukos	216	ir
17 Mar 1940	U-38	Argentina	5,375	da
21 Mar 1940	U-38	Algier	1,654	da
21 Mar 1940	U-38	Christiansborg	3,270	da
26 Mar 1940	U-38	Cometa	3,794	nw
2 Apr 1940	U-38	Signe	1,540	fi	HN-23A
14 Jun 1940	U-38	Mount Myrto	5,403	gr
15 Jun 1940	U-38	Italia	9,973	nw	HX-47
15 Jun 1940	U-38	Erik Boye	2,238	ca	HX-47
20 Jun 1940	U-38	Tilia Gorthon	1,776	sw
21 Jun 1940	U-38	Luxembourg	5,809	be
22 Jun 1940	U-38	Neion	5,154	gr
7 Aug 1940	U-38	Mohamed Ali El-Kebir	7,527	br
11 Aug 1940	U-38	Llanfair	4,966	br	SL-41
31 Aug 1940	U-38	Har Zion	2,508	br	OB-205
1 Oct 1940	U-38	Highland Patriot	14,172	br
17 Oct 1940	U-38	Aenos	3,554	gr	SC-7
18 Oct 1940	U-38	Carsbreck (d.)	3,670	br	SC-7
19 Oct 1940	U-38	Matheran	7,653	br	HX-79
19 Oct 1940	U-38	Bilderdijk	6,856	nl	HX-79
27 Dec 1940	U-38	Waiotira	12,823	br
31 Dec 1940	U-38	Valparaiso	3,760	sw	HX-97

4 May 1941	U-38	Japan	5,230	sw	OB-310
5 May 1941	U-38	Queen Maud	4,976	br	OB-309
23 May 1941	U-38	Berhala	6,622	nl	OB-318
24 May 1941	U-38	Vulcain	4,362	br	OB-317
29 May 1941	U-38	Tabaristan	6,251	br
30 May 1941	U-38	Empire Protector	6,181	br
31 May 1941	U-38	Rinda	6,029	nw
8 Jun 1941	U-38	Kingston Hill	7,628	br
			190,937
34 ships sunk (187,267 tons) and 1 ship damaged (3,670 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.