Hans-Joachim Förster
Oberleutnant zur See (Crew 38)
| Successes 2 ships sunk, total tonnage 12,846 GRT 2 warships sunk, total tonnage 1,775 tons |
| Born | 20 Feb 1920 | Gross-Köris, Teltrow | |
| Died | 20 Feb 1945 | (25) | Channel south-west of Land's End |
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Ranks
Decorations
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U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-348 | Jul, 1943 | Aug, 1943 | No war patrols |
| U-479 | Aug, 1943 | Aug, 1943 | No war patrols |
| U-480 | 6 Oct 1943 | 20 Feb 1945 (+) | 3 patrols (140 days) |
 Oblt. z. See Hans-Joachim Förster |
Hans-Joachim Förster joined the Kriegsmarine in October 1938. He rode on the destroyer Z-29 in 1941 and 1942 for 7 patrols, before he was attached in July 1942 to the U-boat force.
After the usual training he was for three patrols first watch officer on board of U-380 operating in the Mediterranean. He left U-380 in May 1943 and commissioned 5 months later the type VIIC U-boat U-480.
Very successful became his second patrol in where he sunk 4 ships sunk for a total of 14,646 tons including the Canadian corvette HMCS Alberni and the British minesweeper HMS Loyalty.
U-480 was lost with all hands, 48 men, when she was sunk between 29 January and about 20 February 1945 in minefield Brazier D2 in position 50°22'04"N/001°44'10"W (Niestlé, 2001).
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Niestlé, A. (2001). Re-assessment of fate of U-480.
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.
Patrol info for Hans-Joachim Förster
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-480 | 18 May 1944 | Kiel | 19 May 1944 | Arendal | 2 days | ||
| 2. | U-480 | 7 Jun 1944 | Arendal | 7 Jul 1944 | Brest | Patrol 1, | 31 days | |
| 3. | U-480 | 3 Aug 1944 | Brest | 4 Oct 1944 | Trondheim | Patrol 2, | 63 days | |
| 4. | U-480 | 6 Jan 1945 | Trondheim | 20 Feb 1945 | Sunk | Patrol 3, | 46 days | |
| 3 patrols, 140 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Hans-Joachim Förster
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Aug 1944 | U-480 | Hans-Joachim Förster |  | HMCS Alberni (K 103) | 925 |  | ca | |
| 22 Aug 1944 | U-480 | Hans-Joachim Förster | | HMS Loyalty (J 217) | 850 |  | br | |
| 23 Aug 1944 | U-480 | Hans-Joachim Förster | Fort Yale | 7,134 | | br | ETC-72 | |
| 25 Aug 1944 | U-480 | Hans-Joachim Förster | | Orminster | 5,712 | | br | FTM-74 |
| 14,621 | ||||||||
4 ships sunk (14,621 tons). Legend | ||||||||
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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.