The Men - The Commander listing

Hans Heidtmann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)

Successes
4 ships sunk for a total of 11.811 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 1.060 tons
2 ships a total loss for a total of 6.117 GRT

Born	8 Aug, 1914	Bahnhof Gleschendorf, Pönitz, Lübeck
Died	5 Apr, 1976	Hamburg

Kptlt. Hans Heidtmann

Ranks

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 Oct, 1941	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

26 Nov, 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
26 Nov, 1939	Spanish Cross
27 Nov, 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
23 Sep, 1941	Iron Cross 1st Class
12 Apr, 1943	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-2	7 Jul, 1940	-	5 Aug, 1940	No war patrols (Acting CO)
U-14	Aug, 1940	-	29 Sep, 1940	No war patrols (Acting CO)
U-21	1 Aug, 1940	-	20 Dec, 1940	No war patrols
U-559	27 Feb, 1941	-	30 Oct, 1942	10 patrols (247 days)

Personal information

Hans Heidtmann joined the Navy in April 1934. He served on the light cruiser Deutschland, before transferring to the U-boat arm in January 1938. He made six patrols on U-2 and U-14. Beginning in July 1940 he was commander on several school boats in the 21st Flotilla.

In February 1941 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-559, and after two patrols in the North Atlantic he managed to break through into the Straits of Gibraltar on 26 September 1941. For the next year he operated successfully in the Mediterranean until his U-boat was sunk in October 1942 by British destroyers. Heidtmann and most of the crew were captured. He spent four and a half years in British captivity in Egypt, Canada and England before being released in May 1947.

In January 1958 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving in several staff positions and retiring in September 1972 as Kapitän zur See.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-559	4 Jun, 1941	Kiel	5 Jul, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol,	32 days
2.	U-559	26 Jul, 1941	St. Nazaire	22 Aug, 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol,	28 days
3.	U-559	20 Sep, 1941	St. Nazaire	20 Oct, 1941	Salamis	Patrol,	31 days
4.	U-559	24 Nov, 1941	Salamis	4 Dec, 1941	Salamis	Patrol,	11 days
5.	U-559	8 Dec, 1941	Salamis	31 Dec, 1941	Salamis	Patrol,	24 days
6.	U-559	16 Feb, 1942	Salamis	26 Feb, 1942	Salamis	Patrol,	11 days
7.	U-559	4 Mar, 1942	Salamis	21 Mar, 1942	Salamis	Patrol,	18 days
8.	U-559	24 Mar, 1942	Salamis	27 Mar, 1942	Pola		4 days
9.	U-559	10 May, 1942	Pola	12 May, 1942	Pola		3 days
10.	U-559	18 May, 1942	Pola	22 Jun, 1942	Pola	Patrol,	36 days
11.	U-559	15 Aug, 1942	Pola	21 Aug, 1942	Salamis		7 days
12.	U-559	29 Aug, 1942	Salamis	21 Sep, 1942	Messina	Patrol,	24 days
13.	U-559	29 Sep, 1942	Messina	30 Oct, 1942	Sunk	Patrol,	32 days
					10 patrols, 247 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans Heidtmann

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
19 Aug, 1941	U-559	Alva	1.584		br	OG-71
27 Nov, 1941	U-559	HMAS Parramatta (L 44)	1.060		au
23 Dec, 1941	U-559	Shuntien	3.059		br	TA-5
26 Dec, 1941	U-559	Warszawa	2.487		po

10 Jun, 1942	U-559	Athene	4.681		nw	AT-49
10 Jun, 1942	U-559	Brambleleaf	5.917		br	AT-49	total loss
12 Oct, 1942	U-559	Bringhi	200		ag		total loss
			18.988
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.