The Men - The Commander listing

Otto Ites

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

Successes
15 ships sunk for a total of 76,882 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 8,022 GRT

Born	5 Feb 1918		Norden, Ostfriesland
Died	2 Feb 1982	(63)	Norden / Ostfriesland

Oberleutnant zur See Otto Ites

Ranks

3 Apr 1936	Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936	Seekadett
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 Apr 1943	Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

27 Oct 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
21 Dec 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
25 Feb 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
28 Mar 1942	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-146	7 Apr 1941	26 Aug 1941	2 patrols (45 days)
U-94	29 Aug 1941	28 Aug 1942	5 patrols (190 days)

Personal information

Leutnant zur See Otto Ites

Otto Ites joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1936 and was a member of the so called Olympia-Crew. He served for some months on the torpedo boats Kondor and Albatros before he transferred to the U-boat force in October 1938.

After a short time on U-51 he became the second watch officer (II WO) on U-48. Together with the first watch officer (I WO) 'Teddy' Suhren he participated in the outstanding successes of this famous U-boat. When Suhren left the boat, Ites became the first watch officer.

In March 1941 he left U-48 and after two weeks of commander training he took over U-146. He made two patrols in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. In August 1941 Ites left U-146 and took over U-94 from Herbert Kuppisch.

Kapitän zur See Otto Ites

On four patrols, mostly in the North Atlantic, Ites sank 13 ships and damaged two more.

On his fifth patrol his operational area was the Caribbean Sea. But on 28 August 1942 U-94 was sunk by depth charges from an aircraft and ramming by the Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville. Ites was among the 26 survivors and was in US captivity until May 1946.

After his return he became a dentist, before joining the Bundesmarine in 1956. Here he served for two years on the destroyer Z-2 as commander and then held several staff positions.

Otto Ites retired in September 1977 as Konteradmiral.

Patrol info for Otto Ites

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-146	17 Jun 1941	Kiel	14 Jul 1941	Kiel	Patrol 1,	28 days
2.	U-146	26 Jul 1941	Kiel	11 Aug 1941	Kiel	Patrol 2,	17 days
3.	U-94	2 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	15 Oct 1941	Kiel	Patrol 3,	44 days
4.	U-94	12 Jan 1942	Kiel	30 Jan 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	19 days
5.	U-94	12 Feb 1942	St. Nazaire	2 Apr 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	50 days
6.	U-94	4 May 1942	St. Nazaire	23 Jun 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	51 days
7.	U-94	3 Aug 1942	St. Nazaire	28 Aug 1942	Sunk	Patrol 7,	26 days
7 patrols, 235 days at sea

Ships hit by Otto Ites

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
28 Jun, 1941	U-146	Pluto	3,496		fi
15 Sep, 1941	U-94	Empire Eland	5,613		br	ON-14
15 Sep, 1941	U-94	Newbury	5,102		br	ON-14
15 Sep, 1941	U-94	Pegasus	5,762		gr	ON-14
1 Oct, 1941	U-94	San Florentino	12,842		br	ON-19

24 Feb, 1942	U-94	Empire Hail	7,005		br	ON-66
9 Mar, 1942	U-94	Cayrú	5,152		bz
11 Mar, 1942	U-94	Hvoslef	1,630		nw
25 Mar, 1942	U-94	Imperial Transport	8,022		br	ON-77	damaged
12 May, 1942	U-94	Cocle	5,630		pa	ONS-92
13 May, 1942	U-94	Batna	4,399		br	ONS-92
13 May, 1942	U-94	Tolken	4,471		sw	ONS-92
5 Jun, 1942	U-94	Maria da Gloria	320		pt
10 Jun, 1942	U-94	Empire Clough	6,147		br	ONS-100
10 Jun, 1942	U-94	Ramsay	4,855		br	ONS-100
11 Jun, 1942	U-94	Pontypridd	4,458		br	ONS-100
			84,904
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.