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Günther Krech

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 33)

Successes 17 ships sunk for a total of 93,186 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 913 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 925 tons 2 ships damaged for a total of 15,070 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 6,672 GRT

Personal information

Günther Krech began his naval career in April 1933. Later, like Reinhard Hardegen and some other naval officers, he served for four years in the German Luftwaffe. In November 1939 Krech returned to the Kriegsmarine and began U-boat training. He received his first combat experiences on U-100 under Kptlt. Schepke. He left the boat in November 1940 and in February 1941 commissioned U-558.

Günther Krech after patrol

On ten patrols, mostly in the Atlantic and in Caribbean waters, he sank more than 20 ships. U-558 was sunk by US aircraft on 20 July, 1943 in the Bay of Biscay. Only the commander, the LI and three men of the gun crew survived the sinking. Günther Krech then spent a few years in Allied captivity.

Date	U-boat	Commander		Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy
28 Aug 1941	U-558	Günther Krech		Otaio	10,298		br	OS-4
15 Oct 1941	U-558	Günther Krech		Vancouver Island	9,472		ca
17 Oct 1941	U-558	Günther Krech		Erviken	6,595		nw	SC-48
17 Oct 1941	U-558	Günther Krech		HMS Gladiolus (K 34)	925		br	SC-48
17 Oct 1941	U-558	Günther Krech		Rym	1,369		nw	SC-48
17 Oct 1941	U-558	Günther Krech		W.C. Teagle	9,552		br	SC-48
24 Feb 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Anadara (d.)	8,009		br	ONS-67
24 Feb 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Eidanger	9,432		nw	ONS-67
24 Feb 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Inverarder	5,578		br	ONS-67
12 May 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		HMS Bedfordshire (FY 141)	913		br
18 May 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Fauna	1,254		nl
21 May 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Troisdoc	1,925		ca
23 May 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		William Boyce Thompson (d.)	7,061		am
25 May 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Beatrice	3,451		am
27 May 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Jack	2,622		am
2 Jun 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Triton	2,078		nl
25 Aug 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Amakura	1,987		br	WAT-15
13 Sep 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Empire Lugard	7,241		br	TAG-5
13 Sep 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Suriname	7,915		nl	TAG-5
13 Sep 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Vilja (t.)	6,672		nw	TAG-5
16 Sep 1942	U-558	Günther Krech		Commercial Trader	2,606		am
23 Feb 1943	U-558	Günther Krech		Empire Norseman	9,811		br	UC-1
					116,766
20 ships sunk (101,696 tons) and 2 ships damaged (15,070 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. (t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).

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.

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