uboat.net

The Men - The Commander listing

Freiherr Egon Reiner von Schlippenbach

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 34)


Successes
4 ships sunk for a total of 15.850 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 835 tons
2 ships damaged for a total of 16.610 GRT
1 warship a total loss for a total of 1.705 tons

Born  10 Apr, 1914Cologne-Lindenthal
Died  11 May, 1979Kiel


Kapitänleutnant Freiherr von Schlippenbach

Ranks

26 Sep, 1934Seekadett
1 Jul, 1935Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan, 1937Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1937Leutnant zur See
1 Apr, 1939Oberleutnant zur See
1 Nov, 1941Kapitänleutnant
20 Apr, 1945Korvettenkapitän

Decorations

25 Feb, 1941Iron Cross 2nd Class
25 Feb, 1942U-boat War Badge 1939
6 Aug, 1942Iron Cross 1st Class
19 Nov, 1943Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-12131 Mar, 1941 - 8 Jul, 1941  No war patrols 
U-4539 Jul, 1941 - 6 Dec, 1943  14 patrols (332 days) 

Personal information

Freiherr von Schlippenbach began his naval career in April 1934. He later served on the line ship Schleswig-Holstein and as a training officer before transferring to the U-boat force in 1939.

Until March 1941 he served on several U-boats as watch officer, but then he took over his first command on the school boat U-121. In July 1941 he became the commander of the larger Type VIIC U-boat U-453 and on his first patrol, in December 1941, he managed to break through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. During the next two years he became one of the most experienced commanders stationed there.

In 1944 he took a staff position in the OKM (Naval High Command) and in the Marineschule Mürwik (Naval Academy). He spent last six weeks of the war in infantry duty for the defense of Central Germany. After the war he spent three months in US captivity.

He joined the Bundesmarine in January 1956, where he served mostly in staff positions. He retired in September 1972 as Kapitän zur See.


Kapitänleutnant Freiherr von Schlippenbach amidst the officers of U-453.

Patrol info


 U-boatDeparture Arrival  
1. U-453 12 Nov, 1941  Kiel 17 Dec, 1941  La Spezia Patrol,36 days
2. U-453 17 Jan, 1942  La Spezia 1 Feb, 1942  Pola Patrol,16 days
3. U-453 22 Mar, 1942  Pola 21 Apr, 1942  Pola Patrol,31 days
4. U-453 25 May, 1942  Pola 14 Jun, 1942  Salamis Patrol,21 days
5. U-453 18 Jun, 1942  Salamis 21 Jul, 1942  Pola Patrol,34 days
6. U-453 31 Aug, 1942  Pola 10 Sep, 1942  Salamis  11 days
7. U-453 17 Sep, 1942  Salamis 15 Oct, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,29 days
8. U-453 29 Nov, 1942  La Spezia 17 Dec, 1942  La Spezia Patrol,19 days
9. U-453 11 Jan, 1943  La Spezia 16 Feb, 1943  Pola Patrol,37 days
10. U-453 1 Apr, 1943  Pola 5 May, 1943  Pola Patrol,35 days
11. U-453 23 Jun, 1943  Pola 24 Jul, 1943  Pola Patrol,32 days
12. U-453 31 Jul, 1943  Pola 14 Aug, 1943  Pola Patrol,15 days
13. U-453 21 Oct, 1943  Pola 27 Oct, 1943  Pola Patrol,7 days
14. U-453 2 Nov, 1943  Pola 13 Nov, 1943  Pola Patrol,12 days
15. U-453 24 Nov, 1943  Pola 1 Dec, 1943  Pola Patrol,8 days

14 patrols, 332 days at sea

Ships hit by Freiherr Egon Reiner von Schlippenbach


Date BoatName of shipTonsNat.ConvoyFate *
13 Dec, 1941 U-453Badalona4.202 sp 
 
7 Apr, 1942 U-453HMHS Somersetshire9.716 br damaged
 
20 Jan, 1943 U-453Jean Jadot5.859 be KMS-7 
30 Jun, 1943 U-453Oligarch6.894 br GTX-3 damaged
6 Jul, 1943 U-453Shahjehan5.454 br MWS-36 
15 Nov, 1943 U-453HMS Quail (G 45) [Mine]1.705 br total loss
20 Nov, 1943 U-453Jela [Mine]335 yu 
22 Nov, 1943 U-453HMS Hebe (J 24) [Mine]835 br 
 35.000

* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.
[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine.


Decorations and ranks information is in many cases not complete. If you can help on any of those missing that would be great.

Listing of all U-boat commanders