| Born | 18 Dec 1917 | Berlin |
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Ranks
Decorations |
U-boat Commands
| U-boat | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-802 | 13 Dec 1943 | 11 May 1945 | 4 patrols (247 days) |
From the beginning of the war until July 1942, Helmut Schmoeckel served on the cruiser Admiral Hipper. After the U-boat training and a few months as I WO he became commander of U-802 in December 1943. He operated mostly in the North Atlantic and in Canadian waters. He surrendered his U-boat on 11 May, 1945 in Loch Eriboll (Niestlé, 1998).
After the war Helmut Schmoeckel wrote the book Menschlichkeit im Seekrieg (Humanity in the Naval War), in which he described instances of German naval crews giving aid to shipwrecked Allies.
You can listen to Mr. Schmoeckel speaking of his experiences here.
Sources
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Niestlé, A. (1998). German U-boat losses during World War II.
Patrol info for Helmut Schmoeckel
| U-boat | Departure | Arrival | ||||||
| 1. | U-802 | 29 Jan 1944 | Kiel | 2 May 1944 | Lorient | Patrol 1, | 95 days | |
| 2. | U-802 | 22 Jun 1944 | Lorient | 9 Jul 1944 | Lorient | Patrol 2, | 18 days | |
| 3. | U-802 | 16 Jul 1944 | Lorient | 12 Nov 1944 | Bergen | Patrol 3, | 120 days | |
| 4. | U-802 | 13 Nov 1944 | Bergen | 20 Nov 1944 | Horten | 8 days | ||
| 5. | U-802 | 21 Nov 1944 | Horten | 23 Nov 1944 | Flensburg | 3 days | ||
| 6. | U-802 | 8 Apr 1945 | Kiel | 12 Apr 1945 | Horten | 5 days | ||
| 7. | U-802 | 22 Apr 1945 | Horten | 23 Apr 1945 | Kristiansand | 2 days | ||
| 8. | U-802 | 28 Apr 1945 | Kristiansand | 11 May 1945 | Loch Eriboll, UK | Patrol 4, | 14 days | |
| 4 patrols, 247 days at sea | ||||||||
Ships hit by Helmut Schmoeckel
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Mar 1944 | U-802 | Helmut Schmoeckel | Watuka | 1,621 |  | ca | SH-125 | |
| 1,621 | ||||||||
1 ship sunk (1,621 tons). | ||||||||
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.
Media links
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