The Men - The Commander listing

Reinhard Suhren

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 35)

Successes
18 ships sunk for a total of 95.544 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 900 tons
4 ships damaged for a total of 28.907 GRT

Born	16 Apr, 1916	Langenschwalbach, Taunus
Died	25 Aug, 1984	Halstenbek/ Hamburg

Ranks

5 Apr, 1935	Offiziersanwärter
25 Sep, 1935	Seekadett
1 Jul, 1936	Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan, 1938	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr, 1938	Leutnant zur See
1 Oct, 1939	Oberleutnant zur See
1 Jan, 1942	Kapitänleutnant
1 Sep, 1942	Korvettenkapitän
1 Jun, 1944	Fregattenkapitän

Decorations

25 Sep, 1939	Iron Cross 2nd Class
21 Dec, 1939	U-boat War Badge 1939
25 Feb, 1940	Iron Cross 1st Class
3 Nov, 1940	Knights Cross
31 Dec, 1941	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
Mar, 1942	U-boat War Badge with Diamonds
1 Sep, 1942	Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Crossed Swords
30 Jan, 1944	War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords

U-boat Commands

U-564

3 Apr, 1941

1 Oct, 1942

6 patrols (284 days)

Personal information

Reinhard Suhren began his U-boat career in March 1938 with the usual training. Then he spent a year as I WO on the most successful U-boat, U-48, where he received the Knights Cross. In April 1941 he took command of U-564, and in August 1941 he sank the British corvette HMS Zinnia.

In October 1942 he left the boat and became an instructor in the 2nd ULD. Later he served in the 27th U-boat flotilla along with Korvettenkapitän Erich Topp.

During the last year of the war Fregattenkapitän Suhren was the FdU Nordwegen (Commander in Chief of U-boats in Norwegian waters) and from September 1944 the FdU Nordmeer.

Patrol info

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-564	17 Jun, 1941	Kiel	27 Jul, 1941	Brest	Patrol	41 days
2.	U-564	16 Aug, 1941	Brest	27 Aug, 1941	Brest	Patrol	12 days
3.	U-564	16 Sep, 1941	Brest	1 Nov, 1941	Lorient	Patrol	47 days
4.	U-564	11 Jan, 1942	Lorient	12 Jan, 1942	La Pallice		2 days
5.	U-564	18 Jan, 1942	La Pallice	6 Mar, 1942	Brest	Patrol	48 days
6.	U-564	4 Apr, 1942	Brest	6 Jun, 1942	Brest	Patrol	64 days
7.	U-564	9 Jul, 1942	Brest	18 Sep, 1942	Brest	Patrol	72 days

Ships hit by Reinhard Suhren

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
27 Jun, 1941	U-564	Kongsgaard	9.467		nw	HX-133	damaged
27 Jun, 1941	U-564	Maasdam	8.812		nl	HX-133
27 Jun, 1941	U-564	Malaya II	8.651		br	HX-133
29 Jun, 1941	U-564	Hekla	1.215		is
22 Aug, 1941	U-564	Clonlara	1.203		ir	OG-71
22 Aug, 1941	U-564	Empire Oak	484		br	OG-71
23 Aug, 1941	U-564	HMS Zinnia (K 98)	900		br	OG-71
24 Oct, 1941	U-564	Alhama	1.352		br	HG-75
24 Oct, 1941	U-564	Ariosto	2.176		br	HG-75
24 Oct, 1941	U-564	Carsbreck	3.670		br	HG-75

11 Feb, 1942	U-564	Victolite	11.410		ca
16 Feb, 1942	U-564	Opalia	6.195		br		damaged
3 May, 1942	U-564	Ocean Venus	7.174		br
4 May, 1942	U-564	Eclipse	9.767		br		damaged
5 May, 1942	U-564	Delisle	3.478		am		damaged
8 May, 1942	U-564	Ohioan	6.078		am
9 May, 1942	U-564	Lubrafol	7.138		pa
14 May, 1942	U-564	Potrero del Llano	4.000		me
19 Jul, 1942	U-564	Empire Hawksbill	5.724		br	OS-34
19 Jul, 1942	U-564	Lavington Court	5.372		br	OS-34
19 Aug, 1942	U-564	British Consul	6.940		br	TAW(S)
19 Aug, 1942	U-564	Empire Cloud	5.969		br	TAW(S)
30 Aug, 1942	U-564	Vardaas	8.176		nw
			125.351
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.