Hans Heidtmann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
4 ships sunk, total tonnage 11,811 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,060 tons
2 ships a total loss, total tonnage 6,117 GRT

Born  8 Aug 1914 Bahnhof Gleschendorf, Pönitz, Lübeck
Died  5 Apr 1976(61)Hamburg, Germany


Kptlt. Hans Heidtmann

Ranks

8 Apr 1934 Offiziersanwärter
26 Sep 1934 Seekadett
1 Jul 1935 Fähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1937 Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1939 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Oct 1941 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

26 Nov 1939 U-boat War Badge 1939
26 Nov 1939 Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
27 Nov 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class
23 Sep 1941 Iron Cross 1st Class
12 Apr 1943 Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-2 7 Jul 1940 5 Aug 1940   No war patrols (Acting CO)
U-14 Aug, 1940 29 Sep 1940   No war patrols (Acting CO)
U-21 1 Aug 1940 20 Dec 1940   No war patrols 
U-559 27 Feb 1941 30 Oct 1942   10 patrols (247 days) 

Hans Heidtmann joined the Navy in April 1934. He served on the light cruiser Deutschland, before transferring to the U-boat arm in January 1938. He made six patrols on U-2 and U-14. Beginning in July 1940 he was commander on several school boats in the 21st (Training) Flotilla.

In February 1941 he commissioned the type VIIC U-boat U-559, and after two patrols in the North Atlantic he managed to break through into the Straits of Gibraltar on 26 September 1941. For the next year he operated successfully in the Mediterranean until his U-boat was sunk on 30 October 1942 by British destroyers (Niestlé, 1998). Heidtmann and most of the crew were captured. He spent four and a half years in British captivity in Egypt, Canada and England before being released in May 1947.

In January 1958 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving in several staff positions and retiring in September 1972 as Kapitän zur See.

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 Hans Heidtmann

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-559 4 Jun 1941  Kiel  5 Jul 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 1,32 days
2. U-559 26 Jul 1941  St. Nazaire  22 Aug 1941  St. Nazaire  Patrol 2,28 days
3. U-559 20 Sep 1941  St. Nazaire  20 Oct 1941  Salamis  Patrol 3,31 days
4. U-559 24 Nov 1941  Salamis  4 Dec 1941  Salamis  Patrol 4,11 days
5. U-559 8 Dec 1941  Salamis  31 Dec 1941  Salamis  Patrol 5,24 days
6. U-559 16 Feb 1942  Salamis  26 Feb 1942  Salamis  Patrol 6,11 days
7. U-559 4 Mar 1942  Salamis  21 Mar 1942  Salamis  Patrol 7,18 days
8. U-559 24 Mar 1942  Salamis  27 Mar 1942  Pola   4 days
9. U-559 10 May 1942  Pola  12 May 1942  Pola   3 days
10. U-559 18 May 1942  Pola  22 Jun 1942  Pola  Patrol 8,36 days
11. U-559 15 Aug 1942  Pola  21 Aug 1942  Salamis   7 days
12. U-559 29 Aug 1942  Salamis  21 Sep 1942  Messina  Patrol 9,24 days
13. U-559 29 Sep 1942  Messina  30 Oct 1942  Sunk  Patrol 10,32 days
10 patrols, 247 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans Heidtmann

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
19 Aug 1941U-559 Alva1,584brOG-71
27 Nov 1941U-559 HMAS Parramatta (L 44)1,060au
23 Dec 1941U-559 Shuntien3,059brTA-5
26 Dec 1941U-559 Warszawa2,487poAT-6
 
10 Jun 1942U-559 Athene4,681nwAT-49
10 Jun 1942U-559 Brambleleaf (t.)5,917brAT-49
12 Oct 1942U-559 Bringhi (t.)200ag
 18,988

7 ships sunk (18,988 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(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.

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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