Reinhart Reche

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 34)


Successes
9 ships sunk, total tonnage 47,229 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 7,191 GRT

Born  13 Dec 1915
Died  3 Mar 1993(77)Bad Godesberg, Germany


Kapitänleutnant Reinhart Reche

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

7 Jul 1941 Iron Cross 2nd Class
9 Sep 1941 U-boat War Badge 1939
23 Jul 1942 Iron Cross 1st Class
17 Mar 1943 Knights Cross
2 Nov 1944 U-boat Front Clasp

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-255 29 Nov 1941 6 Jun 1943   6 patrols (145 days) 


Kapitänleutnant Reinhart Reche

Reinhart Reche joined the Reichsmarine in April 1934, serving as a training officer and on the light cruiser Emden.

In April 1940 he transferred to the U-boat force. He made two patrols on U-751 under the command of Kptlt. Gerhard Bigalk before commissioning U-255 in November 1941.

He led U-255 on nine patrols in Arctic and northern waters and played a major role in the destruction of convoy PQ 17.

Reinhart Reche left U-255 in June 1943 and joined the FdU Nordmeer (Commander of U-boats Northern Waters) staff until the end of the war.

In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy), and from 1959 to 1961 commanded the U-boat training unit. He later served in several staff positions, and was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Merit Cross), retiring in 1974 with the rank of 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).

Patrol info for Reinhart Reche

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-255 15 Jun 1942  Kiel  20 Jun 1942  Narvik   6 days
2. U-255 23 Jun 1942  Narvik  15 Jul 1942  Narvik  Patrol 1,23 days
3. U-255 18 Jul 1942  Narvik  20 Jul 1942  Bergen   3 days
4. U-255 4 Aug 1942  Bergen  9 Sep 1942  Neidenfjord  Patrol 2,37 days
5. U-255 13 Sep 1942  Neidenfjord  25 Sep 1942  Bergen  Patrol 3,13 days
6. U-255 29 Sep 1942  Bergen  3 Oct 1942  Kiel   5 days
7. U-255 7 Jan 1943  Kiel  18 Jan 1943  Hammerfest   12 days
8. U-255 23 Jan 1943  Hammerfest  9 Feb 1943  Narvik  Patrol 4,18 days
9. U-255 22 Feb 1943  Narvik  15 Mar 1943  Narvik  Patrol 5,22 days
10. U-255 29 Mar 1943  Narvik  29 Apr 1943  Bergen  Patrol 6,32 days
6 patrols, 145 days at sea

Ships hit by Reinhart Reche

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
6 Jul 1942U-255 John Witherspoon7,191amPQ-17
7 Jul 1942U-255 Alcoa Ranger5,116amPQ-17
8 Jul 1942U-255 Olopana6,069amPQ-17
13 Jul 1942U-255 Paulus Potter7,168nlPQ-17
20 Sep 1942U-255 Silver Sword4,937amQP-14
 
26 Jan 1943U-255 Krasnyj Partizan2,418sj
29 Jan 1943U-255 Ufa1,892sj
3 Feb 1943U-255 Greylock7,460amRA-52
5 Mar 1943U-255 Executive4,978amRA-53
10 Mar 1943U-255 Richard Bland (t.)7,191amRA-53
 54,420

10 ships sunk (54,420 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.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim


Naval Officers Under Hitler

Rust, Eric C.


S.O.S. Paulus Potter

Rep, Jelte

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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