There are too many, take a look for yourself, I have listed three here, here is the website address/bbs/read.php?tid=56892

The number one U-boat ace - Austria Thomas Kretschmer

Date of birth: May 1, 1912

Date of death: August 5, 1998,

Medal received :

Iron Cross 2nd Class (October 17, 1939)

U-Boat Combat Medal (November 9, 1939)

Iron Cross 1st Class Cross of the Order of Merit (December 17, 1939)

Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit (August 5, 1940)

Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit with Oak Leaves (November 4, 1940)

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Knight's Cross with Double Swords and Silver Oak Leaves, December 26, 1941 (had been captured at this time and was awarded posthumously)

U-boats commanded:

U-35 (July 31, 1937 - August 15, 1937)

U-23 (October 1, 1937 - April 1, 1940)

U-99 (April 8, 1940 - March 17, 1941)

Everyone knows that Germany had three ace captains in 1941, and their achievements at that time astonished other captains. , the three of them are very famous in China. But at the same time, in 1941, these three aces died one after another. Two of them were buried in the sea with their U-boat, and one was captured. The captured one was Otto Kretschmer. Otto was Germany's number one ace in submarine warfare. He sunk 47 ships in total, totaling 274.386 tons. Ranked first among all U-boats. In April 1930, Otto began his training voyage as a trainee captain. He first stayed on the aviation school's training ship "Niobe" for three months, and then sailed with the light cruiser "Emden" for more than a year. Prior to this, 17-year-old Otto spent 8 months in Essex, England, where he learned English. In January 1936, Otto began to participate in the training of the U-boat unit. Because he had extensive sailing experience before, he was designated as the captain of the U-boat. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Germany sent troops to intervene. In 1937, he served as the first captain of the submarine U-35 and participated in patrol missions in Spanish waters. ?

In September 1937, he was transferred from the U-35 submarine to receive the new Type 2 U-boat, U-23. Soon after the outbreak of World War II, he commanded U-23 to achieve its first victory in the British North Sea near the coast of Scotland. Later he successfully laid nine mines in the heavily guarded Moray Firth in Scotland. On January 12, 1940, he sank the Danish oil tanker "Denmark", which was his first major victory. One month later he sank the British destroyer HMS Bold (1,375 tons). Otto left U-23 in April 1940 and was appointed captain of the submarine U-99 in the same month. Two months later, U-99 left the training base in Kiel, Germany, and began the most glorious "hunting and stealth flight" in his life. During this sortie, he carried out surface attacks on Allied convoys nine times and sank many Allied ships. It is particularly worth mentioning that he sank three 10,000-ton British armored cruisers: "Laurentic" (18,724 tons), Patroclus (11,314 tons), and Forfar (16,402 tons). By November 1940 he had sunk more than 46,000 tons of ships in total. From then on, "Silent Otto" became the "King of Tonnage" among many U-boat captains, and no one has ever surpassed him. He also had a famous saying - "A torpedo... a ship."

But his good luck did not last, and in March 1941 he embarked on his final voyage. After sinking 10 Allied ships, he encountered the British destroyer "Rambler" southeast of England on the 17th.

After the "Rambler" discovered U-99, it immediately launched a pursuit and launched depth charges. After multiple attacks, the U-99's hull was severely damaged and forced out of the water. Otto and 43 crew members got out of the submarine (note: the chief engineer on board had died) and were immediately captured by a British ship. Captured, the submarine U-99 subsequently sank. After being captured, Otto was first held in a British prisoner of war camp for a year and a half, and then transferred to Canada's No. 30 prisoner of war camp for further detention. He was released and returned to Germany in December 1947. He joined the newly formed Federal German Navy in 1955, became the commander of the 1st Escort Fleet in 1957, and the commander of the amphibious force in 1958. He entered the staff department in 1962, served as chief staff officer of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Naval Department in 1965, and retired in 1970.

In 1998, Otto was injured in an accident while on vacation in Bavaria and died shortly after being sent to the hospital.

No. 2 U-boat ace and recipient of the Order of the Knights with Diamonds and Oak Leaves - Colonel Wolfgang Roos

Born: October 15, 1913, Latvia Riga

Died: May 12, 1945, Flansburg, Germany)

Achievements:

Sinked 47 ships with 225,756 tons of damage. 2 ships were damaged, totaling 17,343 tons

His military ranks:

Enlisted in service on September 23, 1933

Military cadet on July 1, 1934

Warrant Officer, April 1, 1936

Second Lieutenant, October 1, 1936

Lieutenant, June 1, 1938

January 1, 1941 Captain on Japan

Major on April 1, 1943

Lieutenant Colonel on August 1, 1944

Colonel on September 1, 1944?

Honors received

January 25, 1940, Iron Cross Second Class

May 15, 1940, Iron Cross First Class

October 24, 1940, Knight of the Order of the Order

November 13, 1942, Knight of the Order of Oak Leaves

April 15, 1943, Knight of the Order of Oak Leaves and Swords

August 9, 1943, Knight Medal with Diamonds, Oak Leaves and Swords

Shipments commanded and records of sea voyages;

U-13, December 16, 1939--1939 December 28, 1940, no record of going to sea

U-9, December 30, 1939 - June 10, 1940, 6 times going to sea (74 days)

U -138, June 27, 1940 - October 20, 1940, 2 trips to sea (29 days)?

U-43, October 21, 1940 - April 11, 1942 Days, 5 voyages (204 days)

U-181, May 9, 1942 - October 31, 1943, 2 voyages (335 days)

1933 In 2001, after studying law for three semesters, Wolfgang Roos began his naval career. In the summer of this year, as usual, he was sent to the navigation school's ship "Fokker" for a three-month internship. In the next nine months, he sailed around the world with the lightweight cruiser "Karlslu", passing through India, Indonesia, Australia, North America and South America switched defenses to the "Koenigsberg" a year later. Transferred to U-boat service in February 1937. In July 1937, he became the second officer of the submarine U-27. That year, the Spanish Civil War broke out, and the boat patrolled the waters near Spain. In October of the same year, Russ became the first mate of the U-38 boat. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Ruth immediately began his real U-boat career. After spending a short period of time on the military academy's submarine U-13, he took over a IIB-class submarine, U-9. The boat's six patrols made him successful. The most notable achievement was in May 1940. Sunk the French submarine "Doris"

In June 1940, Wolfgang Roos transferred to the IID-class boat U-138 as captain.

During the late night of September 20 and the early morning of the 21st, using his new submarine, Lute sank four ships with a total of 34,633 tons. In October, he set another record of sinking and damaging one ship. This result earned him the Knight Medal. As a small boat commander, he was the only one. In the same month, he boarded the larger U-43. With the five expeditions of the boat, the Soviet Union sank 12 ships totaling 68,077 tons. In April 1942, he left U-43; One month later, he was appointed captain of the IXD2-class boat U-181.

In September 1942, Ruth began a new round of sea voyages, this time sailing as far as Cape Town, South Africa and the Indian Ocean. In two months, he sank four more ships in total, 21. A record of 987 tons. In the congratulatory message sent from the headquarters on November 16, on the eve of his return, Russ learned that he had just been awarded the Knight of the Order of Oak Leaves. In the next two weeks, he was greatly encouraged and sank 8 more ships. The ocean-going cargo ship weighed 36,394 tons and arrived at the French port of Porteux in January 1943. After a short rest, he resumed his voyage to the African Sea and the Indian Ocean in March. Even in the harsh conditions this time, he still achieved impressive results: sinking 10 ships with a total of 45,331 tons. At this time, Ruth became the first U-boat commander to be awarded the Order of the Knight with Diamonds, Oak Leaves and Swords. Another outstanding feature of this voyage is that it was the longest submarine voyage in history (only 20 days less than the 225 days of the U-196 Kenttrat). At that time, in order to boost morale, Colonel Russ invented many ideas , such as publishing submarine newsletters and holding various competitions and other activities to keep the crew active. At the military meeting of naval officers on December 17, Ruth gave a report using the above example.

However, late at night on May 12, 1945, after the war ended, this legendary figure died in an accident. At that time, when a sentry asked for the password, Ruth did not respond. This unforgivable mistake caused him to be shot in the head by the sensitive sentry and he fell to the ground dead. There are still various speculations about this, some believe that he wanted to commit suicide, others speculate that the guard was hard of hearing. The more likely theory is that he was drunk, slow to react, and somehow tried to take a shortcut through the playground of the military academy.

Ruth is the most controversial figure among all U-boat officers. First of all, he openly declared that he was a firm believer in Nazism. On the other hand, his character and achievements enabled him to establish many influential figures. Although he set a record for the highest tonnage sunk against the enemy, most of them were in the African Sea and the Indian Ocean, which were relatively easy to fight. People at the time thought his military management methods were boring and ridiculous. At the same time, his paternalistic approach to his men was also well known. He believed it was a leader's duty to care about the performance of his men, even after they left the submarine. On the ship, all technical results had to be approved by him, and even posters on the walls were prohibited. He held events to eliminate "sexual problems on board ships" and actively promoted his theory of maintaining physical health while sailing. Dress code is regulated and food, drink and cigarettes are controlled. Of course, Ruth's father-like style made most of his subordinates loyal to him and respect him to this day. After he left U-181, he still took time out of his busy schedule as a military academy instructor to help his former subordinates with their personal affairs. D?nitz had even reserved a position for him on the Naval Staff at the time. Then again, if he had not died, he might have spent a few years in an Allied prison.

Two days after Ruth's death, the Third Reich held a state funeral for him. Six U-boat officers of the Order of Knights held a wake for him, and D?nitz delivered a eulogy. To this day, a marble monument still bears the legendary story of this outstanding U-boat commander.

No. 3 U-boat ace and recipient of the Order of the Knights with Oak Leaves and Swords - Lieutenant Colonel Erich Topp

Born: July 2, 1914, Hannover

Achievements:

Sank 36 ships with a total of 198,658 tons, and damaged 4 ships with a total of 32,317 tons

Military ranks:

1935 Cadet on July 1, 1937

Second Lieutenant on April 1, 1937

Lieutenant on April 1, 1939

Captain on September 1, 1941

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Major on August 17, 1942

Lieutenant Colonel on December 1, 1944

Rewards and Honors

November 7, 1939 , U-Boat Combat Medal

June 20, 1941, Knight Medal

April 11, 1942, Ubootskriegsabzeichen mit Brillanten

August 17, 1942 Japan, Knight of the Order of Oak Leaves and Double Swords

Ships commanded and records of sea voyages

U-57, June 5, 1940-September 15, 1940, 2 sea voyages ( 38 days)

U-552, December 4, 1940-September 8, 1942, 10 times at sea (308 days)

U-3010, March 1945 U-2513, April 27, 1945 - May 8, 1945, no voyage record

U-2513, April 27, 1945 - May 8, 1945, no voyage record

In the German Navy, apart from Ruth and Brandy, who were later awarded the Knight's Order of Oak Leaves and Diamonds, the only ones in the German Navy who were awarded the Order of Oak Leaves and Two Swords with Diamonds were Erich Topp, Reinhard Schulen and Otto Kritzma Three people.

Erich Top joined the Navy in April 1934 and served on the cruiser Karlsruhe for six months before joining the U-boat force in October 1937. A year later he became an observer for U-46.

After going to sea four times, Top took command of U-57, using the boat he sank six ships totaling 36,862 tons. But on September 3, 1940, U-57 had an accident and sank.

Top served as captain of the VIIC-class boat "Red Devil" U-552. His points were getting higher and higher while attacking Allied escort ships in the North Atlantic and North American coasts. In March and April of 1942, he sank eight ships totaling 45,731 tons.

In September 1942, Top took office as the commander of the 27th Formation. At that time, the formation was used for tactical training of new members. In 1944, Top compiled a combat instruction book. When World War II ended, Top was the commander of U-2513, which surrendered to the Allies in Norway in May 1945.

After the war, Top worked as a fisherman for several months. Like Brandi, he later became an architect. In 1958, he joined the then German Navy. He served as a member of the NATO Military Committee in the United States for four years.

Topp retired in 1969 and received the Grand Federal Order of Merit. He worked as an industrial consultant for 14 years, from 1970 to 1984.