Albrecht Brandi
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Albrecht Brandi
| Albrecht Brandi | |
|---|---|
 Albrecht Brandi |
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| Born | 20 June 1914 Dortmund |
| Died | 6 January 1966 (aged 51) Dortmund |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Service/branch |  Kriegsmarine |
| Years of service | 1935 – 1945 |
| Rank | Fregattenkapitän |
| Unit | SSS Gorch Fock light cruiser Karlsruhe 5th U-boat Flotilla 7th U-boat Flotilla 29th U-boat Flotilla |
| Commands held |
U-617, Apr 1942 – Sep 1943 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight's cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds |
| Other work | Architect |
Albrecht Brandi (June 20, 1914 – January 6, 1966) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. Together with Wolfgang Lüth he was the only Kriegsmarine sailor who was awarded with the Knight's cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. Brandi was well known as a daring and aggressive U-boat commander.
During his naval career Brandi destroyed 12 ships, including one minelayer and 2 destroyers. With these victories Brandi became the U-boat commander who destroyed the most warships. However, he is not the U-boat commander with the most ships sunk, that honor going to Otto Kretschmer with 47 victories. Brandi is ranked number 24 on the top scoring list of Germany's U-boat commanders.
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Contents
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Biography
Early years
Brandi joined the German Kriegsmarine in 1935 and had his study as a naval officer on board on the German cruiser Emden. After his graduation he became commander of the minesweeper M-1. During the first year of World War II, Brandi cleared various minefields in the North Sea.
In April 1941 Brandi started his U-boat training at the U-boat training camp in Neustadt in Holstein. From May 1941 to April 1942, Brandi was a Kommandantenschüler (Commander-in-training) aboard U-552, which was commanded by famous commander Erich Topp, for three patrols. On 9 April 1942 Brandi was given the command of his own U-boat, U-617 and completed the usual training with the new boat in the 5th U-boat Flotilla.
War in the Mediterranean Sea
For his first patrol, Brandi left Kiel in August 1942, operating in the Western Approaches before arriving at St Nazaire in October. During this time Brandi destroyed four merchant ships. On his second patrol, in November 1942, Brandi was ordered to the Mediterranean Sea. To get to his destination Brandi had to traverse the heavily guarded Strait of Gibraltar. he decided to proceed through the Strait surfaced by night with engines stopped, relying on the current in the Straits (which on the surface move from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean) to propel his boat through. During this extremely dangerous trip, Brandi was discovered by a Short Sunderland bomber which dropped two depth charges. The bombs missed the U-boat and Brandi succeeded in making the breakthrough. During this patrol Brandi claimed sinking one destroyer and damaging a tanker, though these were not confirmed by Allied records.
In the Mediterranean, U-617 was assigned to 29th U-boat Flotilla, located in La Spezia and Toulon and commanded by Fritz Frauenheim. During 1943, Brandi made various patrols in the Mediterranean Sea. During these patrols Brandi targeted British warships preying on the German and Italian supply ships that were so vital for the Afrikakorps in North Africa.
The Mediterranean Sea offered particular challenges for a U-boat captain. The often shallow waters offered little chance to dive deep and the British had air cover over the entire southern half of the Mediterranean. This, coupled with the fact that his opponents were warships or heavily guarded convoys, makes Brandi's achievements remarkable.
On his third patrol, in December 1942, Brandi sank the ocean tug St Issey, and two more merchant ships. In February 1943 Brandi sank the British minelayer HMS Welshman a few miles from the Maltese coast. The destruction of this ship was important, as the minelayer had been an integral part of the defense of Malta. Brandi was awarded with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for this victory. He also sank two ships from a well-protected convoy. Later, in April 1943, Brandi claimed the sinking of a light cruiser, 40 miles off Gibraltar. Brandi was awarded Oak Leaves with his Knight's Cross, though this sinking was also not confirmed.
Two more patrols followed in June and July, though these had no success. In September 1943, in his last patrol in U-617, Brandi sank HMS Puckeridge, a Hunt class destroyer, off Gibraltar. A few days later, on 12 September, she was attacked near the Moroccan coast by British aircraft. One aircraft was claimed by the German Flak crew, though this is unconfirmed, while three bombs hit close to the U-617. The damage was so severe that Brandi decided to abandon ship. After evacuating into rubber boats the crew sank the U-617 with demolition charges.[citation needed] They managed to reach the shore and were interned by Spanish troops. Brandi was loosely held in the officers' camp near Cadiz, and from there he succeeded in returning back to Germany.[1]
In January 1944 Brandi returned to Toulon and took command of U-380. Brandi completed one patrol with U-380, but then the boat was destroyed on 13 March 1944 in Toulon by a bombing raid of the 9th USAAF. In April 1944 Brandi became commander of U-967. During his first patrol with her in May 1944 Brandi sank the destroyer USS Fechteler. Following this he received the Swords to his Knights Cross with Oak Leaves.
Brandi as a leader
During the next patrol with U-967 in June 1944, Brandi became seriously ill and had to return to base. Brandi then was appointed commander of all U-boats in the Eastern Baltic Sea. During this period many ships were destroyed in the Baltic Sea and Brandi was awarded with Diamonds to his Knight's Cross, for his leadership of the U-boat fleet. In the last year of the war Brandi became chief commander of the mini submarine fleet.
After the war Brandi started a career as an architect.
Achievements
During his U-boat service Brandi claimed, and was credited with, sinking 26 ships, of 100,000 GRT. This claim included ten warships; two cruisers and eight destroyers. Although ships sunk in the Mediterranean were doubled for award purposes, and extra credit was given for sinking warships, Brandi's actual sinkings were "startlingly less" according to Blair.[2] The confirmed total was:
- 8 ships sunk for a total of 25,879 GRT
- 1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 810 GRT
- 3 warships sunk for a total of 5,000 tons
| Date | U-boat | Name of Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 1942 | U-617 | Tor II |  Faroe Islands |
292 | sunk |
| 23 September 1942 | U-617 | Athelsultan |  British |
8,882 | sunk |
| 23 September 1942 | U-617 | Tennessee | British |
2,342 | sunk |
| 24 September 1942 | U-617 | Roumanie |  Belgian |
3,563 | sunk |
| 28 December 1942 | U-617 | HMS St. Issey (W25) | British |
810 | sunk |
| 15 January 1943 | U-617 | Annitsa |  Greek |
4,324 | sunk |
| 15 January 1943 | U-617 | Harboe Jensen |  Norwegian |
1,862 | sunk |
| 1 February 1943 | U-617 | HMS Welshman (M84) | British |
2,650 | sunk |
| 5 February 1943 | U-617 | Corona | Norwegian |
3,264 | sunk |
| 5 February 1943 | U-617 | Henrik | Norwegian |
1,350 | sunk |
| 6 September 1943 | U-617 | HMS Puckeridge (L108) | British |
1,050 | sunk |
| 5 May 1944 | U-967 | USS Fechteler (DE-157) |  American |
1,300 | sunk |
Awards
- U-boat Front Clasp
- U-boat War Badge in Gold with Diamonds (April 1943)[3]
- Silver Medal of Military Valor (Italian)
- Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
- Knight's Cross (21 January 1943)
- 224th Oak Leaves (11 April 1943)
- 66th Swords (9 May 1944)
- 22nd Diamonds (24 November 1944)
- His actions were mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 12 April 1942
References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Blair, Clay : Hitler’s U-Boat War Vol II (1998) ISBN 0-304-35261-7
- Busch, Rainer & Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945 - Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
- Fraschka, Günther (1994). Knights of the Reich. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military/Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-580-0.
- Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
- Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
- Schaulen, Fritjof (2003). Eichenlaubträger 1940 - 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe I Abraham - Huppertz (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-20-3.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939 - 1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Williamson, Gordon & Pavlovic, Darko (1995). U-Boat Crews 1914–45. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-85532-545-4.
- Williamson, Gordon (2006). Knight's Cross with Diamonds Recipients 1941-45. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-644-5.
- Helden der Wehrmacht - Unsterbliche deutsche Soldaten (in German). München, Germany: FZ-Verlag GmbH, 2004. ISBN 3-924309-53-1.
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