64 Facts About Otto Kretschmer

Otto Kretschmer was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War.

Otto Kretschmer earned the nickname "Silent Otto", both for his successful use of the "silent running" capability of U-boats and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols.

Otto Kretschmer's father was a teacher at the local Volkschule, which Otto attended from 1918 to 1921.

Otto Kretschmer achieved good results in mathematics and chemistry and passed his Abitur at 17.

Otto Kretschmer returned home upon his mother's death from tetanus in a medical malpractice incident.

Otto Kretschmer did not return to England from his hiatus, but travelled through France, Switzerland and Italy.

Otto Kretschmer entered the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1930 as See Offizier Anwarter.

Otto Kretschmer underwent basic military training in the 2nd department of the standing ship division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund.

Otto Kretschmer was transferred to the training ship Niobe, attaining the rank of Seekadett on 9 October 1930 before embarking on a 14-month stay on board the cruiser Emden, which took him to the Far East through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal.

Otto Kretschmer's training included a pathfinder course for cadets at Kiel, an artillery course for cadets at Kiel-Wik, a torpedo course in Murwik, an anti-aircraft artillery course at Wilhelmshaven, a communication course for cadets at Murwik again, and his first U-boat course at Murwik.

On 2 October 1933, Otto Kretschmer was transferred to the pocket battleship Deutschland as a gunnery officer during a trip to Denmark.

Otto Kretschmer was present for gunnery exercises in the North and Baltic Sea.

On 22 December 1934, Otto Kretschmer was again on Koln serving as the ship's second torpedo officer.

Rosing brought his own watch officer, and Otto Kretschmer was demoted to second watch officer.

Otto Kretschmer clung to the periscope in the hope of being seen through the optics.

Otto Kretschmer was missed and the U-boat surfaced to find him before he succumbed to the cold.

Otto Kretschmer was given interim command of U-35 in August 1937, and this appointment coincided with Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War.

Rosing's successor, Hermann Michahelles, was killed in a car accident and Otto Kretschmer assumed command for two weeks.

Otto Kretschmer dispensed with the standard practice of firing salvoes of torpedoes from long distances.

Otto Kretschmer favoured surfaced attacks as opposed to the recommended submerged engagement, listing 11 Points of Submarine Warfare:.

The 'one torpedo, one ship' tactics implemented by Otto Kretschmer resulted in a very effective usage of torpedoes, as each attack was designed to maximize the chances of a hit.

Otto Kretschmer was promoted to Kapitanleutnant on 1 June 1939.

Otto Kretschmer waited for the crew to take to the lifeboats before destroying the ship with a torpedo.

The next day, Otto Kretschmer was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class.

On 2 April 1940, after eight patrols on U-23, Otto Kretschmer was ordered to the Germaniawerft, the shipbuilding works in Kiel, for construction training of the new Type VIIB U-99.

Otto Kretschmer commissioned U-99 on 18 April 1940 which was part of the 7th U-boat Flotilla.

Otto Kretschmer captured the vessel, the only such ship seized by U-99.

Otto Kretschmer attempted to sink the ship with gunfire, but return fire and the appearance of an aircraft forced him to submerge.

Otto Kretschmer was presented with an opportunity to put his "one torpedo, one ship" mantra into practice.

On U-99s fourth war patrol in September 1940, Otto Kretschmer formed part of a wolfpack that struck against Convoy HX 72.

Otto Kretschmer recommended his helmsman Stabsobersteuermann Heinrich Petersen for the Knight's Cross after twelve war patrols for saving U-99 from enemy detection.

Otto Kretschmer was awarded the 6th Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 4 November 1940.

Otto Kretschmer was given the opportunity to convey his opinions on the state of the U-boat war.

Otto Kretschmer then met Hitler at the Reich Chancellery and he repeated his opinions on the war situation.

Hitler invited Otto Kretschmer to sit in on a lunch meeting with Hitler and Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet Union's ambassador to the Third Reich.

Otto Kretschmer assumed most of the crew went down with the ship; but there were 159 survivors.

Otto Kretschmer was forced to engage Patroclus with the deck gun when it appeared to resist the torpedo damage, but retreated when the ship fired back.

On 7 December 1940, Otto Kretschmer sank the Dutch freighter Farmsum; the last success of the year.

Klaus Bargsten served aboard U-99 under Otto Kretschmer, before being promoted to captain himself and becoming the sole survivor of U-521 on 2 June 1943.

Prien achieved several sinkings, Otto Kretschmer did not; the pair was chased off by destroyers.

Otto Kretschmer continued to search for stragglers and found SS Holmlea.

Otto Kretschmer fired a single torpedo that missed before he lost the ship in thick mist.

Prien and Otto Kretschmer cooperated frequently during the course of this patrol, which neither completed.

Otto Kretschmer attempted a surface night attack using his favourite tactic.

Otto Kretschmer sank all but one of the ships lost by the convoy.

Otto Kretschmer surfaced and, under fire from the British vessels, scuttled his boat.

Otto Kretschmer's strength was evidently failing in the cold ocean; his own rescue was at the hands of a British sailor who climbed down the nets and plucked him from the water.

Otto Kretschmer was taken separately, but his crew had to negotiate the streets of Liverpool and were subjected to missiles thrown by angry civilians; the city had been heavily bombed and was closely linked with the Atlantic war.

Otto Kretschmer was transported to the London Cage, a facility for MI19 to hold valuable enemy prisoners.

Otto Kretschmer spoke English quite well, though he lacked practice.

Otto Kretschmer admitted that he had become weary of the war some time ago, and latterly had got no satisfaction from sinking ship after ship.

Otto Kretschmer was the fifth member of the German armed forces to be so honored.

Otto Kretschmer was involved in a second illegal court of honour hearing against the commander of U-501.

Otto Kretschmer was released from captivity on 31 December 1947, and returned to Germany.

At the time, Otto Kretschmer was president of the Deutscher Marinebund, a member club of the International Maritime Confederation.

On 1 December 1955, Otto Kretschmer joined West Germany's navy, at the time named the Bundesmarine, holding the rank of Fregattenkapitan.

Otto Kretschmer participated in the second officers' training course held at the former NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen.

Otto Kretschmer then attended a training course for amphibious forces in the United States.

From 1 March to 31 October 1958, Otto Kretschmer served as Admiralstabsoffizier with the Fleet Command.

On 16 January 1962, Otto Kretschmer was appointed head of the department for naval task force training and naval tactics with the Fuhrungsstab der Marine with the Federal Ministry of Defence.

Otto Kretschmer served in this function until 18 June 1964 when he was appointed chief-of-staff of the Befehlshaber der Seestreitkrafte der Nordsee.

The next day, Otto Kretschmer was transferred to the Amt fur Militarkunde, retiring on 30 September 1970.

Otto Kretschmer died on 5 August 1998 at a hospital in Straubing.

Otto Kretschmer's body was cremated, and following a funeral ceremony at Hinte, his ashes were scattered at sea.