35 Facts About Reinhard Suhren

Reinhard Suhren joined the navy in 1935 and began his U-boat career in March 1938.

Reinhard Suhren left the boat and became an instructor in October 1942.

Reinhard Suhren then served in the 27th U-boat Flotilla along with Korvettenkapitan Erich Topp.

Reinhard Suhren was born on 16 April 1916 in Langenschwalbach in the Taunus in his grandmothers house.

Reinhard Suhren was the second child of Geert Suhren and his wife Ernestine Ludovika Suhren, nee Ludovika.

Reinhard Suhren had an older brother Gerd and a younger brother Ernst, and sister Almut.

Reinhard Suhren received his Abitur from the Landstandischen Oberschule in Bautzen.

Reinhard Suhren began his naval career with the Reichsmarine on 5 April 1935 as a member of "Crew 35".

Reinhard Suhren received his military basic training in the 2nd company in the 2nd department of the standing ship division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund.

Reinhard Suhren was then transferred to the school ship Gorch Fock attaining the rank of Seekadett on 25 September 1935.

Reinhard Suhren sailed on Emdens sixth training cruise, which started on 23 October 1935 and took him and her crew to the Azores, West Indies and Venezuela, through the Panama Canal to Guayaquil, where they celebrated Christmas.

Reinhard Suhren missed the curfew and was reported to the company chief.

Reinhard Suhren was especially disappointed by the behavior of his commanding officer, his group commander Kapitanleutnant Walther Kolle.

Reinhard Suhren then underwent a number of specialized training courses which included a torpedo course in Murwik, an anti-aircraft artillery course at Wilhelmshaven, a pathfinder course for cadets at Kiel-Wik, a communication course for cadets at Murwik again, a naval infantry course for cadets at Stralsund, and lastly an artillery course for cadets at Kiel-Wik.

Reinhard Suhren was then transferred to the destroyer Z3 Max Schultz for further ship based training.

Reinhard Suhren claimed that later during his career, Baltzer personally prevented him from advancing in rank to Kapitan zur See.

Reinhard Suhren was promoted to Leutnant zur See on 1 April 1938.

Reinhard Suhren spent one and a half years as first Watch Officer on U-48 going on nine war patrols.

Bleichrodt expressed that he would refuse to wear his Knight's Cross if Reinhard Suhren was not honoured.

Reinhard Suhren argued that the success of U-48 was more so attributed to Suhren than himself as commander.

On this occasion Reinhard Suhren inquired when he would be given command of his own U-boat.

Reinhard Suhren was still six months shy of this criterion and had to be "parked" before he could take command of a U-boat.

Reinhard Suhren had recommended Gabler for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, a request that was turned down and Gabler received the German Cross in Gold on 15 October 1942.

Reinhard Suhren had to abort the patrol prematurely as the muzzle doors of the torpedo tubes had been damaged in a collision with U-107 off of Cape Hatteras.

Reinhard Suhren took U-564 on its fifth patrol back to the East Coast of the United States again, departing and returning to Brest.

Reinhard Suhren had requested Schlittenhard to be transferred to U-203, which was heading back to port.

Reinhard Suhren bluntly approached Martin Bormann, Hitler's private secretary, and thanked him for the invitation to the Berghof, an invitation which had not been expressed until then.

On 27 May 1944, Donitz appointed Reinhard Suhren was Fuhrer der Unterseeboote in Norwegian waters and from September 1944 for the North Sea.

Reinhard Suhren was taken prisoner of war by British forces in Oslo, Norway, where he and Rosing were imprisoned in the Akershus Fortress for a year.

Reinhard Suhren was released from captivity on 12 April 1946 and traveled to Germany where he first stayed with friends in Bad Schwartau.

Reinhard Suhren had married Jutta-Beatrix and had a daughter called Beatrix, the daughter of a Luftwaffe staff officer, in 1943.

Reinhard Suhren had managed to evacuate both his wife and his mother-in-law from Danzig to Oberstdorf in the Allgau region of the Bavarian Alps in early 1945.

Reinhard Suhren was asked multiple times to join the military service in the Bundeswehr, the post World War II armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Reinhard Suhren refused, declaring that he could not serve in a navy which looked down upon all former soldiers of Wehrmacht as criminals.

Reinhard Suhren suggested that lack of proper training could have been a factor.