Fritz Frauenheim (9 January 1912 – 28 September 1969) was a German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in December 1940, he sank 19 ships for a total of , and damaged two others. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Early life

Frauenheim was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Friedenau Friedenau () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Relatively small by area, its population density is the highest in the city. Geography Friedenau is part of the southwestern s ...

on 9 March 1912. He entered the navy and spent his initial training on the cadet ship , followed by a period on the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

''Karlsruhe''. He was transferred to the U-boat force in January 1936 and rose quickly through the ranks and on 1 April 1939 he was promoted to

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer and ...

. He appears to have spent time with the German forces supporting the

Spanish Nationalist The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the Cortes of Cádiz. Revisiting the history of Spain, after 1812 Spanish liberalism tended to take fo ...

forces during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, as he was awarded the

Spanish Cross The Spanish Cross (german: Spanien-Kreuz) was an award of Nazi Germany given to German troops who participated in the Spanish Civil War, fighting for nationalist general, later Spanish caudillo, Francisco Franco. History With the outbreak o ...

on 6 June 1939.

Wartime career

Frauenheim had been made watch officer on in 1938, eventually spending over a year in this role, until October 1939. He was appointed to command on 1 October 1937, eventually carrying out five patrols, eventually sinking four merchant ships. He also laid mines, one of which damaged on 21 November, putting her out of action for nearly three years. The ''Bayonet'' was sunk by one of ''U-21''’s mines on 21 December. Frauenheim left ''U-21'' on 6 January 1940, taking over command of the newly built on 11 March 1940. He commissioned the boat and took her on four successful patrols. He sank a total of 12 ships, including three sunk and one damaged from

convoy SC 7 SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, ...

. He left ''U-101'' on 18 November 1940 and became a teacher in the 2nd ULD. He went on to hold a number of staff positions, before taking command of 23rd U-boat Flotilla in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

in September 1941. In 1942 he moved to command 29th U-boat Flotilla. On 1 March 1943 he was promoted to

Korvettenkapitän () is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy. Address The offici ...

. In February 1944 Frauenheim joined the staff of the Admiral der '' Kleinkampfverbände'' (Admiral of Small Battle Units), where he remained for the rest of the war. He was again promoted, this time to

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' (O ...

on 1 December 1944.

Post war

After the end of the war Frauenheim spent eight months in Allied captivity before being released. Frauenheim for almost 20 years until his death worked at the

Mobil Oil AG Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

in the Federal Republic of Germany. His last position was a member of the board and head of the department of Marine Transportation and Pipelines. He died in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

on 28 September 1969, aged 57.

Awards

Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March, 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered the institution of a service awar ...

4th Class (2 October 1936) *

in Bronze (6 June 1939) *

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

(1939) ** 2nd Class (2 October 1939) ** 1st Class (7 November 1939) *

Sudetenland Medal The 1 October 1938 Commemorative Medal (german: Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938), commonly known as the Sudetenland Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the second in a series of Occupa ...

(20 December 1938) *

on 29 August 1940 as ''

'' and commander of ''U-101'' *Knight's Cross of the

Order of the Roman Eagle The Fascist Civil and Military Order of the Roman Eagle founded in 1942 with civil and military divisions, was abolished in Italy in 1944; although it continued to be awarded by Benito Mussolini in the short-lived Italian Social Republic until 1945 ...

with Swords (18 June 1943) *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repe ...

in Gold on 23 November 1944 as ''

'' with the Admiral of the ''Kleinkampfverbände''

Promotions

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frauenheim, Fritz 1912 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Berlin U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) People from the Province of Brandenburg Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Gold German Cross Reichsmarine personnel People from Tempelhof-Schöneberg