Hans-Heinrich Döhler (5 December 1917 – 22 February 1943) 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 in

World War II 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 ...

Naval career

Hans-Heinrich Döhler joined

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 ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' in 1937. He served on the heavy cruiser ''

Deutschland Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the List of European countries by population, second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the Eur ...

'' (later renamed ''Lützow'') from July 1939 to April 1940. He went through U-boat training from April to September 1940. From September 1940 to June 1941 he served with the 2. Unterseeboots-Lehrdivision (2. U-boat Training Division). In July 1941 Döhler became the Second Watch Officer on , serving under the command of

Gerhard Bigalk Gerhard Bigalk (26 November 1908 – 17 July 1942) was a captain with the ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II and commander of . He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Career Bigalk spent some years in the ...

. He went out on two patrols with the boat, spending 67 days at sea. Döhler went through U-boat Commander training with the

26th U-boat Flotilla ''26th U-boat Flotilla'' ("26. Unterseebootsflottille") was a training flotilla ("Ausbildungsflottille ") of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The flotilla was formed at Pillau in April 1941 under the command of ''Korvettenkapi ...

from November to December 1941. Upon completing the course he commanded the "duck" , a school boat, from 4 January 1942 to 24 September 1942. On 2 October 1942 Döhler took command of the Type VIIC boat . After only two weeks with the new command he left

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

to his first war patrol in the North Atlantic. U-606 left for its second patrol on 4 January 1943 and spend 50 days in the North Atlantic. On 22 February Döhler sank two ships (12,302) and damaged one (4,959) from

Convoy ON 166 Convoy ON 166 was the 166th of the numbered ON series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. Sixty-three ships departed Liverpool 11 February 1943 and were met the following day by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Gr ...

Fate

Döhler was killed on 22 February 1943 when ''U-606'' was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the US coastguard cutter and the Polish destroyer '' Burza''.

Summary of Career

Ships sunk

Awards

* Iron Cross 2nd Class - November 1939 * U-boat War Badge 1939 - 9 November 1941 * Iron Cross 1st Class - 6 December 1942

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dohler, Hans-Heinrich 1917 births 1943 deaths U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class Reichsmarine personnel Military personnel from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II People lost at sea Military personnel from Schleswig-Holstein People from Ostholstein