Jürgen von Rosenstiel (23 November 1912 – 6 July 1942) 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

Jürgen von Rosenstiel joined the ''

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the ''Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the ''K ...

'' on 1 April 1933. During his training he sailed on ships such as the '' Gorch Fock'' and then the cruiser ''

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

'' (taking part in a 239-day world trip in 1933 and again 55 days in Spanish waters in 1936–1937, where they joined the non-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast 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 ...

). Lastly he sailed on the school ship from October 1938 to March 1939. He then joined the school ship in an official capacity, serving as radio technical officer and a watch officer on the ''Schlesien'' from July 1939 to March 1940 when he was then transferred to the U-boat force. From April to August 1940 Rosenstiel went through U-boat training and then joined the 2nd U-boat Flotilla as a supernumerary watch officer until September 1940. Rosenstiel was Second Watch Officer (2WO) on the from September to November 1940 and then the boats first Watch Officer (1WO) until February 1941 when he began his U-boat Commander training with the

24th U-boat Flotilla ''24th U-boat Flotilla'' ("24. Unterseebootsflottille") was a training flotilla ("''Ausbildungsflottille''") of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. Unit history The flotilla was founded at Danzig in November 1939 under the comma ...

and then with the

22nd U-boat Flotilla 22nd U-boat Flotilla ("22. Unterseebootsflottille") was formed in January 1941 in Gotenhafen under the command of ''Korvettenkapitän'' Wilhelm Ambrosius German submarine ''U-43'' was a Type IXA U-boat of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' du ...

. In preparation of taking command of a new boat Rosenstiel went through U-boat familiarization at

Deutsche Werft Deutsche Werft (English: German Shipyard) was a shipbuilding company in Finkenwerder Rüschpark, Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), ''Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft'' ( AEG) and ' ...

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

from 17 April 1941. On 31 May 1941 Rosenstiel commissioned the new Type IXC boat at Hamburg. He spent the next four months in the Baltic training his crew and preparing the boat for combat. On 29 September 1941 he took the boat out on its first of three war patrols. Rosenstiel would be very successful sinking 14 ships () and damaging two more ships (). He achieved his greatest successes with U-502 in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. On the return leg of her third patrol, ''U-502'' was sunk with all hands by a British

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

bomber in the Bay of Biscay.

Awards

* Spanish Cross in Silver without Swords - 6 June 1939 * Iron Cross 2nd Class - 5 November 1940 * U-boat War Badge 1939 - 22 January 1941 * Iron Cross 1st Class - 17 March 1942

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenstiel, Jurgen von 1912 births 1942 deaths U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class Reichsmarine personnel Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II People lost at sea Deaths by British airstrikes during World War II Military personnel from Kiel