__NOTOC__ Viktor Schütze (16 February 1906 – 23 September 1950), 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 ro ...

commander during

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 opposing ...

. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves 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 ...

. Schütze was born in Flensburg, and started his naval career in 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 '' ...

'' aboard German

torpedo boats A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

in April 1925, before transferring to the new U-boat division ten years later in October 1935. There he commanded for two years, before being relieved to take destroyer training - before returning to the

U-boat arm 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 an ...

in command of . When war broke out he commanded , with which he sailed on three patrols, mainly in the Bay of Biscay and off the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

coast. In July 1940 he assumed command over the Type IXB , and commanded for four patrols in North Atlantic and African waters. In December he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his successes. In August 1941 he retired from front service, taking up positions as ''Flottillenchef'' of

2nd U-boat Flotilla The 2nd U-boat Flotilla (German ''2. Unterseebootsflottille''), also known as the Saltzwedel Flotilla, was the second operational U-boat unit in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''. Founded on 1 September 1936 under the command of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

. In March 1943 he became the ''FdU Ausbildungsflottillen'' (Commander of the training flotillas in the Baltic Sea) in Flensburg-Kappeln, in which position he served until the end of the war. He died in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1950.

Awards

* Spanisches Marineverdienstkreuz, I. Class in white (21 August 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 es ...

(1939) 2nd Class (13 November 1939) & 1st Class (21 February 1940) * Italienisches Kriegskreuz with swords (1 November 1941) *

** Knight's Cross on 11 December 1940 as ''

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 off ...

'' and commander of ''U-103'' ** Oak Leaves on 14 July 1941 as ''Korvettenkapitän'' and commander of ''U-103'' *

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Meri ...

with swords, 2nd Class (30 January 1944) & 1st Class (1 September 1944)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schutze, Viktor 1906 births 1950 deaths U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) People from Flensburg People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Reichsmarine personnel Military personnel from Schleswig-Holstein Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II