The post of ''Führer der Unterseeboote (FdU)'' ("Leader of the U-boats") was the senior commanding officer of

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 ...

forces in a theatre of war. The submarine service in the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, used the title for several senior commands during those conflicts. It was senior to Flotilla chief (''Chef'') and was introduced as U-boat forces in an area expanded beyond flotilla size. In 1917 the posts of FdU were themselves subordinated to an overall "Commander of the U-boats" ('' Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'', or BdU). Tarrant p56 The post of FdU was revived in the 1930s with German re-armament and was held from January 1936 and until 17 October 1939 by

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government fo ...

. On that date he was named BdU, and two subordinate FdU posts were established, ''FdU West'' ("FdU West") and ''FdU Ost'' ("FdU East").
Lexikoneintrag FdU
' In the further course of the war, several further posts were created for the commanders of U-boat regions

World War I

World War II

In the further course of the war, several further posts were created for the commanders of U-boat regions. * ''F.d.U. Ausb. - Führer der U-Ausbildungsflottillen'': Head of the training flotillas: Viktor Schütze, 7 February 1942 – May 1945 * ''F.d.U. Italien - Führer der U-Boote Italien'': Head of the U-boats for Italy: Hans-Rudolf Rösing, from July 1942 * ''F.d.U. Mitte - Führer der U-Boote Mitte'': Head of the U-boats for the central sector * ''F.d.U. Mittelmeer - Führer der U-Boote Mittelmeer'': Head of the U-boats for 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 ...

Werner Hartmann Werner Hartmann (11 December 1902 – 26 April 1963) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He was credited with sinking 26 ships, amounting to over sunk. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Na ...

, January – August 1944 * ''F.d.U. Nordmeer - Führer der U-Boote Nordmeer'': Head of the U-boats for the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

: Reinhard Suhren: January 1943 – May 1944 * ''F.d.U. Norwegen - Führer der U-Boote Norwegen'': Head of the U-boats for Norway * ''F.d.U. Ost - Führer der U-Boote Ostsee'': Head of the U-boats for the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

* ''F.d.U. West - Führer der U-Boote im Westraum'': Head of the U-boats for the West (France)

Notes

References

*VE Tarrant (1989) ''The U-Boat Offensive 1914-1945'' Arms & Armour {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuhrer Der U-Boote U-boats Kriegsmarine