__NOTOC__ Viktor Schütze (16 February 1906 – 23 September 1950) was a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), 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. While it was lower in precedence than the Grand C ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Schütze was born in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

, and started his naval career in the ''

Reichsmarine The () 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 , existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the ''Kriegsmarine'' (War Navy), a branch of 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 ...

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 In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

training - before returning to the

U-boat arm The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 ...

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

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

and off the Portuguese coast. In July 1940 he assumed command of the Type IXB , for four patrols in North Atlantic and African waters. In December he received the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), 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. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

for his successes. In August 1941 he retired from front service, taking up the position as ''Flottillenchef'' of 2nd U-boat Flotilla. 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 was detained as a prisoner of war in a British camp from May 1945 to March 1946. He died in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1950.

Awards

* Spanisches Marineverdienstkreuz, I. Class in white (21 August 1939) *

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(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 Field officer, senior officer in the German navy. Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. Address The official manner, in li ...

'' 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 () 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 Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

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 Military personnel 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