Otto Kretschmer (deceased)
Otto Kretschmer was born in May 1912, joining the navy in 1930, and transferring to u-boats in 1936. He was the Watch Officer aboard U-35 from 3rd November 1936 to 30th July 1937. He briefly took command of U-35 after the death of the Captain, Hermann Michahelles, assuming command until 15th August 1937, after which he was Watch Officer once again until 30th September 1937. During this time, U-35 was involved in the Spanish Civil WarHe was in command of U-23 at the outbreak of war in 1939, and had successful patrols with U-23 which included the sinking of HMS Daring, before taking command of U-99 in April 1940. In March 1941, Kretschmer was captured after scuttling U-99 due to damage suffered from depth charges from British destroyer HMS Walker. After his capture, Kretschmer was imprisoned until December 1947. Despite his capture early in the war, Kretschmers total tonnage sunk of over 273 thousand tons was enough to make him the top scoring u-boat Ace of the war. Kretschmer was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Otto Kretschmer died 5th August 1998.
