Joachim Schepke

Joachim Schepke
Nickname	Ihrer Majestät bestaussehender Offizier ("Her Majesty's best-looking officer")
Born	8 March 1912(1912-03-08) Flensburg
Died	17 March 1941(1941-03-17) (aged 29) south-east of Iceland 61°N 12°W
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1930–1941
Rank	Kapitänleutnant
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Ritterkreuz des Eisernes Kreuz mit Eichenlaub

Lieutenant-Commander Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was the seventh recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Joachim Schepke.

Career

Schepke was the son of a Navy officer, and he joined the Kriegsmarine in 1930. In 1934 he was assigned to the U-boat arm, and in 1938 he commanded U-3. At the outbreak of World War II he took U3 to war against Allied shipping. After a short stint commanding U-19 and serving in a staff position Schepke received the command of U-100, a Type VIIb boat. After 5 patrols in U-100 she was heavily damaged on 17 March 1941 by depth charges from HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc while executing an attack on Convoy HX-112. U-100 was forced to surface and was detected on radar and consequently rammed by Vanoc. Schepke and 37 crew members perished in the ocean; six crew members were rescued. Schepke was last reported on the bridge of U-100. When Vanoc rammed his boat, he was crushed into his own periscope standards, and he went down with his boat.

Joachim Schepke had sunk 37 ships for a total of 155,882 gross register tons (GRT), and damaged 4 more. He was awarded the Knight's cross with Oak Leaves. Schepke, Günther Prien and Otto Kretschmer were friendly rivals in the U-boat service, and were the most famous U-boat commanders in the early years of the war, where all except Kretschmer eventually met their ends. Schepke was the favourite of these three, because in contrast to Kretschmer he was a convinced Nazi. He wrote and illustrated the book "U-Boot Fahrer von Heute" (U-Boat Men of today) in 1940 (Berlin, Deutscher Verlag 1940). In February 1941 he made a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast for thousands of Berlin schoolchildren about the U-boat war. After his death the German propaganda ministry held him as an example for German youth to follow.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (1 June 1939)
  • 1st Class (27 February 1940)
• U-Boat War Badge (1939) (3 January 1940 – 30 April 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 24 September 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-100
  • 7th Oak Leaves on 1 December 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-100
• Mentioned six times in the Wehrmachtbericht

References in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Friday, 25 April 1941	Die von Korvettenkapitän Kretschmer und Kapitänleutnant Schepke geführten Unterseeboote sind von Feindfahrt nicht zurückgekehrt. Beide Boote waren kürzlich unter schwierigsten Bedingungen durchgeführten Vernichtungen von feindlichen Geleitzügen maßgeblich beteiligt und haben hierbei ihre Gesamterfolge beträchtlich erhöht. Korvettenkapitän Kretschmer hat nunmehr neben der Vernichtung von drei feindlichen Zerstörern – davon zwei während seiner letzten Unternehmung – insgesamt 313 611 BRT, darunter die Hilfskreuzer "Laurentic", "Patroklus" und "Forfar", Kapitänleutnant Schepke 233 971 BRT feindlichen Schiffraums versenkt. Die beiden Kommandanten, in Anerkennung ihrer hervorragenden Dienste im Freiheitskampf des deutschen Volkes mit dem Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes ausgezeichnet, haben mit ihren tapferen Besatzungen unvergänglichen Lorbeer errungen. Ein Teil der Besatzung, unter ihnen Korvettenkapitän Kretschmer, geriet in Gefangenschaft.	The submarines under the command of Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer and Lieutenant Schepke have not returned from patrol. Both boats were recently instrumental in destroying enemy convoys under the toughest conditions and have increased their overall successes considerably. Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer now has in addition to the destruction of three enemy destroyers - including two on his last undertaking - sunk a total of 313 611 tons, including the auxiliary cruiser "Laurentic", "Patroclus" and "Forfar". Lieutenant Schepke sunk 233 971 tons of enemy shipping. The two commanders, awarded with the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in recognition of their outstanding services in the freedom struggle of the German people, have won imperishable laurels with their brave crews. Part of the crew, among them Lieutenant Commander Kretschmer, was taken prisoner.

References

This article incorporates information from the revision as of 2 November 2006 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

Citations

Bibliography

• Busch, Rainer & Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945 - Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Fuhren, Franz (1943). Kapitänleutnant Schepke erzählt. Mit einem Geleitwort von Großadmiral Dönitz. Minden: Köhler Verlag.
• Huß, Jürgen & Viohl, Armin (2003). Die Ritterkreuzträger des Eisernen Kreuzes der preußischen Provinz Schleswig-Holstein und der Freien und Hansestadt Lübeck 1939-1945 (in German). VDM Heinz Nickel. ISBN 3-925480-79-X.
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2005). Eichenlaubträger 1940 - 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe III Radusch - Zwernemann (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-22-X.
• Schepke, Joachim (1940). U-Boot-Fahrer von heute. Erzählt und gezeichnet von einem U-Boot-Kommandanten. Berlin, Deutscher Verlag 1940
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3423059443.
• Helden der Wehrmacht - Unsterbliche deutsche Soldaten (in German). München, Germany: FZ-Verlag GmbH, 2004. ISBN 3-924309-53-1.

External links

• Joachim Schepke in the German National Library catalogue (German)
• Canonesa, Convoy HX72 & U-100 (U-boat attack) at www.canonesa.co.uk