Robert Gysae
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| Robert Gysae | |
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| Born | 14 January 1911 Berlin-Charlottenburg, German Empire |
| Died | 26 April 1989 (aged 78) Wilhelmshaven, Germany |
| Allegiance |  Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany |
| Service/branch |  Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine German Federal Navy |
| Years of service | 1931–1945, 1956–1970 |
| Rank | Korvettenkapitän (Kriegsmarine), Flottillenadmiral (Bundesmarine) |
| Commands held | U-98 U-177 Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1 Marinedivision Nordsee |
| Battles/wars | Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945) |
| Awards | Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class U-boat War Badge Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves U-boat Front Clasp |
Robert Gysae (January 14, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He commanded U-98 and U-177, sinking twenty-five ships on eight patrols, for a total of 146,815 gross register tons (GRT) tons of Allied shipping, to become the fifteenth highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II.
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[edit] Career
Gysae joined the Reichsmarine in 1931 and served on torpedo boats before transferring to the U-bootwaffe ("U-boat force") in April 1940. In October 1940 he was appointed commander of the Type VIIC U-boat U-98, unusually without serving any time as either 1.WO (1. Wachoffizier, "1st Watch Officer") or Kommandantenschüler ("Commander-in-Training") on any other U-boats. After six patrols in the north Atlantic in command of U-98, in March 1942 he transferred to the Type IXD2 U-boat U-177 for another two patrols, this time operating off South Africa and Portuguese East Africa. He sank a total of 25 ships, including the armed merchant cruiser HMS Salopian.
On 28 November 1942 off the coast of Natal Province, Gysae sank the 6,796 ton British troop ship RMS Nova Scotia with three torpedoes. She was carrying 780 Italians; a mixture of prisoners of war and civilian internees. Gysae rescued two survivors to identify the ship, who turned out to be Italian merchant sailors. Mindful of the Laconia Order issued two months previously, Gysae radioed the BdU, who ordered him to continue his patrol. The BdU notified the Portuguese authorities, who sent the frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque from Lourenço Marques to help. Of 1,052 people from the Nova Scotia only 194 survived: 192 rescued by the frigate and two others in subsequent days. 858 were killed, including 650 Italians.[1]
In January 1944 he became commander of 25th U-boat Flotilla, a training flotilla based at Gotenhafen. In April 1945, during the last month of the war, Gysae commanded the Marinepanzerjagd-Regiment 1, a naval anti-tank regiment. After the war he served in the Deutscher Minenräumdienst ("German Mine Sweeping Administration") for more than two years. In 1956 he joined the Bundesmarine, serving for four years as Navy attaché in the United States, and then three years as commander of Marinedivision Nordsee with the rank of Flottillenadmiral before retiring in 1970. He died in 1989 aged 78.[2]
[edit] Summary of career
[edit] Awards
- Dienstauszeichnung 4th Class (2 October 1936)[3]
- The Return of Sudetenland Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938 (20 December 1939)[4]
- Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords[5]
- Iron Cross (1939)
- Italian Knight's Cross of the Order of the Crown (11 March 1941)[4]
- U-boat War Badge (1939) (31 May 1941)[4]
- with Diamonds[5]
- Croce di Guerra with Swords (25 May 1943)[4]
- Wound Badge (1939) in Black (25 June 1943)[4]
- War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (1 September 1944)[4]
- U-boat Front Clasp in Bronze (1 October 1944) [4]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 23 May 1941
- Legion of Merit (United States of America)[5]
- Cross of Merit 1st Class[5]
[edit] Ships attacked
During his career Gysae sunk 24 commercial ships for 136,266 GRT, one auxiliary warship of 10,549 GRT, and damaged one ship for 2,588 GRT.[2]
[edit] References
- Citations
- ^ "Nova Scotia (Troop transport) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Korvettenkapitän Robert Gysae". uboat.net. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
- ^ Busch & Röll 2003, p. 182.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Busch & Röll 2003, p. 183.
- ^ a b c d Busch & Röll 2003, p. 184.
- ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 356.
- 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 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
- Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
- Schaulen, Fritjof (2003). Eichenlaubträger 1940 - 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe I Abraham - Huppertz (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-20-3.
- 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.
[edit] External links
| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by Fregattenkapitän Karl Neitzel |
Commander of the 25th U-boat Flotilla 5 January 1944 – 21 April 1945 |
Succeeded by Korvettenkapitän Georg-Wilhelm Schulz |
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Categories:
- 1911 births
- 1989 deaths
- Sportspeople from Berlin
- German military personnel of World War II
- Bundesmarine admirals
- U-boat commanders
- Recipients of the U-boat Front Clasp
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross
- Recipients of the Spanish Cross
- Military personnel referenced in the Wehrmachtbericht
- Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit
- Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Recipients of the Croce di Guerra
