Günther Seibicke

Günther Seibicke
Born	30 August 1911 Eggersdorf
Died	26 May 1943 (aged 31) North Atlantic
Buried at	(48°16′N 05°33′W / 48.267°N 5.550°W)
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1932–43
Rank	Korvettenkapitän (posthumous)
Unit	cruiser Köln Schleswig-Holstein cruiser Königsberg
Commands held	U-436
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Günther Seibicke (30 August 1911 – 26 May 1943) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He and the entire crew of U-436 were killed on 26 May 1943 by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Test and the corvette HMS Hyderabad.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

As a U-boat commander of U-436 Günther Seibicke is credited with sinking six merchant ship of 36,208 gross register tons (GRT), one warship of 291 metric tons (286 long tons; 321 short tons), and damaging two ships of 15,575 GRT.

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate[1]
1 March 1942	RT-19 Komintern	Soviet Union	577	Sunk
13 April 1942	Kiev	Soviet Union	5,823	Sunk
27 October 1942	Frontenac	Norway	7,350	Damaged
27 October 1942	Gurney E. Newlin	United States	8,225	Damaged
27 October 1942	HMS LCT-2281*	Royal Navy	291	Sunk
27 October 1942	Sourabaya	United Kingdom	10,107	Sunk
29 October 1942	Barrwhin	United Kingdom	4,998	Sunk
8 January 1943	Albert L. Ellsworth	Norway	5,283	Sunk
8 January 1943	Oltenia II	United Kingdom	6,394	Sunk

* Carried by Sourabaya

Awards

• Sudetenland Medal (20 December 1939)^[2]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (17 September 1939)^[2]
  • 1st Class (16 May 1940)^[2]
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (24 April 1942)^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 March 1943 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-436^[3][4]

References

Citations

1. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-436". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
2. Busch & Röll 2003, p. 335.
3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 397.
4. Scherzer 2007, p. 699.

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 [The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945] (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-748-2.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1.
• 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "Günther Seibicke". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 April 2015.