Siegfried Strelow

Siegfried Strelow
Born	15 April 1911 Kiel
Died	9 July 1943 (aged 32) North Atlantic
Buried at	(39°48′N 14°22′W / 39.800°N 14.367°W)
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1931–43
Rank	Korvettenkapitän (posthumous)
Unit	SSS Niobe cruiser Karlsruhe torpedo boat Seeadler Schleswig-Holstein Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee destroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen cruiser Leipzig
Commands held	torpedo boat G-11 torpedo boat Albatros torpedo boat Löwe U-435
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Siegfried Strelow (15 April 1911 – 15 July 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), awarded for extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He and the entire crew of U-435 were killed in action west of Figueira da Foz Municipality, Portugal, in position 39°48′N 14°22′W / 39.800°N 14.367°W when their boat was sunk by four depth charges from a Royal Air Force (RAF) Vickers Wellington bomber of No. 179 Squadron RAF.

Summary of career

Ships Attacked

As a U-boat commander of U-435 Strelow is credited with the sinking of nine merchant ships for a total of 53,712 gross register tons (GRT), further sinking one auxiliary warship of 2,456 metric tons (2,417 long tons; 2,707 short tons) and three warships of 855 t (841 long tons; 942 short tons).

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate[1]
30 March 1942	Effingham	United States	6,421	Sunk
13 April 1942	El Occidente	Panama	6,008	Sunk
13 April 1942	Harpalion	United Kingdom	5,486	Sunk
20 September 1942	HMS Leda (J 93)	Royal Navy	835	Sunk
22 September 1942	Bellingham	United States	5,345	Sunk
22 September 1942	Grey Ranger	United Kingdom	3,313	Sunk
22 September 1942	Ocean Voice	United Kingdom	7,174	Sunk
29 December 1942	Empire Shackleton	United Kingdom	7,068	Sunk
29 December 1942	Norse King	Norway	5,701	Sunk
30 December 1942	HMS Fidelity (D57)	Royal Navy	2,456	Sunk
30 December 1942	HMS LCV-752	Royal Navy	10	Sunk
30 December 1942	HMS LCV-754	Royal Navy	10	Sunk
17 March 1943	William Eustis	United States	7,196	Sunk

Awards

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (2 October 1936)^[2]
• Sudetenland Medal (1 August 1939)^[2]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (25 April 1940)^[2]
  • 1st Class (25 May 1940)^[2]
• Destroyer War Badge (19 February 1941)^[2]
• U-boat War Badge (1939) (15 April 1942)^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 October 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-435^[3][4]

References

Citations

1. http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u435/html
2. Busch & Röll 2003, p. 270.
3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 415.
4. Scherzer 2007, p. 731.

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. "Siegfried Strelow". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
• "Siegfried Strelow". Lexikon der Wehrmacht (in German). Retrieved 4 July 2013.