Fritz-Julius Lemp
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Fritz-Julius Lemp (19 February 1913 – 9 May 1941) was a captain in the
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and commander of , and . He sank the British passenger liner in September 1939, in violation of the Hague conventions. Germany's responsibility for the sinking was suppressed by Admiral
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
and the
Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...
. Lemp died on 9 May 1941 when the U-boat he commanded was captured.


Career


Sinking of SS ''Athenia''

On 3 September 1939, while in command of ''U-30'', he sank the 13,581 ton passenger ship , the first British ship sunk in World War II. Lemp later claimed that the fact she was steering a zigzag course which seemed to be well off the normal shipping routes made him believe she was either a troopship or an
armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
; when he realized his error he took the first steps to conceal the facts by omitting to make an entry in the submarine's log, and swearing his crew to secrecy. Adolf Hitler decided the incident should be kept secret for political reasons, and the German newspaper ''
Völkischer Beobachter The ''Völkischer Beobachter'' (; "'' Völkisch'' Observer") was the newspaper of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) from 25 December 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from 8 February 1923. For twenty-four years it formed part of the official pub ...
'' published an article which blamed the loss of the ''Athenia'' on the British, accusing
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, then First Lord of the Admiralty, of sinking the ship to turn neutral opinion against Nazi Germany. The truth did not emerge until January 1946 at the Nuremberg trials, during the case against Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, when a statement by Admiral Dönitz was read in which he admitted that ''Athenia'' had been torpedoed by ''U-30'' and every effort had been made to cover it up, including ordering Lemp to alter his log book.


''U-110''

''U-110'' was captured on 9 May 1941 in the North Atlantic south of Iceland by the destroyers , HMS ''Broadway'' and the British corvette . After depth charges forced the boat to the surface, where she was shelled, Lemp ordered the crew to abandon ship and open the vents in order to sink the crippled U-boat. Lemp was not among the 34 survivors rescued by the Allied vessels, and one account of his fate has him swimming back to the submarine when he realized that the scuttling charges were not going to detonate, and either being shot and killed by the boarding party or drowning in the icy water. After the war the Germans claimed that Lemp had been shot in the water, either by Sub-Lieutenant Balme's boarding party from HMS ''Bulldog'' or from the ''Bulldog''. Balme, however, assured German journalists that no shot had been fired at any time by his party. Joe Baker-Cresswell, commander of the ''Bulldog'', also denied that Lemp had been shot, and the official British explanation remains that Lemp committed suicide by drowning when he realized the consequences of his failure. Balme's party boarded the U-boat, capturing an intact
Enigma machine The Enigma machine is a cipher device developed and used in the early- to mid-20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. It was employed extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II, in all branches of the W ...
and the code books, which contributed to the deciphering of German military codes by British intelligence based at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
.Williams, Andrew, 2002. The Battle of the Atlantic, London: BBC.


Awards

*
Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a List of military decorations of the Third Reich, military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March 1936, Adolf ...
4th Class (2 October 1936) * Spanish Cross in Bronze (6 September 1939) *
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
(1939) 2nd Class (27 September 1939) & 1st Class (18 January 1940) *
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...
on 14 August 1940 as ''
Kapitänleutnant , short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( or ''lieutenant captain'') is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the modern German . The rank is rated Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers, OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to i ...
'' and commander of ''U-30''


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemp, Fritz-Julius 1913 births 1941 deaths German mass murderers Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Reichsmarine personnel People who died at sea Nazi war criminals