Fritz Frauenheim (9 January 1912 – 28 September 1969) was a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the

Second World War 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 ...

. From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in December 1940, he sank 19 ships for a total of , and damaged two others. He was a recipient of the

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 ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Early life

Frauenheim was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Friedenau Friedenau () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Relatively small by area, its population density was the highest in the city. Geography Friedenau is part of the southwestern ...

on 9 March 1912. He entered the navy and spent his initial training on the cadet ship , followed by a period on the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

''Karlsruhe''. He was transferred to the U-boat force in January 1936 and rose quickly through the ranks and on 1 April 1939 he was promoted to

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 ...

. He appears to have spent time with the German forces supporting the Spanish Nationalist forces during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, as he was awarded the

Spanish Cross The Spanish Cross () was an award of Nazi Germany given to German troops who participated in the Spanish Civil War, fighting for nationalist general, later Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco. History With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil W ...

on 6 June 1939.

Wartime career

Frauenheim had been made watch officer on in 1938, eventually spending over a year in this role, until October 1939. He was appointed to command on 1 October 1937, eventually carrying out five patrols, eventually sinking four merchant ships. He also laid

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

, one of which damaged on 21 November, putting her out of action for nearly three years. The ''Bayonet'' was sunk by one of ''U-21''’s mines on 21 December. Frauenheim left ''U-21'' on 6 January 1940, taking over command of the newly built on 11 March 1940. He commissioned the boat and took her on four successful patrols. He sank a total of 12 ships, including three sunk and one damaged from

convoy SC 7 Convoy SC 7 was the name of a large Allied convoy in the Second World War comprising 35 merchant ships and six escorts. The convoy sailed eastwards from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other British ports on 5 October 1940. While cro ...

. He left ''U-101'' on 18 November 1940 and became a teacher in the 2nd ULD. He went on to hold a number of staff positions, before taking command of

23rd U-boat Flotilla ''23rd U-boat Flotilla'' ("23. Unterseebootsflottille") was a unit of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The flotilla was first formed in Salamis, Greece, on 11 September 1941 under the command of '' Kapitänleutnant'' Fritz Fr ...

in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in September 1941. In 1942 he moved to command

29th U-boat Flotilla 29th U-boat Flotilla ("29. Unterseebootsflottille") was formed in December 1941 in La Spezia in Italy under the command of Korvettenkapitän Franz Becker. The flotilla operated mostly various marks of the Type VII U-boat and it concentrated its e ...

. On 1 March 1943 he was promoted to

Korvettenkapitän (; ) is the lowest ranking Field officer, senior officer in the German navy. Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. Address The official manner, in li ...

. In February 1944 Frauenheim joined the staff of the Admiral der '' Kleinkampfverbände'' (Admiral of Small Battle Units), where he remained for the rest of the war. He was again promoted, this time to

Fregattenkapitän () is the middle ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany , short: FKpt / in lists: FK, is the middle Senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. It is the equivalent o ...

on 1 December 1944.

Post war

After the end of the war Frauenheim spent eight months in Allied captivity before being released. For almost 20 years until his death, Frauenheim worked at the

Mobil Oil AG Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as just Mobil, is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, formerly known as Exxon, which took its current name after it and Mobil merged in 1999. A direct descenda ...

in the Federal Republic of Germany. His last position was as a member of the board and head of the department of Marine Transportation and Pipelines. He died in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on 28 September 1969, aged 57.

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) *

in Bronze (6 June 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 (2 October 1939) ** 1st Class (7 November 1939) *

Sudetenland Medal The 1 October 1938 Commemorative Medal () was commonly known as the Sudetenland Medal. It was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the second in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 18 October ...

(20 December 1938) *

on 29 August 1940 as ''

'' and commander of ''U-101'' *Knight's Cross of the

Order of the Roman Eagle The Fascist Civil and Military Order of the Roman Eagle founded in 1942 with civil and military divisions, was abolished in Italy in 1944; although it continued to be awarded by Benito Mussolini in the short-lived Italian Social Republic until 1945 ...

with Swords (18 June 1943) *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...

in Gold on 23 November 1944 as ''

'' with the Admiral of the ''Kleinkampfverbände''

Promotions

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frauenheim, Fritz 1912 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Berlin U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) Military personnel from the Province of Brandenburg Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Gold German Cross Reichsmarine personnel People from Tempelhof-Schöneberg