Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) 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 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 ...

. He was the seventh recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves 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 lower in precedence than the Grand C ...

. Schepke is credited with having sunk 36 Allied ships. During his career, he gained notoriety among fellow U-boat commanders for exaggerating the tonnage of ships sunk.

Career

Schepke joined the '' Reichsmarine'' in 1930. In 1934, he was assigned to the newly created U-boat arm, and in 1938 he commanded . After a short stint commanding and serving in a staff position, Schepke received the command of , a Type VIIB boat. After 5 patrols in ''U-100'' she was heavily damaged on 17 March 1941 by depth charges from HMS ''Walker'' and while attacking Convoy HX 112. ''U-100'' was forced to surface and was detected on radar and rammed by ''Vanoc''. Schepke and most of the crew died. Schepke claimed to have sunk 37 ships, for a total of and damaged four more. If true, this would have made him the third skipper to have sunk over 200,000 tons. While he definitely sank 36 ships, he was known throughout the fleet to exaggerate his tonnage claims; other U-boat men came to use the expression "Schepke tonnage" in reference to this. Nonetheless, at one point Schepke ranked first in the number of ships sunk, and was recommended by Admiral Dönitz for the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

Awards

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 ** 1st Class (27 February 1940) * U-Boat War Badge (1939) (3 January 1940 – 30 April 1940) *

** Knight's Cross on 24 September 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-100'' ** 7th Oak Leaves on 1 December 1940 as ''Kapitänleutnant'' and commander of ''U-100''

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * Fuhren, Franz (1943). ''Kapitänleutnant Schepke erzählt. Mit einem Geleitwort von Großadmiral Dönitz.'' Minden: Köhler Verlag. * * * Schepke, Joachim (1940). ''U-Boot-Fahrer von heute. Erzählt und gezeichnet von einem U-Boot-Kommandanten.'' Berlin, Deutscher Verlag 1940 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schepke, Joachim 1912 births 1941 deaths People from Flensburg Military personnel from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein U-boat commanders (Kriegsmarine) Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Kriegsmarine personnel killed in World War II Reichsmarine personnel People lost at sea Military personnel from Schleswig-Holstein