Hans-Günther Lange

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Hans-Günther Lange
Born (1916-09-28) 28 September 1916 (age 96)
Hanover
Allegiance Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (to 1945)
West Germany West Germany
Service/branch  Kriegsmarine
 German Federal Navy
Years of service 1937–1945, 1957–1972
Rank Kapitänleutnant (Kriegsmarine)
Fregattenkapitän (Bundesmarine)
Commands held U-711
Battles/wars

World War II
Awards Iron Cross 1st Class
Iron Cross 2nd Class
German Cross in Gold
Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves

Hans-Günther Lange (born 28 September 1916) was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later served with the Bundesmarine. He is also a recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He was born in Hanover.

Contents

Career

U-711 under the command of Lange attacked and sank the HMS Bluebell on 17 February 1945. On 4 May 1945 U-711 was damaged in Operation Judgement, an attack by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy at Kilbotn aimed at the depot ships Black Watch and Senja, and sank after attempts by Lange and seven other crew members to keep it afloat. The rest of the crew, who had gone on board Black Watch, did not survive. Only a few hours earlier Lange had received the signal from Germany ordering all U-boats to cease attacks on allied shipping with immediate effect. He was interviewed in 2008 at the age of 92 for a book published in Norway which also contains information from Norwegian and British eyewitnesses.[1] The book also reveals that Lange took U-711 on patrols far along the Arctic coast of North Russia, past Novaya Zemlya and into the Kara Sea.

The wreck of U-711 was filmed in 2007. [2]

In October 1957 Lange joined the Bundesmarine. Here he took part in the construction of a new German U-boat force within NATO. For two years he commanded the 1. Ubootgeschwader (1st U-boat squadron) and in January 1964 became commander of the entire U-boat force. Later he held several staff positions, ending his second naval career in 1972 as staff officer in the Marinedivision der Nordsee (naval forces in the North Sea).

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ The sequential numbers greater than 843 for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves are unofficial and were assigned by the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR) and are therefore denoted in parentheses.[6]

References

Citations
  1. ^ Harald Isachsen (2009), Operation Judgement: Angrepet på <<Black Watch>>, Kilbotn 4 Mai 1945, ISBN 978-82-998024-2-0
  2. ^ Film of U-711 at Kilbotn
  3. ^ a b c Busch and Röll 2003, p. 472.
  4. ^ a b Busch and Röll 2003, p. 473.
  5. ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 492.
  6. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 102–111.
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 (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  • Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-88740-748-X.
  • Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 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 (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
External links
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Military offices
Preceded by
none		 Commander of the 1. Ubootgeschwader of the Bundesmarine
1 October 1961 – 30 September 1963		 Succeeded by
Fregattenkapitän Walter Ehrhardt