Years of service 1933–451956–72 | Name Hans Jenisch | |
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Battles/wars World War IIBattle of the Atlantic Commands held German submarine U-32, German cruiser Admiral Hipper | ||
Hans Jenisch (19 October 1913 – 29 April 1982) was a Kapitänleutnant in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II and a Kapitän zur See in West Germany's Bundesmarine. He commanded the Type VIIA U-boat U-32, sinking seventeen ships on seven patrols, for a total of 110,139 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping, to become the 26th highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II.
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Career
Jenisch joined the navy, then named Reichsmarine, in 1933, and after serving in the cruiser Deutschland transferred to the U-boat arm in 1937. He served as 1WO (second-in-command) of U-32 under Werner Lott, before taking command of the U-boat in February 1940.
Empress of Britain
On 26 October 1940, Empress of Britain was spotted by a German Focke-Wulf C 200 Condor long-range bomber, commanded by Oberleutnant Bernhard Jope. Jope's bomber strafed Empress of Britain three times and hit her twice with 250 kilograms (550 lb) bombs causing severe damage to the ship. Jenisch had been informed of the location of the damaged vessel and intercepted her on the evening of 27 October. Jenisch fired three torpedoes, hitting her twice. Empress of Britain sank at 02:05 on 28 October 1940. At 42,348 gross tons, she was the largest ship sunk by a German U-boat.
Capture
Jenisch was captured on 30 October 1940 after U-32 was sunk north-west of Ireland by the British destroyers Harvester and Highlander. Nine of her crew died, but 33 survived to be taken prisoner, including Jenisch. He spent the next 6.5 years in British captivity before his return to Germany in June 1947.
Post-war
Even though Jenisch became known as a celebrated U-boat commander, his subsequent assessment of submarines was highly negative. In POW camp, he told a shocked Wilfried Prellberg (ex-CO of U-31) he considered submarines in warfare "obsolete. All of it." On joining the West German Bundesmarine in 1956, Jenisch held staff positions and commanded the training frigate Hipper (originally a Black Swan-class sloop, the ex-HMS Actaeon) for a time.
Jenisch was Divisional Training Commander at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr in Hamburg from 1 October 1966 to 31 March 1970. He retired in 1972 with the rank of Kapitän zur See, and died in 1982.
Ships attacked
During seven patrols he sank 17 ships, including the 42,348 ton RMS Empress of Britain, for a career total of 110,139 GRT, as well as damaging 3 ships for 22,749 tons, including the cruiser HMS Fiji.