Years of service 1936–451956–77 Name Otto Ites | ||
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Born 5 February 1918Norden ( 1918-02-05 ) Unit Schlesientorpedo boats Kondor and AlbatrosU-51U-48 Battles/wars World War IIBattle of the Atlantic | ||
Otto Christian Ites (5 February 1918 – 2 February 1982) was a German admiral in the navy of West Germany. During World War II, he was a U-boat commander and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
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Career
Otto Ites, born on 5 February 1918 in Norden in the Province of Hanover of the Free State of Prussia, joined the military service of the Kriegsmarine on 3 April 1936. He commanded U-146 and U-94, sinking fifteen ships on seven patrols, for a total of 76,882 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping. In September 1941 the Pegasus was torpedoed and all the crew managed to scramble into 2 lifeboats. One of the lifeboats was rescued but the other was found empty and upside down. The Captain reported that the Pegasus was torpedoed twice, the first one caused quite a lot of damage and the crew left the ship, but then she was torpedoed again and she sank. On 28 August 1942 U-94 was sunk by depth charges in the Caribbean Sea, in position 17°40′N 74°30′W from a Catalina of VP-92 and by the Canadian corvette Oakville. Ites and 25 of his crew were taken prisoner of war. Ites remained in US captivity at Camp Crossville, Tennessee, until 1 May 1946.
After the war Otto Ites matriculated at the University of Bonn in the winter semester of 1946–47. He submitted his dissertation on 20 October 1950 at the medical faculty. Dr. Ites joined the military service of the Bundesmarine and as Fregattenkapitän commanded the destroyer Zerstörer 2 (D171), formerly USS Ringgold (DD-500), from November 1960 until September 1962. His twin brother, Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Ites, commander of U-709, was killed in action on 1 March 1944. U-709 was sunk by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS Thomas, Bostwick and Bronstein north of the Azores at 49°10′N 26°00′W.