Years of service 1925–45 Rank Kapitan zur See | Name Viktor Schutze | |
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Born 16 February 1906Flensburg ( 1906-02-16 ) Died 23 September 1950(1950-09-23) (aged 44)Frankfurt am Main Unit SSS NiobeHamburgtender NordseeMeteorHessentorpedo boat T-155, G-10cruiser Admiral Scheerdestroyer Erich Steinbrinck1st U-boat FlotillaU-Bootschulflottille2nd U-boat Flotilla | ||
Viktor Hermann Otto Ludwig Paul Ferdinand Schütze (16 February 1906 – 23 September 1950), was a Kriegsmarine U-boat ace, sinking a total of 35 allied ships totalling 180,053 gross register tons (GRT) during the Second World War. He is in fifth place among top-scoring U-boat aces. He was also a recipient of the 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.
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Biography
Schütze was born in Flensburg, and started his naval career in the Reichsmarine aboard German torpedo boats in April 1925, before transferring to the new U-boat division ten years later in October 1935. There he commanded U-19 for two years, before being relieved to take destroyer training - before returning to the U-boat arm in command of U-11. When war broke out he commanded U-25, with which he sailed on three patrols, mainly in the Bay of Biscay and off the Portuguese coast.
In July 1940 he assumed command over the Type IXB U-103, and commanded for four patrols in North Atlantic and African waters. In December he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his successes. In August 1941 he retired from front service, taking up positions as Flottillenchef of 2nd U-boat Flotilla. In March 1943 he became the FdU Ausbildungsflottillen (Commander of the training flotillas in the Baltic Sea) in Flensburg-Kappeln, in which position he served until the end of the war.
He died in Frankfurt am Main in 1950.
Ships attacked
As commander of U-25 and U-103 Schütze is credited with the sinking of 35 ships for a total of 180,073 gross register tons (GRT), further damaging two ships of 14,213 GRT.