Heinrich Liebe


Heinrich Liebe was a German naval officer during World War II. He served as a U-boat commander and then in the High Command of the Kriegsmarine. Liebe was credited with sinking of 34 ships for a total of. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. It was the country's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Liebe.

Biography

Born in Gotha, Liebe began his Reichsmarine career in 1927. Promoted to Oberfähnrich zur See on 1 June 1931, Liebe served on the World War I battleship for four years. In September 1935, Liebe transferred to the U-boat arm.
On 1 October 1936, Liebe was promoted to Kapitänleutnant and assigned commander of, a Type II U-boat attached to the pre-war U-Boat training flotilla. On 24 October 1938, Liebe commissioned, a Type IX U-boat assigned to 6th U-boat Flotilla.

World War II

U-38 embarked on her first war time patrol on 19 August 1939 from Wilhelmshaven. Operating off Lisbon, Portugal on the outbreak of war, Liebe managed to sink two British freighters before returning to port on 18 September. On 2 November, Liebe set sail for Norwegian water on his second patrol.
Liebes fourth patrol, on 8 April 1940 was also set in Norwegian waters, to support Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. During this patrol, Liebe shared the same negative experience of failed torpedoes as many other u-boat captains operating in the area. In mid April 1940, Liebe fired on the British heavy cruiser, but all the torpedoes fired failed to detonate.
U-38 left on her fifth patrol on 6 June 1940, tasked with patrolling the Western Approaches off southern Ireland. Liebe managed to sink six ships during this patrol, and also succeeded in landing a German agent in Ireland on 12 June. During his sixth patrol, Liebe sank three ships, and were ordered to the new 6th U-boat Flotilla base in Lorient, France. During this patrol, on 14 August, Liebe received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
On 9 April 1941, Liebe set sail for operations off Freetown, Africa. This was Liebe's ninth and last patrol with U-38, during which he sank eight ships for a total of. For these successes, Liebe was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 10 June 1941. On 29 June, U-38 returned to Lorient. The presentation was made on 30 June 1941 by Hitler at the Führer Headquarter Wolfsschanze in Rastenburg. On 22 July, Liebe transferred off the U-38, which was put under the command of Heinrich Schuch.
Following his departure from U-38, Liebe was assigned to the staff of Oberkommando der Marine. In August 1944, he was transferred to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of Submarines, Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, during which tenure he was promoted to Fregattenkapitän on 1 October 1944.

After the war

After the war Liebe returned to his hometown in the Soviet sector to live with his parents. Since he refused to train Soviet submariners, he felt that was to blame for his being held to menial occupations. He died in July 1997 and is buried in Eisenach, Germany.

Summary of career

Ships attacked

As commander of U-38 Liebe was credited with the sinking of 34 commercial ships for, and damaged another of.

DateShipNationalityTonnageFate and location
6 September 1939Manaar7,242sunk at
11 September 1939Inverliffey 9,456sunk at
7 December 1939Thomas Walton4,460sunk at
11 December 1939Garoufalia4,708sunk at
13 December 1939Deptford4,101sunk at
9 March 1940Leukos216sunk at
17 March 1940Argentina5,375sunk at
21 March 1940Algier1,654sunk at
21 March 1940Christiansborg3,270sunk at
26 March 1940Cometa3,794sunk at
2 April 1940Signe1,540sunk at
14 June 1940Mount Myrto5,403sunk at
15 June 1940Erik Boye2,238sunk at
15 June 1940Italia9,973sunk at
20 June 1940Tilia Gorthon1,776sunk at
21 June 1940Luxembourg5,809sunk at
22 June 1940Neion5,154sunk at
7 August 1940Mohamed Ali El-Kebir7,529sunk at
11 August 1940Llanfair4,966sunk at
31 August 1940Har Zion2,508sunk at
1 October 1940Highland Patriot14,172sunk at
17 October 1940Aenos3,554sunk at
18 October 1940Carsbreck3,670damaged at
19 October 1940Bilderdijk6,856sunk at
19 October 1940Matheran7,653sunk at
27 December 1940Waiotira12,823sunk at
31 December 1940Valparaiso3,760sunk at
4 May 1941Japan5,230sunk at
5 May 1941Queen Maud4,976sunk at
23 May 1941Berhala6,622sunk at
24 May 1941Vulcain4,362sunk at
29 May 1941Tabaristan6,251sunk at
30 May 1941Empire Protector6,181sunk at
31 May 1941Rinda6,029sunk at
8 June 1941Kingston Hill7,628sunk at

Awards