Korvettenkapitän Günter Kuhnke - German U-boat Commanders of WWII - The Men of the Kriegsmarine (original) (raw)

Korvettenkapitän (Crew 31)

Successes
11 ships sunk, total tonnage 42,252 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 4,443 GRT
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 10,067 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 9,577 GRT

Born 7 Sep 1912 Elbing
Died 11 Oct 1990 (78) Schortens, Lower Saxony, Germany

U-boat Commands

U-boat From To
U-28 28 Oct 1938 16 Nov 1940 6 patrols (239 days)
U-125 3 Mar 1941 15 Dec 1941 2 patrols (100 days)
U-853 24 Aug 1944 15 Oct 1944 1 patrol (49 days)

Günter Kuhnke joined the Reichsmarine in April 1931. After some months on the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, in September 1935 he transferred to the newly-formed U-boat arm and received an intensive prewar U-boat officer training. In October 1938 he took over command of U-28, a type VIIA boat.

After the start of the war in September 1939, U-28 made seven mostly successful patrols, including some minelaying operations. Kptlt Kuhnke left U-28 in January 1941 and two months later commissioned the long range type IXC U-125. After two patrols he turned the boat over to Kptlt. Ulrich Folkers, who took U-125 to the US for Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag) a month later.


Kptlt. Günter Kuhnke (left) after patrol. (right Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe)

In January 1942 Günter Kuhnke became commander of the 10th Flotilla based in Lorient. In August 1944 he took one of the flotilla's last U-boats to Flensburg, arriving in October 1944. There he took command of the 33rd Flotilla and served in this position to the end of the war.

In 1955 he joined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy), commanding the destroyer Z-2, and in 1966 became Chef des Marineamtes (Chief of the Navy Department). He retired in 1972 with the rank of Konteradmiral and decorated with the post-war Stern zum Großen Bundesverdienstkreuz (Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit).

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).

Patrol info for Günter Kuhnke

| | U-boat | Departure | Arrival | | | | | | | -------------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------- | ------------- | ----------- | ------------- | --------- | ------- | | 1. | U-28 | 19 Aug 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | 29 Sep 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 1, | 42 days | | 2. | U-28 | 8 Nov 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | 18 Dec 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 2, | 41 days | | 3. | U-28 | 18 Feb 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | 23 Mar 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 3, | 35 days | | 4. | U-28 | 20 May 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | 6 Jul 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 4, | 48 days | | 5. | U-28 | 11 Aug 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | 17 Sep 1940 | Lorient | Patrol 5, | 38 days | | 6. | U-28 | 4 Oct 1940 | Lorient | 6 Oct 1940 | St. Nazaire | | 3 days | | 7. | U-28 | 12 Oct 1940 | St. Nazaire | 15 Nov 1940 | Wilhelmshaven | Patrol 6, | 35 days | | 8. | U-125 | 15 Jul 1941 | Kiel | 28 Jul 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 7, | 14 days | | 9. | U-125 | 12 Aug 1941 | Lorient | 5 Nov 1941 | Lorient | Patrol 8, | 86 days | | 10. | U-853 | 27 Aug 1944 | Lorient | 14 Oct 1944 | Flensburg | Patrol 9, | 49 days | | 9 patrols, 388 days at sea | | | | | | | |

Ships hit by Günter Kuhnke

Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
14 Sep 1939 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Vancouver City 4,955 br
17 Nov 1939 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Sliedrecht 5,133 nl
25 Nov 1939 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Royston Grange 5,144 br SL-8B
21 Jan 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Protesilaus (t.) [Mine] 9,577 br
9 Mar 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke P. Margaronis 4,979 gr
11 Mar 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Eulota 6,236 nl
18 Jun 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Sarmatia 2,417 fi
19 Jun 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Adamandios Georgandis 3,443 gr
21 Jun 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke HMS Cape Howe (X 02) 4,443 br
27 Aug 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Eva 1,599 nw SC-1
28 Aug 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Kyno 3,946 br HX-66
9 Sep 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Mardinian 2,434 br SC-2
11 Sep 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Harpenden (d.) 4,678 br OA-210
11 Sep 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Maas 1,966 nl OA-210
26 Oct 1940 U-28 Günter Kuhnke Matina (d.) 5,389 br
66,339
13 ships sunk (56,272 tons) and 2 ships damaged (10,067 tons).Legend We have a picture of this vessel.(d.) means the ship was damaged.(t.) means the ship was a total loss (included in ships & tonnage lost).[Mine] indicates the vessel was hit by a mine laid by said U-boat.

About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Listing of all U-boat commanders

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