The U-Boat War: My Kriegsmarine Collection (1 Viewer)

[PolarBear]

As a fan of naval subjects I am collecting the new K&C Kriegsmarine and the earlier LAH German naval figures. Here are my 1st 2 pieces. A 3rd is on its way from TF and I will post it when it arrives.

Koreveattankapitan Otto Kretschmer (KM-013)

"Otto Kretschmer was a famous U-Boat commander of the Second World War, and was the most successful Ace of the Deep. From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, he sank 47 ships for a total of 274,333 tons. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto" both for his successful use of the "silent running" capability of the U-Boats as well as for his reluctance to make propaganda broadcasts.

Even though Kretschmer served only three years out of seven in WWII, he would never be surpassed in terms of tonnage sunk. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the U-boat War Badge, the Iron Cross 1st Class, the Knight's Cross, the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

In April 1940, after eight patrols, Kretschmer left his U-23 for the newly-completed Type VIIB U-99, and started his legacy. In the first four patrols of the U-99, Kretschmer started striking convoys at night on the surface, taking down merchant ships with highly accurate shots, using only one torpedo per target ship in order to save ammunition, and the quote "One torpedo ... one ship" is attributed to Kretschmer from around this time.

His most successful patrol occurred in November-December 1940. During that patrol U-99 sank three British armed merchant cruisers, HMS Laurentic, HMS Patroclus and HMS Forfar. Put together, the three AMCs totalled over 46,000 gross tons. These three successes earned Kretschmer the number-one spot on the Aces list, and was never surpassed.

On his last patrol in March 1941, he sank 10 more ships. During a counterattack by British escorts, U-99 was disabled by depth charges dropped from the British destroyer HMS Walker. On March 17, Kretschmer surfaced and scuttled his boat. Three of his men were lost. Kretschmer and the remainder crew were captured."

Kretschmer's records:

40 ships sunk for a total of 208.869 GRT
3 auxiliary warships sunk for a total of 46.440 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 1.375 tons
5 ships damaged for a total of 37.965 GRT
1 ship taken as prize for a total of 2.136 GRT
2 ships a total loss for a total of 15.513 GRT

 

[PolarBear]

Seaman Marching With Rifle (LAH-091)

 

[The Lt.]

So nice to see you at it again Randy as you venture in to another period in naval history....The Lt.

 

[mestell]

Nicely done once again Randy. You certainly are a man of many historical interests.
Mike

 

[Iron Brigade]

Dear PolarBear:

Most splendid photo of K&C figure with great backdrop! Good luck with your future displays of your German WW2 U-Boat sets.

Regards, Gary / "Iron Brigade" 2/21/2010

 

[Jagdpanther]

Randy,

I really like these new Kriegsmarine figures also. I have the Seehund, plus 4 figures coming for my display. Also I have the jetty so it makes a pretty good scene. Did you get the figure from the K&C collectors club? Very nice photos Randy!

 

[PolarBear]

Randy,

I really like these new Kriegsmarine figures also. I have the Seehund, plus 4 figures coming for my display. Also I have the jetty so it makes a pretty good scene. Did you get the figure from the K&C collectors club?

Not yet but I'm thinking about it.

 

[PolarBear]

Nicely done once again Randy. You certainly are a man of many historical interests.
Mike

Although my dad was a WWII Army vet he had a passion for maritime and naval history so it rubbed off on me. One of my favorite TV programs as a boy was Victory At Sea.

 

[Rob]

Excellent pics Randy,very nice work from you as usual

Rob

 

[Combat]

I just watched Das Boot recently and had an irresistible impulse to buy the two U-boat captains today. These are nicely done figures. Some of the recent releases remind me of Groundhog Day since I can remember many being discussed on the forum years ago - Kriegsmarines, subs, Luftwaffe, Cossacks, Italians etc. Andy always said no - so hope springs eternal.

 

[steveo]

Love the figures,but not really my cup of tea you talk about Kretschmers record merely in tonnage,no mention of the countless lives ?Personally i have German figures in my collection but the sort of hero worship we afford these personalities is slightly worrying,move it forward 70 years or so will toy soldier collectors have figures of Pol pot/Bin Laden in their collection
The merchant sailors who fought and died in the battle of the Atlantic over 30,000,hardly seem to get a mention,surely its about time we had some Royal Navy/Merchant navy figures to address the balance

 

[wds0855]

Those are very nice figures.
I saw Das Boot recently again also. I couldn't help but think of all the lives lost due to those deadly U-Boats.

Walt

 

[Combat]

Love the figures,but not really my cup of tea you talk about Kretschmers record merely in tonnage,no mention of the countless lives ?Personally i have German figures in my collection but the sort of hero worship we afford these personalities is slightly worrying,move it forward 70 years or so will toy soldier collectors have figures of Pol pot/Bin Laden in their collection
The merchant sailors who fought and died in the battle of the Atlantic over 30,000,hardly seem to get a mention,surely its about time we had some Royal Navy/Merchant navy figures to address the balance

It is a bit much to compare the Kriegsmarines to Bin Laden (btw note that KC has done Bin Laden). They are not typically associated with the atrocities committed by the Germans. Even less so than the Luftwaffe who bombed civilians. They were in a combat situation in which merchant ships were legitimate targets. For example, US subs regularly attacked Japanese merchant ships. They went to painstaking levels to avoid attacking non-military targets including neutral US ships that they knew were bringing arms that would be used against them. In the early days of the war, they would often give notice to merchant ships before sinking them. Several examples in which they were attacked while rescuing survivors. They were finally ordered not to attempt rescues because it was too dangerous. None of that diminishes the Merchant sailors or equates to hero worship. It's just a matter of fact. If Andy hasn't done any brit merchant sailors (he has done a lot of allied figures) it's probably for the same reason he hasn't done German merchant sailors. Just not as marketable as combat figures.

 

[binder001]

Love the figures,but not really my cup of tea you talk about Kretschmers record merely in tonnage,no mention of the countless lives ?Personally i have German figures in my collection but the sort of hero worship we afford these personalities is slightly worrying,move it forward 70 years or so will toy soldier collectors have figures of Pol pot/Bin Laden in their collection The merchant sailors who fought and died in the battle of the Atlantic over 30,000,hardly seem to get a mention,surely its about time we had some Royal Navy/Merchant navy figures to address the balance

It's a bit far to compare the Kriegmarine to the madmen who issued their orders or the madmen who think they can turn the world back to the 6th century. The German sailors were organized combat personnel of a nation state, not rogue terrorists. I don't like the cause they fought for, but I respect the men who went to sea knowing the odds were increasingly stacked against them. I DO agree that the merchant marine sailors are the most under-appreciated arm of service. High casualties and little recognition. The German Navy also had high casualties and little hope of rescue in the cold North Atlantic. Remember that the US Navy had senior leaders seek clemency for Donitz; they brought Japan to its knees using unrestricted submarine warfare.

Hate the cause, admire the bravery.

Gary B.

 

[steveo]

Its open to interpretation and i suppose you could go round and round debating the rights and wrongs of war and victors justice,i am just relating my Great Uncles experience of Atlantic convoys and Murmansk Convoys ,funnily enough i never got round to asking him what he thought about Submariners?

I know that only one U-boat crew were charged with war crimes( U-852),so i suppose that's good going?

Again its funny how society's choose who is a war criminal and who is not, Wernher von Braun springs to mind and the use of forced labor,but we will gloss over that little nugget because of his contribution to Nasa and the space race.
You could argue the that Kamikazes,or the attack on Pearl Harbor were brave but i wouldn't want a model/toy soldier showing it exploding into a American Carrier.