Joachim Schepke

Lieutenant-Commander Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was the seventh recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Joachim Schepke.

Career
Schepke was the son of a Navy officer, and he joined the Kriegsmarine in 1930. In 1934 he was assigned to the U-boat arm, and in 1938 he commanded U-3. At the outbreak of World War II he took U3 to war against Allied shipping. After a short stint commanding U-19 and serving in a staff position Schepke received the command of U-100, a Type VIIb boat. After 5 patrols in U-100 she was heavily damaged on 17 March 1941 by depth charges from HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc while executing an attack on Convoy HX-112. U-100 was forced to surface and was detected on radar and consequently rammed by Vanoc. Schepke and 37 crew members perished in the ocean; six crew members were rescued. Schepke was last reported on the bridge of U-100. When Vanoc rammed his boat, he was crushed into his own periscope standards, and he went down with his boat.

Joachim Schepke had sunk 37 ships for a total of, and damaged 4 more. He was awarded the Knight's cross with Oak Leaves. Schepke, Günther Prien and Otto Kretschmer were friendly rivals in the U-boat service, and were the most famous U-boat commanders in the early years of the war, where all except Kretschmer eventually met their ends. Schepke was the favourite of these three, because in contrast to Kretschmer he was a convinced Nazi. He wrote and illustrated the book "U-Boot Fahrer von Heute" (U-Boat Men of today) in 1940 (Berlin, Deutscher Verlag 1940). In February 1941 he made a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast for thousands of Berlin schoolchildren about the U-boat war. After his death the German propaganda ministry held him as an example for German youth to follow.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (1 June 1939)
 * 1st Class (27 February 1940)
 * U-Boat War Badge (1939) (3 January 1940 – 30 April 1940)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 24 September 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-100
 * 7th Oak Leaves on 1 December 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-100
 * Mentioned six times in the Wehrmachtbericht